Granola, CrossFit, Budget, Garden, Burgess Animal Book……..
That is what I have on my list to post about tonight. Let’s see what I can get done.
I recently made a granola recipe that my friend Laura gave to me years ago. Really it has taken me YEARS to finally try this recipe and I’m so sad that I have been missing out all this time. I think I always put it off because I either was shy one or two ingredients or we were working on the last of the store-bought granola we had. If I only knew! This is so good and so easy and, just like my homemade tortillas, you’ll never want to buy store-bought again.
This is the recipe as far as I know it. I remember Laura giving it to me over the phone and I was writing fast. It’s a mess, but hopefully I can make it clearer. (If you have comments Laura, please don’t hesitate to add anything!)
Homemade Granola
8 Cups Oats
3 Cups Wheat Germ
1/2 Cup Oil
1/2 Cup Honey, Maple Syrup, or Molasses
1-2 Cups Nuts or Seeds (I used slivered almonds, mmmm)
1-1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla
Optional 1 Cup Peanut Butter (I used)
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Heat all wet ingredients till warm. Mix together and spread on 2 cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes stirring occasionally.
That’s it for the recipe. I keep mine stored in a big plastic storage bag in the fridge. It’s perfect for our fruit and yogurt breakfasts. It’s not break your teeth crunchy and it’s super tasty.
CrossFit.
I cannot even begin to say how much our family loves CrossFit. If you are remotely interested and want something to boost your motivation on the fitness front here is an inspirational video. It’s not all that informational, but their site is where you find the goods. They also have what they call CrossFit Kids which is a site with information on getting kids involved in the same type movements and exercises. Most of the time our kids follow whatever we are doing, but sometimes they like to do what’s listed for CrossFit Kids. Chloe loves practicing hand stands, which is one Work Out of the Day (WOD) on CrossFit Kids. The work outs are usually under 30 minutes, including the warm-up. I love this little article that sums up fitness in 100 words:
World-Class Fitness in 100 Words:
Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports. ~Greg Glassman
With CrossFit I can say that I am doing the above things regularly WITH my whole family, which is the best part. Second to best parts are “routine is the enemy” and ”keep workouts short and intense.” I’m still working on the “no sugar” part though. Grrr, it’s so hard to give up. For the record, I ran my first 5K in over 10 years last week. I made it in 27 and a half minutes. I really had a great time and I’ve never really said that about running before. I have a feeling that Chloe will be our fitness guru as she grows. Just saying it now to see if this statement comes true, that girl is true grit.
Well, I’ve still got budget, garden and Burgess to talk about, but I’m out of time. Just thought I’d mention that I’m feeling a little out of control these days. It could be the fact that John was on a week-long leave from work. We just hung around here and you’d think it would have been easier with him around, but I think there is more pressure for me. I generally go with whatever he has a need to do, with pleasure (most of the time), but I think my schedule and time management goes out the window. So he has started back to work, it’s time to get back to my tight running ship!
I can tell when things feel like they are snapping at the seams when a small pile of toys out of their place completely drives me batty and I am two seconds away from packing every toy in the house in a box to Goodwill. Or when the lists of things I have to do are so spread about that I can’t keep track of the lists that have the things I have to do on them.
Well, I know that I can mark off “Blog” on my list, wherever it is.
Marcy
January 25, 2012 at 3:25 pm
I like the idea of family exercise. Interesting that the list doesn’t say anything about dairy; it sounds pretty paleo-leaning, so I’m guessing dairy is frowned upon.
Tamara
January 25, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Yes, they lean towards the paleo diet. Would love your take on what you think about it. I don’t care for it too much from what little I’ve learned about it. I remember borrowing your book years ago by Sally Fallon, “Nourishing Traditions.” That seems more the route we try to take.
Marcy
January 26, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Paleo sounds awfully persuasive to me, especially when people who seem to understand the science explain what happens in our bodies with grains and the like. I forget the name of the blog now, but there was someone who wrote a really long series of posts investigating the preparation of grains — whether to eat them at all, whether soaking makes a difference, and so on. It was sort of dismaying, like most information overload! Also, there was some article floating around awhile ago that claimed that whole grain is actually harder on the body than white flour… I bet it’s one of those things where each has its advantages and disadvantages, but not sure which outweighs. I still use whole grain exclusively; either ultra grain / white whole wheat, or regular whole wheat, and I haven’t soaked anything in a while.
But, since I don’t see any obvious signs that grains and dairy are ruining my health, I am not motivated to eliminate them. (Maybe — just maybe — eliminating them would give me more energy, better sleep patterns, better mental health, reduced sinus / nasal stuff… but maybe not.) Neither has the length of history that meat and veggies do, but they both still have a looooong history, but yet again modern grains and dairy are not what they once were.
I am glad that we have been able to switch to raw milk and that I like it — my first taste I did NOT like it. We don’t do any other raw dairy at this point — I have yet to taste a raw butter I like. I might try making yogurt some day with our raw milk. I haven’t yet tasted a good raw hard cheese (like cheddar) yet either. But tastes change slowly, and if I keep trying once in a while… and if budget allows… someday we might do more raw dairy.
As for grains, I mainly just try to reduce — again, I’ve read some stuff that argues that even a tiny bit of grains is really really rough on the intestines, but again since I don’t see it obviously in my own health, I’m just not ready to completely give up grains. We rarely have spaghetti anymore… when we have pizza night, I usually feel better if it’s a thin crust… I try not to have multiple grain items in one meal, and not every meal has any.
Along the same lines — although it’s debatable whether soaking really makes a difference — I occasionally make soaked granola. The texture is nothing like regular granola — it’s more like Cracklin’ Oat Bran, and also tastes a bit — just a bit — like Golden Grahams. Tedious and smelly to make — not hard, just time-consuming. But delicious. I keep it in a jar by itself, and add coconut and nuts and sometimes fruit to each serving.
I still haven’t gotten up the courage to eat the homemade lacto-fermented sauerkraut!
Tamara
January 27, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Thanks Marcy. I think the whole no grain thing is what turned me off to the Paleo diet. Not saying that it isn’t credible, just that I’m not ready to give up grain when, like you, we haven’t had any negative affects in consuming it. It’s certainly worth researching, but not at the top of my researching priorities right now. I feel pretty good about our food habits and have always felt that moderation is key.
Yeah, don’t know if I’d ever have the courage for the lacto-fermented sauerkraut.
Laura
January 25, 2012 at 10:09 pm
Wow, that granola recipe is from so long ago, I don’t even use it anymore
That is my original granola recipe that I got from Sarah W. I use one now from More with Less that has more liquids in it and cooks at a lower temp so there is no need for stirring (I always make such a mess when I stir the granola that I went looking for a recipe that didn’t require stirring). I love having granola around for breakfast, it’s so good on it’s own or with fruit or with milk or yogurt. And you can always make it without nuts and then throw them when you serve it.
Tamara
January 27, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Laura, I would love your new recipe. I’m very happy with this one, but no stirring sounds nice too.
Can’t wait to hear about that sweet baby girl of yours.