spice cereal

Tried a new (to me) recipe for spice cereal (granola) by Oxymoron.

I only made half the recipe and adapted it to what I had on hand.

75 grams mixed nuts

25 grams pumpkin seeds

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

125 grams oatmeal

pinch fennel seeds 

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

35 grams oil

85 grams honey

25 grams brown sugar

Lightly crush the fennel seeds

Roughly chop the nuts

Put the oil, honey & sugar in a pot on medium and mix, when it starts to bubble and sugar is melted, take off the heat

Preheat oven to 140C (275F)

Coat oatmeal, flax seed, nuts and spices with honey mixture

Spread out on parchment and bake for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, open oven door to let moisture out

Bake for another 20 minutes

Cool and keep in airtight container

NOTES: this was so good with yogurt or just for munching

The original recipe called for some whole wheat flour but I didn't have any so I used some ground flax seed

I think I cooked the honey mixture a little too long because I ended up with “clumps” instead of “granola”

Next time I think I will add a little more dry spices

I will make this again 

vege & spice's all spice granola

Tried a new granola recipe from this book..."Vege & Spice"

It is similar to the granola recipe that I normally use except that it adds coconut oil, coconut and all spice.

All spice granola : adapted from "Vege & Spice"

1/2 cup oatmeal

handful nuts

handful pumpkin seeds

3 pinches of sweetened coconut

1 tablespoons coconut oil

1.5 tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon all spice (powder)

Chop nuts

In a bowl add the oatmeal, pumpkin seeds and coconut

Add the nuts

Heat the oil until it liquifies and mix with the dry ingredients

Add the maple syrup and mix well

Add the all spice and mix well.

Heat the oven to 160C (325F), bake for about 25 minutes

Cool and keep in air tight container

NOTES: this was delicious, I will use this recipe a couple more times so I can use more of the coconut oil I have in my fridge

 

maybe add cacao nibs, which I like to use whenever I make granola.

The original recipe adds raisins which you can add, I didn't because it tends to get hard when baked.

granola, oatmeal, this and that

After not being able to find oatmeal and having to buy some granola, I found a different brand of granola, this one only had a few ingredients in it, looking forward to tasting this one.

I notice that some brands of granola ingredients seem like the fruit is freeze dried?!  not really into this texture.

Hopefully this one will be different.
 

A couple of days later, I found oatmeal!

At my favorite market, I happened to go when the store opened and was able to get one of the three bags on the shelf!
 

Saturday, our first meal out was hotcakes at Civitas!

It was nice to have their hotcakes with ham, salad and fruits.

Our timing was nice because it was just before lunch time, also the shop monitored how many were seated to prevent crowding and after diners had finished, they wiped down the table and chairs with alcohol santizer.

(One thing I would do the next time we eat out would be to keep my mask on when ordering and keep it on until after we receive our food, taking the mask off just before eating only).

And then we got on the train for the first time in months and went to Okachimachi to shop at Takeya.

(While I was looking at the website of the company that makes the oatmeal I like to buy, I noticed that they also made this dark chocolate granola which I found at Takeya...they also made the granola that I bought the other week).

Looking forward to trying this one as well.

It's peach season!

This variety is called hanayome (literally flower bride)

This was a little green but very floral, the peel came off easily and was very juicy.

I found this beet at the store and it was huge!

I roasted it with this very unripe avocado...hoping both will be delicious.

The avocado turned out to be spongy after roasting, meh! but at least we didn’t waste it.

Have a good week!

okara granola (re-do)

I re-did a batch of okara granola, this time following the instructions verbatim.

Even while following the instructions verbatim, the granola still came out moist.

I think I will need to bake this for a longer amount of time.

Still, I like this version, as it gives us another option in place of oats.

We had this this morning, with a little yogurt, a really ripe banana, some blueberries and a little milk.

Our weather is still krazy with typhoons passing over us practically every other day.

This morning Satoshi went to work and the rain was coming down in buckets! Poor guy!

Hopefully all this krazy weather won't mess up the fall colors this year.

taro brand poi blueberry granola bowl

Have you eaten poi before?

Poi is a thick paste-like substance made from the taro root.

Taro is mashed with a little water until the poi is made.

The consistency is often referred to as "one finger, two finger, three finger poi" as Hawaiians used to and/or still do eat poi "scooping" it up with their fingers.

Growing up in Hawaii, we were often given poi in place of baby food.

And as a child, I remember sprinkling some sugar on my poi to sweeten it up, making it easier for me to eat.

The other day, I was checking out the Foodland ad and this caught my eye...Taro Brand Poi Blueberry Granola Bowl...what?!

The girl at the seafood counter was nice enough to show me where to find it in the refrigerated section (Thank you!)

It's 5 ounces (about 1/2 a cup) of poi, 1.5 ounces granola (almost 3 Tablespoons), 1 ounce of fresh blueberries (almost 2 Tablespoons), 2 packets of honey (8 grams = about 1/2 Tablespoon) and a spoon.

I didn't use the honey because when I put the fruit and granola into the poi it was sweet enough for me.

At $4.59 (plus tax), it isn't very cheap, but it is a nice breakfast/snack that you can enjoy on the go.

I haven't had poi in awhile, so this was nice.

I hope to have this again the next time I'm home.

okara granola

While I was browsing at a bookstore, I came across a book that had an interesting recipe for granola.

The recipe uses okara (soy lees) instead of oats or cereal.

I usually follow a recipe verbatim whenever trying it for the first time, but thought I could make this relatively the same way I make Ellie Krieger's version.

Okara Granola adapted from "Shumi-doki June-July 2016"

120 grams okara (soy lees)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
handful of unsalted pumpkin seeds
handful of unsalted pecans
handful of unsalted mixed nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews)
handful of dried fruits (cranberry, blueberry, raisins)
handful of cacao nibs

Mix together, spread out onto parchment and bake at 170C (325F) for 30 minutes.
Cool and store in airtight container

NOTES: The original recipe instructs you to bake the okara mixed with some maple syrup for 10 minutes on the top rack of your oven, adding the nuts with a little more maple syrup and baking it for another 20 to 25 minutes, but I didn't do that, so I think this is why my granola turned out "moist".

The picture in the book looks like the okara is dry and "sand-like"...similar to panko (bread crumbs).

Satoshi was surprised when I told him what the granola was made from.

After we eat this batch up, I am going to try it like the recipe instructs...will let you know what happens.

things I'm liking (disliking)

Yesterday, it rained all.day.long. and now the cold is back (until Saturday, so says the weather dude...)

It's been awhile since I've done a liking (disliking) post...

Disliking the Pablo monaka (wafer) ice cream bar...the ice cream was a cream cheese flavor surrounded by a sickly sweet apricot sauce enveloped by a crisp wafer shell.

Pablo is a popular cheese tarte (cheesecake) maker, and they have had some delicious convenience store creations in the past, this just wasn't one of them.

Kind of in the middle on Minoh Beer's Godfather 4.

While I normally enjoy stouts, this one seemed a bit watery.

On the other hand, the yuzu flavor was nice.

Meiji Almond...this was a rich matcha (green tea).

Usually whenever something is green tea flavored they usually mix the green tea with white chocolate making things a bit too sweet.

This version was nice because it wasn't sweet.

Kinoko no yama's matcha and chocolate "mushrooms".

The balance of matcha and sweet chocolate are perfect.

Nature Valley's Coconut Crunch granola bars.

I first came across these at the cash register area of Yamaya. After buying one, I had wished I had bought more.

There is lots of coconut in this.

I'm glad I was able to find more at Yamaya recently.

City Bakery's rugelach. Packed with dried fruits and nuts.

This is huge but so good with the flaky croissant type outer shell.

Here is a better photo from the first time I tried it.

What have you been enjoying lately?

things I'm liking (for breakfast)

What are you enjoying for breakfast?

I hope you do eat breakfast, did you know that until Satoshi and I started dating, he didn't?!

Now, he says, "he can't live without it" (breakfast).

Anyway, it has been awhile for a "things I'm liking post", so I thought I'd share with you some things that I'm liking for breakfast.

I first heard about Pon juice from Martin's blog.

This is one of the first "local" orange/citrus juices that is a juice made from 100% mikan (tangerine)grown in Japan.

Most others add grape juice or other fruits to come up with the 100%, leaving you with only a smidge of orange in there.

On the container they are called "pom" but the katakana reads "pon".

It is a little pricey, but worth every "penny", especially since they don't use a lot of preservatives or colorings. I think the label only lists 2 ingredients, the mikan juice and a preservative.

We'll be drinking this often.

It is strawberry season here.

The other day, while I was at the market, these caught my eye.

Hinoshizuku are grown in Kumamoto and are really sweet.

I debated whether to get them because they were quite expensive, 599 yen (about US$5.99) a container, but I'm glad I did. In the container there were 2 layers, total about 35 or so berries.

They are sweet and delicious, perfect for our mornings.

Nisshoku's quick oats. On their site it says that they are the first company to bring oatmeal and cereal to Japan in 1929.

Everything grown in Hokkaido and don't you just love the can?

I bought the quick oats at Seijo Ishii but noticed on their site that they have a rolled oats, which I'm interested in trying. I hope I can find them somewhere.

In the meantime, I have Bob's Red Mill Thick Oats in the container, which I brought back from one of my trips to Hawaii.

I recently found these kiwi, I've mostly seen the ones from New Zealand but these from Shikoku (Ehime) caught my eye...198 yen (about US$1.98) for 5.

They were a little tart and a bit on the unripened side but were great with plain yogurt and homemade granola made with pecans, pistachios and dried cherries.

Is there something you are enjoying for breakfast?

nutty (and fruity) granola

Who knew granola was so easy to make? I came across Ellie Krieger's "Nutty Granola" in "The Food You Crave" and decided to ad-lib a bit. 

 I had some dried fruit that I wanted to use so here is what I did: 

3/4 cups oats 

1/2 tablespoon ground flax seed 

2 handfuls of shelled sunflower seeds 

1 handful of pecans, chopped 

1 handful of almonds, chopped 

5 apricots, chopped 

2 dried figs, chopped 

1 handful of goji berries 

1 handful of 60% chocolate chips 

1 pinch of salt 

20 grinds of fresh cinnamon 

2 Tablespoons of maple syrup 

Mix everything and add syrup. 

Mix until it is well coated with the syrup. 

Spread out onto baking parchment and bake in a 300F (150C) oven for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. 

Put parchment onto a wire rack and let cool. 

Store in an air tight container. 

NOTES: Ellie's recipe calls for rolled oats, but I am not certain about the oats that I found here. 

I am thinking they are more quick cooking rather than rolled. 

Putting the chocolate chips were good but got messy when I tried to stir the granola while baking. 

Next time I will skip putting in the salt (I found a clump of salt when I tasted the granola...blah!).

This is definitely worth making again. 

It wasn't overly sweet.

I added some to my morning banana and yogurt and it was delicious.

I think this will make good gifts too.