Strawberry Pie

Well, I didn't manage to get a post out last week...I'll blame it on laziness and my mom visiting.  Good excuse, right?
It was so nice to see my mom again since it was the first time I'd seen her since we moved.

I figured I should really post a main dish recipe, but I wanted to share this scrumptious pie recipe soon because we're getting towards the end of strawberry season.  The warm winter brought strawberries so early this year!  The hubby's mother and my mother both came up in May (on separate dates), and I was able to make this delicious pie for both of them for Mother's Day.  ...which also means I got to enjoy it twice in less than 2 weeks!

After baking (and slightly cooling) the graham cracker crust, arrange 2 cups of sliced strawberries in the bottom of the pie.

Mix remaining 2 cups of strawberries with sugar, bring to a boil and add water and cornstarch to thicken.

Let cool completely.  Whip 1/2 cup heavy cream (or use 1 cup whipped topping) and add to strawberry mixture.  Pour strawberry mixture onto pie and refrigerate for several hours.

Serve with whipped cream.

Fresh strawberries are the best to use in this recipe, but of course, use whatever strawberries you can get your hands on :) 

Strawberry Pie

(adapted from OKBEE)

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups crushed graham crackers
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
For the filling:

4 cups of strawberries, divided

1 scant cup white sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream or 1 cup whipped topping

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine crushed graham crackers and brown sugar.  Stir in melted butter until all crumbs are slightly moist.  Press into a 9" pie pan.  Bake for 8-12 minutes or until crust is golden brown - be careful not to burn it! Cool.
2. Thinly slice 2 cups of strawberries and arrange in prebaked graham cracker crust.
3. Mash the remaining 2 cups of strawberries and combine with sugar in a small saucepan.  Heat strawberries over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water and slowly pour into the boiling strawberry mixture.  Reduce heat to a low boil and stir frequently until thickened, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool.
5. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Add to cooled strawberry mixture and stir to combine.  Pour entire mixture into the crust.  Refrigerate for several hours before serving.  Serve with extra whipped topping or homemade whipped cream.

Homemade Cinnamon Granola

As you may have noticed, I've been on a long hiatus.  I was originally intending to start blogging again full force the beginning of April.  However, that has obviously not happened.  In addition to moving at the end of March, I also found out that I am pregnant!!  It was a wonderful surprise, but I have been much more sluggish lately as a result, and didn't really feel like starting up the blog again.  I kept thinking about blogging though, because I've found some scrumptious recipes in the last month and hate not sharing them!  I've decided to attempt to post one entry per week.  It seems like a manageable goal, and who knows, I may surprise you some weeks with 2 entries! :)

Back to the blog...
 
It took me a while to find a good granola recipe that I liked.  First, I made some granola bars.  However, they were mostly a fail because the granola didn't stick together well enough to stay in bars.  It wasn't a complete disaster however, because I actually liked the flavor of the granola bars, even if they didn't press together well.  After scouring many granola recipes, I came up with my own granola recipes, which is a combination of many that I read.

This is a no-fuss, quick granola.  It doesn't require any hard-to-find ingredients such as flax seed or wheat germ. (Although if you have those ingredients on-hand, by all means, feel free to add them to your granola!) I love to make up a batch and store for a quick breakfast.  I eat it like cereal with milk, but you could add it to your yogurt, fruit, whatever!

Stir together the oats, almonds, and coconut flakes.

Heat brown sugar, honey, oil, cinnamon and salt over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat and add in vanilla extract.

Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and stir for several minutes until thoroughly combined and granola is slightly clumpy.

Pour granola into a lined baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 until toasted.  Remove from oven, press craisins into granola and let cool.

Enjoy by itself, with milk, yogurt, fruit, etc!

Homemade Cinnamon Granola
 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not the quick-cooking type)
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 scant teaspoon salt
1/2 cup craisins (or raisins, whatever dried fruit you like)

1. Mix oats, almonds and coconut flakes together in large bowl.
2. In small saucepan, heat brown sugar, honey, oil, cinnamon and salt over low heat.  Stir until brown sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
3. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture and mix to coat well.  It may take several minutes to get it coated since there's not a lot of honey mixture.  Granola should be slightly sticky/clumpy and not dry looking.  Pour mixture onto a parchment-lined (or use a silpat mat) baking sheet and spread evenly.
4. Bake in preheated 325 oven for 20-25 minutes.  Stir once halfway through baking.  The goal is to simply toast the granola, so be careful to make sure it doesn't burn.
5. Remove baking sheet from oven.  Stir in craisins and and press granola into baking sheet.  Let it cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Moving...

Ok, so it's been a while since I've posted anything.  I've gotten a bit lazy and not really felt like writing any posts.  But also...

We are moving! 

I have less time on my hands, as I'm trying to get packed up and ready to move towards the end of March.  The point of my saying all this was to let you know that I probably will not be posting much (or at all!) until we get settled in our new home in April.  At this point, I am just trying to use up the food we have left in our pantry.  The hubby is doing a lot of the cooking for me so when I get home I can just concentrate on packing instead of spending all evening in the kitchen.  How sweet of him :)

Please tune in again April for more recipes!