Years ago, the thought of making my own granola sounded way too crunchy mama to me. (Let’s be honest, eating any kind of granola was too crunchy for me.) After Brian was diagnosed with cancer, I had to rethink my attitude. It was time to learn to DIY in the kitchen.

At the time I was also taking Elizabeth Foss‘ wonderful Restore workshop.  (I wrote about it here.) In one of the lessons she posted her family’s favorite granola recipe. I apprehensively followed the recipe and was surprised to find that it wasn’t that hard, it tasted delicious and the family loved it. Now making granola has become second nature. I have since played around with Elizabeth’s recipe and a number of others ones I found on Pinterest and narrowed down the ingredients and flavors that worked best for our family. The great things about granola is that you can easily add and subtract to suit your tastes.

Ingredients

(Part 1)

• 7 cups of rolled oats
• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup flax seeds
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut

(Part 2)

• 3/4 cups coconut oil, softened
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon

(Part 3: Optional)

• 1 cup of raisins
• 1/2 a cup of dried cranberries.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients.

In a smaller bowl, combine the coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix well.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir well. Place in a large roasting pan. Bake 45 minutes, stirring the granola every 15 minutes.

When the granola is done pour it onto two cookie sheets. (I tried following other recipes that cooked the granola on cookie trays but it didn’t work as well for me as the roasting pan.)

Next add the raisins and cranberry if using. (I make one tray with the dried fruit and leave one plain.) Let the granola dry and harden for about 1/2 an hour. Eat and enjoy!

Keep the leftover granola stored in an air tight container for up to a week or so. (If it lasts that long.) 😉

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Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

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4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

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Sorry for the delay in this post but better late than never! Starting in October, the RoL Pinterest Party will be held once a month on the first Tuesday of the month. Have fun!

Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

Not on Pinterest? No problem. Link-up your own creation to inspire us so we can pin in to our own boards. It can be a recipe, sewing project, Catholic craft, homeschool project, organizing/ homemaking tip, themed birthday party, whatever you’d like.

Don’t have a post ready? The link-up will be open for 10 days so there’s still time. Plus, feel free to link up a new post or an older post that hasn’t had much traffic lately. 🙂

PLEASE NOTE: Because we are entering the busy season of Autumn and the holidays that follow, starting in October, I will be doing the Pinterest Party only once a month. It will be every first Tuesday of the month and the link up will be open for 30 days, so there is plenty of time to join the fun! 🙂

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You can find me on Pinterest here.

The pin for this post is here.

Years ago I found a recipe online for Greek salad. I have adapted the recipe since then and it has become my favorite salad dressing. A friend asked for the recipe so I thought I’d post it here. 🙂

Ingredients

For the dressing:

• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 1 tsp spicy brown mustard
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar

For the salad:

• spring mix (or lettuce of choice)
• red bell pepper
• cucumber
• red onion (thinly sliced)
• kalamata olives
• tomatoes
• feta cheese

For the salad, quarter the cucumber and slice. Quarter the bell pepper and thinly slice. Take a small section of onion and thinly slice. Place in a large bowl with the lettuce, olives and tomato. Sprinkle with feta. Mix.

For the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, mustard and spices. When mixed, slowly add the red wine vinegar and whisk well. Pour overt the salad and mix well. Enjoy!

Note – A little dressing goes a long way. Better to under dress the salad and need to add more than to over dress and the salad puckers your lips. 😉 This recipe makes roughly 6 oz of dressing. Keep it stored in closed contained at room temperature for a few days. I store mine in a OXO Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker.

These are great to store home dressings. It comes in the large ( 1.5 cups) or the small (1 cup). I use the small one for this dressing since I like to use it up within the week and make another fresh batch. It’s super easy and tastes great.

Since I am eating many salads these days and staying away from bottled dressing, I am always looking for healthier home versions. If you have a favorite dressing recipe, please share it in the comment box. I’d love to try it out!

* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

<a href=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/?p=2157″><img title=”Revolution of Love Blog – Pinterest Party &amp; Link-up” src=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/pinterest_2_medW32-300×240.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”240″ /></a>

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd or Instagram. (It’s set to private but I’ll approve you.) 😉

PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.

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Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd and 4th Tuesday as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

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Now that we are trying to cut out the processed food and eat “real” food, I am cooking from scratch more.  I have been trying new recipes, particularly ones with anti-cancer foods  and spices, like turmeric. One of those new recipes I tried was this Moroccan style chickpea chili.

(Not pictured – Butternut squash. I was out so I used winter squash.

I originally got the recipe from my cookbook – Cooking Light: Slow Cooker Tonight.

I also found the recipe online here. I added it to my board – What’s Cooking in the Slow Cooker.

Ingredients

1 cup dried chickpeas
2 quarts boiling water
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 1/2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth (Use veggie broth to make this a Meatless Meal.)
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed olives
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and crushed
4 cups chopped peeled butternut squash
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
6 cups hot cooked couscous
8 lime wedges
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

(NOTE: The second time I made this I added 1/2 teaspoon of ginger. I also added a bit more red pepper since is was on the sweeter side.)

Preparation

1. Place chickpeas in a saucepan; add 2 quarts boiling water. Cover and let stand 1 hour; drain. Place beans in a 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in tomato paste and next 5 ingredients (through turmeric); sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add onion mixture to slow cooker. Add broth and next 4 ingredients (through tomatoes) to slow cooker; cover and cook on HIGH 8 hours.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil; swirl to coat. Add squash; saute 5 minutes. Add squash to slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 1 hour; stir in peas. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve over couscous with lime wedges.

As I mentioned, I subbed the butternut for winter squash. I also used brown rice instead of couscous. We loved the flavor and it wasn’t spicy so the kids enjoyed it too. The next time I may try adding a little ginger too. 🙂

* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

<a href=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/?p=2157″><img title=”Revolution of Love Blog – Pinterest Party &amp; Link-up” src=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/pinterest_2_medW32-300×240.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”240″ /></a>

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

Lastly, you can follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. 🙂

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉