You’re hungry; I’m hungry: let’s make granola!  This cinnamon-y, just-sweet-enough, great-for-you, nutty treat is just the protein-packed crunch you are craving for breakfast, snack and/or dessert! Sprinkle on top of your peanut-butter-covered english muffin (my fave), mix into yogurt with craisins, raisins and/or berries, or enjoy it straight up, with milk.  This granola is cheaper, tastier and healthier than anything you can buy in a store, and it will make your kitchen smell like heaven while it toasts up in the oven.  I made a LOT, because I want it to last a while (we eat granola like there is no tomorrow around here), and I will add craisins and maybe a few mini-chocolate chips to individual servings as we go through it.  This will be mixed with whole nuts and will go into my boys’ lunches as “trail mix,” and will be our go-to morning crunch and sweetness.  With all of the hidden protein in this recipe, this granola will keep us all going for hours.  You can add whatever you like and modify quantities to serve your granola habits.

This recipe was inspired by and adapted from a recipe which belongs to my great friends, Crystal Seaver and Jesse Jamnik, fitness coaches and amazing athletes.  Crystal is the gorgeous, muscle-y one on the left (and that’s my superstar, mother-of-four, lightening-fast running partner and dear friend, Seana, in the middle)!

Crystal and Jesse run ultra-marathons in their spare time and know a thing or two about the nutrition, meal-planning, time, energy and discipline that is required to support a high-intensity lifestyle.  I highly suggest a visit to their blog, musclesandmiles.com, for inspiration (they are two of the most inspiring people I have ever met), ideas, training tips (build muscle while building mileage), as well as great nutrition info and recipes!

…and mashed potatoes, and kale chips, and, well, red wine… and fleece pajamas and fires and reading before the fireplace and cat snuggles and not really worrying about anything else.

    

Seeing how it’s still the dead of winter here, and I am (mercifully) not training for a Spring race (turns out not qualifying for the Boston Marathon, which is sixty days from now, was a blessing), I am focused on short ribs and not so much on training this month.  That will all be changing, as the ice on the pond melts and we fire up the grill and open the kitchen windows to let in the warm breezes… but for now, let’s crank up those ovens, runaway with some short ribs, mashed potatoes and kale chips, and enjoy the heck out of them while we can.

  

 

 

It’s mid-February, and this is only the second snowfall of the season here in Rhode Island.  Which means that we have only had two chances to make Snow Day Food!  And who knows how many more we will have before Spring is here, so we have to make them count.

Yesterday, I made Tapioca Pudding

Seventeen Bean Soup,

and Scrubber Salad,

each of which pairs with falling snow and chilly temps incredibly well, and each of which are perfectly easy, forgiving recipes which will treat you right even when the temperature outside doesn’t.