Homemade Granola

Granola costs so much at the store, and there are so many different kinds. I found this recipe online for homemade granola, and it was so easy! ...and cheap!

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup water

4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

8 cups rolled oats

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

1 cup almonds, coarsely chopped

dried fruits, if desired

1. Combine brown sugar and water in a 4 cup microwave proof cup.

2. Microwave on high 5 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved.

3. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla and salt.

4. In large mixing bowl, mix oats, nuts, and brown sugar mixture...thoroughly.

5. Spread onto cookie sheets and bake 45 minutes-1 hour until golden brown at 275 degrees F.

I just made mine plain jane because I didn't have the nuts on hand.

I plan on having lots of yogurt parfaits now! Look how much it made! This cost less than $2 (I guess adding the nuts and fruit would cost more, though).

Enjoy.

Microwaved Potato Chips

During our 24 hour drive to California for Christmas, we just happened to arrive in Tucson, Arizona around lunchtime. Catherine lives in Tucson and invited us over! Well, we may or may not have kind of invited ourselves over... She had a lovely spread for us on such short notice (ahem, 30 minutes...). One of the most wonderful parts of our meal was a big bowl of homemade potato chips! "What?" you say? Yes, Catherine makes homemade MICROWAVE potato chips.

Well, my frugal self just had to try this. I ended up calling her tonight just to make sure I heard her correctly when we visited (I was a teensy bit drowsy after all that driving through the night).

First, slice the potatoes. I'm going to try my KitchenAid attachment next time for quicker slicing.

Next, lightly spray a microwave-safe plate or dish. Lay (haha!) the slices of potato on the dish. We found that it's best if they don't overlap...

Then lightly spray (with Pam or whatever) the tops of the potatoes. No salting yet!

Microwave for about 10 minutes. I discovered that starting with 7 minutes and checking them or rotating the pan is the best bet here. Then, just keep microwaving for a minute at a time to get the best results for your microwave.

Once they're lightly browned (not too browned unless you like the taste of burnt potatoes), throw them into a bowl with your favorite seasoning and shake! Catherine recommends Season-All, but we didn't have any. I just used salt and pepper.

Here's what our first couple of batches looks like. I'm sure we'll get the hang of it as we make more...

Things I like about this:

• A 10-lb bag of potatoes costs less than $3. The above picture shows about one potato's worth of chips. We kept eating them, so it was hard to get a good picture. We're thinking about making a bunch and taking them in our lunches.
• It's relatively healthy. I like knowing what I put into my meals. We didn't fry these or anything -- it just has the oil from the cooking spray.
• It's a fun family-bonding experience! Eric and I hung out in the kitchen tonight instead of glued to the TV or our computers on the couch.

By the way, speaking of frugality, I'm still working on the first batch of homemade laundry detergent. It's only about 2/3 gone. My clothes get as clean as any other time I've washed them. I can't tell a difference! So, I'm keeping on keeping on with this stuff!

Christmas around America

In California, the holidays got started with a lovely and fun gift from my dad. He went to Williams Sonoma and got the three ladies of the family....EBELSKIVER pans!!! Here's a video of Eric demonstrating how to use this fun pan. I'm hoping to make these for our next TND's dessert. :)

In Chicago, we had a wonderful time sledding with Eric's family and playing dodgeball. Eric and I were sore for two full days (and maybe the third...) after all of this!

It's almost like you were there, right?