Slow Start to a New Year

Still no new menus. That's becuase we've been working through some soups and stuff in the freezer. Those meals have mostly been augmented with salad. New menus and recipes will be forthcoming.

I'm a bit pudgier from the start of the year. I attribute that to some extra work at work and a lack of structure to our meals (namely, no menus). Add to those reasons: leftover candy and pastries, homemade chocolates (including pomegranate cordials), and a Chick-Fil-A sandwich last night. It's been probably a year since I've been to the mall. I had no choice but to go last night, and since "Bob" hates the mall, a tempting trip to the food court was enough to allay his bearishness and make the trip worth his while. So, naturally, I had a Chick-Fil-A.

Today, I've resolved to make an even cleaner start of it. I'm going to put that yogurt maker to work today and I've decided to do something with that "raw" muesli that's been taunting me in the cupboard. Truth be told, one of my favorite breakfasts is plain yogurt with fresh fruit, muesli (or granola or Grapenuts) and creamed honey.

Some backstory: A few weeks ago I bought Bob's Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli. It did not make me happy. There's a Swiss brand that I love. It's crunchy and yummy and is awesome straight from the bag (beat that Grapenuts!). Bob's Red Mill Muesli is not that kind of muesli. It's not baked, so that's probably the problem. In an effort not to waste it, I went it search of a baked muesli recipe. And found this:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000173.html

I had to modify it though since it starts from scratch. I had fewer dry ingredients and the fruit has already been added (not sure how that'll turn out). So my recipe is this:

From Raw to Rowwrrr Muesli

3 cups Bob's Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli
1/4 cup honey
1 1/3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and line a baking sheet (with rim) with parchment paper.
2. Pour "raw" muesli into a large bowl.
3. Warm the honey and vegetable oil in a saucepan over low heat.
4. Pour the honey-oil mixture into the muesli. Mix until the muesli is well and evenly coated.
5. Spread the coated muesli evenly in the lined baking pan.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.

NOTE: In the future, bake for 20 minutes.

For the honey I used the tried and true Golden Blossom honey. But, I was at the end of the jar so I added creamed honey (from two different jars: one from Tremblay Apiaries in Van Etten, N.Y. and the other from Andrew's Local Honey; both jars were bought at the Union Square Greenmarket). It's baking in the oven as we speak.