Apple Cinnamon Granola

I am always going through food phases, especially breakfast phases. Sometimes I'll be eating oatmeal every morning, every day, indefinitely. Sometimes I'm really into soft-boiled eggs. Right now I'm into granola, and thankfully it is the easiest thing to make at home. I love to eat mine with almond milk and some berries on top but it's great with yogurt too (obviously, if you didn't know that, get with it)! For this granola recipe I wanted to make use of our delicious Ontario MacIntosh apples, and I also added in some cinnamon to spice things up. Feel free to  change up the flavours with different fruits, nuts, and spices.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup ground flax

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 small apples, chopped

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup olive oil

6 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 325 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients until everything is well mixed, and the oats and seeds are moistened. The mixture should clump together slightly, but if it is still looking dry add in a little more oil and/or maple syrup until moistened. Evenly spread the mixture out on your baking sheet and bake for one hour, stirring half way to avoid burning. Allow to cool completely before storing.

Note: Feel free to change up the olive oil for coconut oil or the maple syrup for honey! If you're going to add any dried fruits add them after baking so they're still soft.

Apple Butter Me Up!

My main intention for apple picking a couple weekends ago was to make apple butter. Having made so much jam this summer I figured it'd be a piece of cake and I can always use another spread! Apple butter is way easier than jam. Especially crock-pot apple butter - you basically do no work. I searched through at least a dozen recipes until I found one I thought was perfect - some have too many ingredients, some use the stove top, all too much work - I picked this one. It's simple, painless and the slow cooker does pretty much everything for you (I was also swayed by the beautiful jars they have)!

Ingredients

20 small McIntosh apples - peeled, cored + chopped 

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place your chopped apples into the slow cooker. In a bowl combine the sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt, and pour over the apples, mixing until well coated. Set the slow cooker on low and cook for approximately 10 hours, stirring occasionally. Uncover and stir in the vanilla, cooking for another two hours uncovered, until thick. Using an immersion blender (or many stages of a regular blender), puree the mixture until completely smooth. Similar to with the jam, have the jars filled with hot water, and when ready to fill, pour out the water, fill the jar with apple butter, screw on the lid and wait for that popping seal of approval. Keep in the fridge for a couple weeks, or in the freezer for several months.

I've been spreading my apple butter on toast, stirring it into my oatmeal, and eating it with a spoon! It's the perfect combination of spicy and sweet and leaves my taste buds completely satisfied. 

Week 10: What's in our Basket?

If you don't know what's going on with this basket stuff catch up here:
Week 1 / Week 2 / Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5 / Week 6 / Week 7 / Week 8

The leaves are changing colours, the air is getting colder, everything is pumpkin flavoured - fall is definitely here. This is our last basket from the summer season and based on its contents I can officially say summer is over! Every time we go to pick it up I am shocked by the amount of food we receive. I can't imagine getting a weekly full share because our biweekly half shares are always filled to the brim with delicious produce. The true mark of fall in our basket was with a giant butternut squash but there was also some confusion with these little, shelled, tomato-like items - which we later found out were tomatillos. We loved our basket so much that we've signed up for another one for the fall - and a holiday one too for Christmas, but I know, I know, too far away for excitement - however I won't be keeping up the regular basket blogs, unless they really stand out. With this basket I'm excited for veggie roasts, soups and more, here is what's in our basket:

Vegetable Half-Share:

2 red onions, a bunch of white potatoes, a butternut squash, head of lettuce, tonnes of tomatillos, one bunch of kale, on bunch of spinach, 5 turnips, 4 peppers, so many carrots and a bulb of garlic!

Fruit Share:

A bunch of McIntosh apples, one bunch of red grapes, 5 anjou pears, and 2 lemons.

Their Potential

Roast up those tomatillos for a delicious salsa verde.

The perfect autumn dish with maple, apples and what else, butternut squash.

Take a break from butternut squash soup and why not try this carrot-ginger version?

Kale and butternut squash combine to make this beautiful, sweater-weather tart.

Why choose between cake and pie when you can have them both in an apple-pie cake?

Three-tier candied-pecan cake with brown butter pears - get in my belly.

Summer is for grilling, fall is for roasting! Roasted turnips are my new thing.

Out & About: In the Orchard

Fall is now in full swing and I've got autumn recipe ideas bursting out of my head. In the summer one of my favourite things to do is go berry picking and lucky for me the fruit farms don't close up for another few weeks - it's apple picking season! The next couple weeks are full of school deadlines and I took a much needed break this past weekend at Chudleigh's apple orchard to pick my weight (and maybe then some) in apples.

The honey crisps (seriously the best apples ever!) and the McIntoshes are out, and Mom and I loaded up to get ready for some fall baking. The honey crisps are just for eating, but we're planning on making some apple butter, apple chips, apple sauce, and freezing some for future pies, crisps and other delicious apple desserts. Though Chudleigh's is best if you're bringing the whole family along for a day of petting zoos, picnics, and playgrounds, they do have a fantastic apple selection - but if you're looking for straight up apple picking, I'd stick to your regular ol' fruit farm, There will be plenty of apple recipes coming up on the blog in the next few weeks but if you're ready to start some baking now why not try out this delicious apple rhubarb loaf or these apple and oat scones, your taste buds will definitely stay happy.