Peanut Butter Granola

I LOVE granola!!  But have you ever noticed how expensive it is??  Why pay that much when you can make it at home for a fraction of the cost...very small fraction I might add.  I love this stuff.

Peanut Butter Granola

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Begin by melting the butter slightly in a 3-quart saucepan. Add the peanut butter, honey, and salt. Don't boil, just make sure it's hot and peanut butter is melted.   Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Add the oats. Stir until the oats are completely coated with the peanut butter mixture. It will be chunky.

Turn the mixture into an ungreased cookie sheet. Spread the granola out evenly and bake it at 375° for 10 minutes. It will be brown and crispy. Now remove it from the oven and allow it to cool right there in the pan. Break it up into pieces after it is cooled. Transfer the granola to an air tight container. Add the raisins when the granola is cool.

 

This is a blog hop!  Go on over to the Gooseberry Patch blog and see other Rise & Shine Recipes.

Cooking Thursday~Waffles

We love waffles here.  Until this week we always used the frozen types from the grocery store.  So on our quest to faze out processed foods we purchased a waffle maker.  We got a very inexpensive one from Walmart, it's a GE 4 Square Chrome Waffle maker.   I love this machine!  I did not have a problem with the waffles sticking at all!!

I do not like using vegetable oil in my baked stuff...I don't care for the taste it has with it.  So I started searching my cookbooks for a waffle recipe that used butter instead.  I found it in the recipes I wrote down from my grandmother.   This is by far the BEST recipe I've had.

Waffles

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk

1 stick melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir together the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl set aside.  In another bowl beat eggs, milk and vanilla.  Add this to the flour mixture.  Then add the melted butter.  Mix well.

Grandma's recipe said to stir just until combined.  I found that the more the batter was mixed the fluffier the waffles were.  So I used a whisk to really mix it well.

Our waffle maker said used 1/3 cup in each square.  So follow the directions on your waffle maker.

We had waffles for breakfast yesterday and for lunch.  In the picture you will see some hamburger peeking out.  Well that's because we had "Waffle-Joes".   It's just a sloppy joe mixture on the waffles.  This one was my hubby's.  Mine was just an open-faced waffle sandwhich.  I'm telling you this is going to become a favorite recipe in your house!! 

I'm joining Sandra over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Cooking Thursday.  Head on over and see what she has cooking up for today.

Cooking Thursday~~Breakfast Casserole

When it comes to the holidays (or any day for that matter) I'm always looking for a quick breakfast dish.  This one is great because it can be made in so many different ways.  You could use bacon or ham in place of the sausage.

Breakfast Casserole

8 slices of bread, (white or wheat) crumbled
1 pound of sausage, fried and drained
6 eggs
2 cups of milk
1 onion, diced (sometimes I've substituted onion powder)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard
1 pound of grated Colby cheese
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Put bread in the bottom of a casserole dish. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and
add milk, onion, salt, and mustard. Sprinkle sausage and cheese over the bread.
Slice margarine over the cheese, and pour the egg mixture over all. Bake 45
minutes to one hour at 325 degrees until golden brown.

To see other Cooking Thursday posts visit Diary of a SAHM.

Cooking Thursday~~Overnight Caramel French Toast

Better late than never!!  Our church hosted a Pastors meeting, so I helped out in the nursery and making food for them.  This is a recipe I posted the other day.  It is SO good. 

 Overnight Caramel French Toast

It is very easy recipe to make...it just requires some planning.  I put blueberries in mine, but the recipe is without.

For more Cooking Thursday recipes go on over to Diary of a SAHM!