Maple Syrup Granola

It's time for the monthly Surprise Recipe Swap. This month I got to check out Heather's blog, Bake, Run, Live.  Heather had so many great recipes to choose from, I really had a hard time deciding. So, I picked two!  I'll share the second one, a little later on, if that's ok with Heather.

What I chose for today was Heather's Maple Syrup Granola. The week prior to finding this recipe, we had an Amish man stop in at our office selling fresh Maple Syrup. We only use pure maple syrup, but I have never had syrup that fresh! I knew I wanted to use this syrup on something other than pancakes. At least part of it! So, when I found the Maple Syrup Granola, I new that was the destination for my syrup!

This was my first time making granola without peanut butter, so I was a little hesitant. Sometimes I need that little nudge to try a new recipe. I can really get hung up on a favorite recipe and stick with it forever. I am glad for the nudge on trying this recipe, it is delicious! I used some ingredients that were new to me, and it was a complete success. Coconut Chunks are my new love, and I wish I new that coconut was in that form a long time ago!  This granola was great to snack on, or put on top of yogurt. Some went into a batch of cookies, which was an amazing addition to cookies! I think my favorite way to use this granola was on top of frozen vanilla bean yogurt. YUM!

Maple Granola (Slight adapted from: Bake, Run, Live)


3 c. rolled oats
1 c. dried unsweetened coconut chips
1 c. chopped walnuts
2/3 c. pure maple syrup
1/3 c. coconut oil, melted
1/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp. sea salt (original recipe called for 1 teaspoon)
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. dried cranberries (or raisins if you prefer!)


Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except the dried cranberries. Mix until everything is well combined. Spread evenly onto baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. After 40 minutes, add cranberries and bake for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool. Store in air tight container.




Interested in Secret Recipe Swap? Each month participating bloggers get assigned to another blogger and have to pick and cook a recipe from our partners blog!

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Relaxin' with the Young Ones

Winter is finally past, and the weather eventually turned nice. There are so many things I want to do, but not enough time in the day. The winter that would not leave us, seems to have everything running late. The garden needs to be planted. Flowers need to be planted. Yard needs to be mowed. Mushrooms need to be hunted for. Spring cleaning waiting to be done. That's just on my list outside of the normal day to day tasks. Truckin' Mans schedule is a whole other issue with the crops that need to get planted.  

Sometimes you just need to pencil in a little free time and go see the new chickens that are growing up so fast. 

We have a mix of Barred Rock, Rhode Island Reds, Black Sex Links, Australorps......

And two tiny little Bantams!

The ladies are always close by, waiting for us to turn away so they can show their authority to the young chicks. 

I am hopeful, that one day soon, they will be one big happy family.

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Mexican Bean Salad

I am seriously behind in sharing this post with you. I have had more technology problems than I can handle lately, but I think the wrinkles are all smoothed out. Other than loosing more files than I ever thought possible on my now dead laptop, I have recovered.

One of the fun things that went on in the middle of my techy issues, was getting my recipe for Mexican Bean Salad ready for my first guest post EVER! Please go over to Real Food Girl: Unmodified and check it out.  Kristine, is amazing, and you will love her. Remember, my Onion Bacon Jam from a while back? Yup... That was one of her recipes!


Go on now... Check out my Mexican Bean Salad here!

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Bake Sale and Raffle

BAKE SALE IS NOW CLOSED - THANK YOU FOR BIDDING!!

Reminder.... Bake Sale and Raffle are open Sunday until 6 pm! 

Amazing Talented Bakers.

Exciting Raffle Prizes.

All benefiting a deserving cause. . . . .  The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Bake Sale and Raffle... Click Here

Bake Sale and Raffle

BAKE SALE IS NOW CLOSED - THANK YOU FOR BIDDING!!

Welcome to the Bake Sale and Raffle! We are ready to raise a lot of money that is going to be donated to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS).  I wanted to get involved and help raise money for this when my dear friend Stacey signed up to ride with Team in Training (Team Minnesota) in America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride around Lake Tahoe. If you want to read more about Stacey's involvement in the bike ride, please click here.  The money raised will help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma.

A HUGE thank you to all the amazing bloggers that have offered to donate some of their amazing talents to baking for us all. Now, instead of just seeing their amazing foods online, you can bid on them, and enjoy them for yourself!


Now for the rules. I hate to be a rule enforcer, but with an event and bidding, we must have some rules!

Bake Sale Rules:

All bids are to be emailed to sugarcookiestopeterbilts@yahoo.com  The item you are bidding on must be listed in the subject line of the email. The dollar amount of your bid should also be in the subject line.

Dates of the bake sale are May 2nd, 12 pm through May 5th, 6 pm. All times listed are Central Time (CST)

The minimum opening bid is $5. All following bids must be higher than the last posted bid, and be in increments of $5.

I will update prices during the day.

Shipping is to US addresses only, unless noted otherwise.

Baked goods will ship within one week, unless noted otherwise.

Winners will be announced on Monday, May 6.

At the close of bidding, I will email the winning bidders with instructions for payment, as well as obtaining address for shipment of the winning item.

All payments must be made via paypal.

Raffle Rules

For every $5 donated (via paypal), 1 raffle ticket is earned. ($20 donation earns 4 tickets)

Shipping is to US addresses only, unless noted otherwise.

Donations for raffle tickets may be made May 2nd, 12 pm through May 5th, 9 pm CST.

Winners will be announced on Monday, May 6.

Random.org will be used to select the winners at the close of the auction.  The first number drawn, will have their choice of prizes. The second number will get to chose between remaining prizes. Third number will also choose, and the fourth number will be notified of their prize. 

Raffle Prizes

Assortment of award winning Wisconsin Cheese 
and four piece stainless steel cheese knife set. 
(Knife set not pictured)

Donated by Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

 (© 2013 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.)

Cuisinart 11 cup Food Processor 

Available in choice of 5 colors

Donated by: My Truckin' Man

Ice Cream Package!
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker (available in many funky colors!)
Included with the Ice Cream Maker are the books:
 The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz and Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream by Jeni Britton Bauer.

Donated by Anne at From My Sweet Heart

Natural Grace Skin Care

Orange Body Lotion, Nourishing Face Wash, Exfoliating Face Wash & Face Lotion

Donated by: Jill

Bake Sale

Leigh Anne from Your Homebased Mom with Caramel Corn Sampler Pack

***Will not ship until the week of May 25th
Current Bid: $15- Jenny

Tammy from Our Neck of the Woods with Maple Brown Sugar Granola Cookies 
 (Made with homemade granola and farm fresh eggs!) - 2 dozen cookies
Current Bid: $10 - Kari

Chef Madeleine Dee with Homemade English Toffee with Bacon, Cashews, and Milk Chocolate
 Current Bid: $15 - Pam

Amy from Rolling Sin - Sweets After Dark with Homemade Caramels - 3 dozen
Current Bid: $20 - Darcy

Mandy from South Your Mouth with No-Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Current Bid: $15 - Dianna

Me with Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies  2 1/2 dozen
Current Bid: $15 - Terry

Cynthia from Feeding Big with Chocolate Mint Fudge
**Will not ship until approximately May 16th.
Current Bid: $10 - Angie

Joy from Yesterfood with Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies ( a recipe from 1880 ) - 2 1/2 dozen cookies
Current Bid: $10 - Mike

Erin from Dinners Dishes and Desserts with Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls
Current Bid: $20 - Cliff

From Lark at Lark's Country Heart with Lemon Whoopie Pies- 1 dozen
Current Bid: $15- Cynthia

Shauna from The Best Blog Recipes with Chocolate Chip Vanilla Pudding Cookies - 2 dozen
Current Bid: $20- Michele

Bibi from Bibi's Culinary Journey with Caramel Apple Brownies
Available for shipping in Canada
Current Bid: $10 - Cindy

Donna from Cookistry with Butter Pecan Biscotti
The Biscotti is available with different nut choice, or with dried fruit
Current Bid: $20 - Mr. Donna

Angela from Angela's Kitchen with Snickerdoodles - 1 dozen
Gluten Free and Dairy Free
 Current Bid: $15- Jenny

Angela from Angela's Kitchen with Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies - 1 dozen
Gluten Free and Dairy Free
 Current Bid: $15 - LeAndra

 

Angela from Angela's Kitchen with Brownie Bites - 1 dozen
Gluten Free and Dairy Free
 Current Bid: $20 - Tim

Anne from From My Sweet Heart with Brooksters - 1 dozen
Current Bid: $40 - Mike

Mary from Barefeet in the Kitchen with Dark Chocolate Brownies - 1 Batch (12-16 Brownies)
Available in traditional, gluten free and/or casein free, with or without nuts.
Current Bid: $30- Jenny

Peanut Butter M&M's Cookies

Those of you who follow me on facebook probably already read about Truckin' Man's issue this weekend. We had no cookies in the house! A week ago, he had asked that I back off the cookies, we had to many and his waist line was suffering. No problem by me. Believe me, if he doesn 't want them in the truck, I certainly don't need them sitting here tempting me! But, a week later when there are no cookies around, he was starting to panic and needed his cookie fix.

Here is a link to the bike ride that Stacey is riding in that we are working on this fundraiser for.  America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride. I remember when she first told me about it, it sounded so pretty and scenic. But, then comes the work! I am glad she will be staying in Utah for a while after the ride to enjoy the scenery and reward herself after all this training.

Here is the last in my series of recipe from Mary Swanson's Big Hearted Cookbook. The fundraiser will start this Thursday, with some of the most amazing treats you have ever seen. I really don't know how I am going to keep from bidding on all of them myself! This recipe was a little different for me, the ingredients are listed in weight, not quantity. I've always wanted to try a recipe that gave weight measurements. Why? I don't know, I guess because it's something I have never done. It was a little more tedious, but the cookies did turn out perfect!  The only change I made to the recipe, was using M&M's. The cookbook used chocolate chunks, and when you have M&M's, that's what you use! And, I did not know this until I made them, but Truckin' Man has never had a cookie with M&M's!

Peanut Butter M&M's Cookies
***Note (I am providing the equivalent that I used, based on my scale)

8 oz. butter  (2 sticks)
6 oz. granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
10 oz. light brown sugar (1 1/4 cup)
10 oz. creamy peanut butter (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
3.4 oz egg (2 eggs)
1 tsp. vanilla
10 oz. all-purpose flour (1 1/2 cup)
1/4 oz. baking soda (3/4 tsp.)
1/2 tsp. salt
12 oz. M&M's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream together the butter and sugars on low speed, until creamy and no lumps remain.  Add the peanut butter and continue to mix on low speed.  Add the vanilla and eggs slowly. Mix until completely combined.

In separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.  Add to the cream mixture, mixing on low speed until combined.  Add the M&M's, mixing until M&M's are evenly mixed through the dough.

Drop by tablespoons unto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, or just until turning golden.  Cool for several minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to baking rack.

Enjoy :)

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Baked Ham Loaf

I love that I promised you all a series of posts out of Mary Swanson's Big Hearted Cookbook. It was an intro to the fund raiser and sharing a little bit with you about the lady whose memory these funds are being raised for, and about my friends training efforts for the bike ride. But you know what else, what a great way this has been to get me to try new recipes! It's really been fun.

The days are counting down. . . . . . We have one week left before the bake sale and raffle start. I am so excited! We have a great line up of bloggers who are donating to the bake sale. You will be excited too!

The days are also counting down for when my friend, Stacey, leaves for Utah to go on her bike ride. She is still training hard, but the weather is not cooperating or being her friend. Several of their last training bike rides have been cancelled due to snow. The pictures she has sent me of these recent snow falls have been completely uncalled for in April! They have made me really appreciate the fact that I do not live in Minnesota any longer!

On to today's recipe! This is a Baked Ham Loaf. In the cookbook, right below the recipe title, are parentheses (A Church Lady Favorite). I am not sure if this has a specific family meaning to it, but I know that Mary was very active with her church, so in my mind, this was a favorite for her to make for her family and friends to enjoy after Sunday church!

Baked Ham Loaf
1 lb. ground ham
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground beef
2 c. whole wheat flake cereal (I used Wheaties), crushed
2 eggs
3 T. peanut butter
1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1/4 c. vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl combine ground ham, ground pork, and ground beef.  Add your peanut butter to a small bowl and microwave for 10 seconds, just to soften it a little bit.  Mix the cereal, eggs, peanut butter, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to the meat mixture.  Mix until all ingredients are combined. Shape into a loaf, and place in a roasting pan. Set aside.

In small bowl, combine brown sugar, mustard and vinegar. Stir well.  Baste loaf with sauce. Bake loaf in preheated oven for 1 hour. Baste the loaf every 15 - 20 minutes with more of the sauce.

Enjoy :)

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