maple nut granola

Greetings, earthlings! I'm sure you all are wondering where the heyhey I've been… Or maybe you haven't, I don't know. Either way, I'm heeeeyah now! This last week has been quite the whirlwind. And it's only going to keep going. Our 'merrican visitors are leaving tomorrow, and *le sigh* I am sad to see them go. We had a great week doing a VBS with some cute little kiddies. I won't go into the details, but let's just say it's quite hectic and nothing like the organized VBSes in the States with coordinating snacks and decorations. Umm, no. Yesterday we had a Celebrate Jesus Youth Parade that has been 6 months in the making. All the planning, meetings, and hard work paid off. We had probably a thousand people show up, wonderful worship, prayer, and powerful messages. I was the photographer and WHOO! At the end of the day, it felt like I still had my camera strap around my neck. I also got SUPER sunburned in this dang African sun. On the upside, it will turn into a tan which I was really in desperate need of. 

Next week, we have lots of other things going on {which I can't even think of. I can't even remember what I'm doing tomorrow.} and our American team members {that actually live here.} are going back to the States a week from tomorrow for 6 months. I honestly can't believe they're actually leaving. They'd been talking about leaving for months and months but due to some complications, had to stay up until now. It's going to take some getting used to, that is for sure. We see each other almost every day and they've been such an encouragement to me since the day we got off the plane in Namibia. We're basically like siblings. Seriously, their mom said no friends one day but I was allowed over there because I count as family. It's going to be really difficult, but I'm spending as much time with those two as I can in the next six days and I'm praying for comfort and strength to get through it. I've thought about serenading them with Stay by Rihanna and bringing them cupcakes in hopes of getting them to not leave me. If you can't tell, I'm really super duper not looking forward to next Sunday when I give them the BIGGESTFREAKINGHUGEVER until they get their buns back here on New Years. I told my other friend I'm going to make him fat when they leave because I'm an emotional baker and/or eater and he'll get the good end of that deal. I'm also thinking he'll have to put up with an innumerable amount of tears and chick flicks. I probably won't be blogging for awhile. Life is so crazy.

I'm coming to realize the fact that I'm in Africa for a reason and I want to take advantage of the time I have here. Taking in all the scenes, sounds, and smells {err nah. BO isn't a smell you want to remember.} Of course, I love my blog, but I'm obviously not in Africa to blog about food when I'm around people on a daily basis who will go days without a bite to eat. It seems kinda weird, doesn't it? Don't worry, I'll still blog, but not as often as I used to. I like to have my blog as an escape when I have some down time or am stressed.

On a positive note… GRANOLA. Granola is the shiiiiiz and one of my ultimate comfort foods of choice {see where i'm going with this? yah.} Since our visitors brought us approximately 2353224553 gallons of homemade maple syrup, I figured I'd throw some in granola. 'Cuz why not. The weather here is so granola-worthy. It's winter now and in the mornings and nights, it gets SO COLD. Like 40 degrees cold. Didn't think that could happen in Africa, didya? That's Namibia- anything but stereotypical Africa. Anyways, I made this for breakfast this week because every morning, my mom would set out some granola from the store. But that stuff has lots of weird and unnecessary things in it {corn syrup? really?} and miiiiiiiiiine tastes way better. I'm just sayin'.

maple nut granola

2 c. quick-cooking oats 

1 1/2 c. puffed brown rice cereal

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 c. dark brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. chopped walnuts

1/2 c. organic maple syrup

2 tbsp. sunflower oil {or another oil}

Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until evenly combined. Spread on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Once cooled, pour into a large jar or plastic container. 

orange strawberry muffins

When I'm asked what I miss most about the US {I get asked this. A lot.}, my number one answer is almost always... the FOOD. I miss Starbucks the most, with Chipotle, McDonald's, Culver's, Subway, and IHOP up there on the list too. Sure, I've become quite the health nut in the last year and a half, but who doesn't love a big bowl of RICE with veggies {mmm carbs. my fave.} or a frappucino with a gallon of whip to top it off? When we were in Cape Town, South Africa with my grandparents in February, we heard there was a McDonald's there. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure that was our first stop when we arrived. I put all health aside and downed a chicken sandwich and fries. Oh my word, you guys. That crap mystery meat had never tasted so good in my LIFE. Last week at youth group, my friend told me there was going to be a McDonald's in Windhoek {the capital of Namibia}, just 3 hours away! Yes, you guys. In a couple months, I'll be 3 hours away from a McDonald's. Dangerous if you ask me. Anyways, when he told me this I freaked out, jumped up and down, squealed a little bit, and then put on a straight face and said "Boy. Don't lie to me. This is serious stuff." He wasn't lying. And I'm really excited. Seriously, all we need is a Target and Forever 21, and I am good. to. go.

Anyways, for the next week and a half {errrr something. I seriously have no idea.}, we're having a small group of some 'merrrricans staying in Otji with us! Yay! I love having visitors. I mean, we've only had one so far, but it was wonderful. Something about having people here that you already KNOW from the States is just kind of great. Familiar… Yah, that's probably it. It's so fun being the ones who know what's up and I love showing people what our life is like here. Pictures, words, and blog posts don't do our life in Africa any justice. Not to mention the fact that they bring with them loads of goodies {hello homemade maple syrup. reese's. new TOMS.} I also love having an excuse to bake and try out new recipes. Sometimes I'll make something and it's sitting around for days. But when there's a group of people, whatever I choose to whip up is gone in a matter of minutes. 

As we all know, the weekend is not complete without a good feast of a breakfast. Although breakfast for me is like that prooooobably almost every morning. I'm a freak, but breakfast is really important to me. Since our little team was on a plane for a million hours {weeeee-all. Like 24. Same dif.}, I'm pretty sure they were lacking good food in their bellies. Airplane food is ick. I made sure to have some good muffins made {because duh.} for their breakfast and we also had fruit, yogurt, granola, toast, and hardboiled eggs. I dig it. These muffins are really yummy and fresh and I actually made them gluten free {no one could tell. and I didn't tell anyone. Muahaha.} Oh, a quick little tip! I didn't chop up the strawberries at all and they got kinda… Weird. So just be sure to chop them up a little bit before adding them to the batter. You can use fresh strawberries if you have access to them {sadly, we don't. if only those could be sent with visitors. ha.}, but I used frozen ones. To thaw them, I filled a glass bowl with hot water, set the strawberries in a strainer, and placed the strainer over the hot water while I prepared the rest of the batter. It worked perfectly, just be sure to pat the strawberries dry. I had issues with that and they were slipping and sliding in the batter. Ok, I'm done talking now. I hope you have a happy, muffin-filled weekend!

orange strawberry muffins

2 c. stawberries {fresh or frozen and thawed}

3/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 tbsp. freshly grated orange zest

2 eggs

1 c. plain greek yogurt 

1/3 c. honey

1/2 c. freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tsp. baking powder

3 1/2 c. gluten-free flour

Preheat oven to 375ºF. In a small bowl, rub together the sugar and orange zest with your fingertips. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, orange sugar, honey, yogurt, and orange juice. Add flour and baking powder and stir until combined. Gently fold in strawberries. Scoop batter into a lined or greased baking tin. Bake for 15-25 minutes. 

peanut butter honey granola

Believe it or not, the last couple days here have been cold. For awhile, it was really nice, staying around the 70's all day, but lately? ahhmahhgahh. The mornings and nights are so frigid my toes want to fall off and my lips turn this super weird purplish color that would NOT make a good lipstick. It's horrible. Last night I slept in long pants and a sweatshirt, with two comforters and two blankets wrapped around me, yet I was still SHIVERING. And I'm in Africa, you say? What the what. This is so weird. My little noggin can't take it any longer. There's still a plus side though… I don't have to go running the second I wake up in the morning. During the summer months, it gets hot really early, so I usually go around 6. But I've been chilling in my jammies for the morning, drink my cup of coffee, watch my Food Network, and go running around 8:30. Even when I went this morning, it was still so cold! My toes were going numb and my face burned a little bit. But I guess that's better than sweating my buns off. 

Another reason why I'm totally digging this weather? Food. Figures, right? When it's cold out, all I want is comfort food. Lentil stew and chicken noodle soup for dinner? Check. Oatmeal, eggs, and pancakes for breakfast? Checkcheckcheck. One of my favorite breakfasts is granola. I haven't made it in forever since I figured out dairy was a part of my skin problems, and I preferred my granola with yogurt. Stubborn am I. However, with all this cold weather, I'm in the mood for something hearty in the morning like peanut butter. Seriously, how bad can it be? Not bad at all, my friend. Not bad at all. 

So I made granola! And I ate granola! A lot of granola! Way too much granola! Seriously, you guys I went into a peanut butter and brown rice cereal induced coma. Yes, I over did it, but I'll just eat a carrot for dinner and the guilt will be no more. Not that there's much to feel guilty about though… This granola is relatively healthy, full of good carbs, protein, fiber, and healthy fats from the peanut butter. It's super chewy and peanut buttery, and not too sweet. As I was mixing the granola, I couldn't keep my fingers out of there and took a bite or two. The granola tastes a little like peanut butter cookie dough! Then as I was baking it, I'd take it from the oven to stir it around and I think every time I did that, I took a chunk or too of granola. And then I took pictures which lead to more munching. I guess what I'm trying to say is… This stuff is madly addicting. No matter how much self control you have, I can almost guarantee you'll go weak at the knees and eat extremely large quantities. For breakfast, you could add it to your cereal with some yogurt and fruit. You could also throw this on top of ice cream or just munch on a handful for an afternoon snack. Either way, if you love peanut butter like I do, I think you will absotootly adore this granola. 

peanut butter honey granola

2 1/2 c. oats

1 1/2 c. brown rice cereal

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. honey

1/2 c. peanuts

In a large bowl, stir all of the ingredients until combined. Pour onto a lined cookie sheet and bake for 15-25 minutes. 

banana health bread

Just in case you're totally confused at the title "banana health bread", please. Let me fill you in on this greatness. Health bread is a really popular sandwich bread here in Namibia. It's usually a really dark, pretty color {I'm not sure what kind of flour they use} and packed with nuts, seeds, and raisins. My favorite way to eat is with avocado and egg or peanut butter and honey. We love walking to the gas station down the road and buying a loaf of the bread. Almost every gas station in town bakes it fresh daily and the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the air is intoxicating. 

I decided to whip up a really hardy version of classic banana bread this weekend and it reminded me exactly of my beloved "hakahana" health bread- hence the name. It's packed with raisins, sunflower seeds, and oats which give it a good amount of protein and fiber. Of course, you don't have to use sunflower seeds and raisins- you could use dried cranberries, apricots, almonds, walnuts, anything! For a balanced breakfast, try spreading some peanut butter or honey on top  of a slice {umm yes.}, have it with a side of fresh fruit, or a hard-boiled egg. It's not too sweet, but it's full of banana and cinnamon flavor which is my FAVORITE. I also made it gluten and dairy free! … Just 'cuz. 

banana health bread// dairy-free, gluten-free 

yields one large loaf + 5 medium-sized muffins

3 large bananas, mashed

1 egg + 2 egg whites

1/3 c. soymilk

3/4 c. dark brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. white rice flour

1 c. gluten-free all purpose flour

1 c. oats

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/4 tbsp. baking powder

3/4 c. raisins

1/2 c. sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Combine bananas, milk, eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Add dry ingredients and fold in raisins and sunflower seeds. Stir until combined. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Pour any excess batter into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool before removing from pan.

oatmeal chocolate chunk bars

My family is sometimes, uhh… Not very understanding when it comes to my baking and blogging. I love my family and thought they deserved something sweet that wasn't gluten, dairy, and sugar free. Because they've had their fair share of muffins, granola bars, and homemade muesli. As I was baking these bars today, literally all 4 of my family members were either yelling at me for not using a recipe, saying they were gonna turn out weird, or asking a million questions a second. I think that I've made enough cookie recipes to know what kind of ratios make what kinds of cookies. Sometimes, people don't get it. At least that's how I feel. As I was in the living room taking pictures {these bars are dang ugly}, adjusting the bars, switching the ISO, and all those blogger-like things, my family was laughing and saying how dumb it was. Umm, ok. My mom freaks out if I don't use a recipe and come up with one by myself. I told her no high class pastry chef goes to allrecipes.com for their recipes. Sure, I love classic desserts, but I think in order to give yourself a name, you have to step out of the "normal" and try new things others maybe wouldn't think of. I guess I'm kind of on my own as far as being a baking blogger goes. They don't get it, but ya know what? They don't need to. I love my food, I love my pictures, and I love my blog. I'll keep on doing it for as long as I live, regardless of what other people think. I'm gonna be honest, I was close to just dumping out the creamed butter and sugar and walking away because I felt so unappreciated and ignored. Guys, I was making you BARS! With sugar! And butter! And flour! No need to go all le freak on moi. Lo and behold, they all loved these bars after sitting there drooling and asking me when they could try a bite as I was taking the pictures. 

While I was watching my Food Network and drinking my cup of coffee this morning, I texted my mom and asked if they could pick up some oats and chocolate at the grocery store because I wanted to make some cookies. She texted back "Yes!!" exclamation points and all, which… is kind of a big deal. It's rare that I suggest a recipe that doesn't have some sort of fruit in it and a "with" or "and" in the title. One of our favorite cookies around here are oatmeal chocolate chip. I was originally planning on making these into cookies, but I have a case of what I'm calling summer-break-ultra-laziness and just pressed the dough into a bar pan. Oh and by the way. This recipe? I made it up. :) These bars are really chewy, soft, and buttery. If you're texture-crazy like me, I think you'll love these. The oats give them a really great texture and the chocolate forms little pockets of melty joy throughout the bars. Seriously, your taste buds are gonna do the harlem shake, electric slide, gangnam style, party rock shuffle all at the same time.  

oatmeal chocolate chunk bars

3/4 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. dark brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 c. wholewheat flour

2 1/2 c. quick-cooking oats

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt 

1 1/2 c. chocolate chunks {or chocolate chips}

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease or line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add flour, oats, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir until combined. Fold in chocolate chunks. Press dough into prepared pan and bake for 15-25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let cool before slicing into squares. 

lemon raspberry yogurt cake with lemon honey glaze

First of all, thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. You people make me feel so supported and loved. It's insane, I only know about 10 out of 574 of you. Since you expressed so much concern and offered so much encouragement, I thought I'd let you know I've been feeling a lot better since last weekend's… uhh, meltdown of sorts. I'm working on contentment, and taking in the little things around me. Not looking to the next thing, but being in the moment and taking the time to appreciate the simple and beautiful, be it cute kids on their way to school, a perfectly ripe banana {I'm weird.}, my 120 pound dog sitting on me and thinking he's a poodle, 6 a.m. runs, my favorite song on the radio {which changes about weekly. But right now Stay by Rihanna.}, or a text message from my bestie. Also. Uhh, I finished 9th grade yesterday. YUP! I'm a sophomore now! Or as my dad called me a "sucky sophy". I feel so wonderful, so free. Seriously, I told my friend I feel like Superwoman. This year, I changed school curriculums and my word, to say it was challenging is an extreme understatement. It was more schoolwork than I have ever had in my life. But through lots of prayers, time, and cups of coffee, I finally conquered. To celebrate, last night I had friends over to watch a movie. I wanted something really funny because I felt like I hadn't laughed in awhile. Honestly, in a weird way, I kinda wanted to like… pee in my pants laughing so hard. AAAAAANYWAYS. We watched Grown Ups and ahhmahhgahh. I laughed. A lot. I didn't pee. But I did indeed laugh. I also managed to eat about half the bowl of popcorn and nearly choked at a couple points. "I wanna get chocolate wasted, daddy!" Also, the Canadian guy at the waterpark… I nearly died. 

So cake… I don't make cake often. It seems like we constantly have people over here, so it's no doubt someone will eat pretty much anything I make. It's just a little easier to give them cookies instead of having to dirty plates and forks for a slice of cake. The occasions that I actually make cake are few and far apart. Seriously, I don't even remember the last cake I made. But tonight, we're having our neighbors over for dinner {the first time we've ever done anything with them in the year and a half we've been here. Impressive.}, so I thought now would be as good a time as any to wow them with my mad skills. Just kiiiiiiiiding. This cake is oooogly mooogly, but dang, it tastes fantastic. I wanted to take a picture of a slice since the outside was so unappealing, but my mom freaked out and said it was bad manners to slice a cake before company comes… So there went that. This cake has a tender and moist {don'tkillmeiloveyou} crumb thanks to the yogurt in the batter. It's packed with the wonderful freshness of lemons and raspberries, which seriously… One of the best combos out there. I loved how the sugar and lemon zest are rubbed together. This process brings out the oils and flavor in the lemon and the sugar gets all pretty and fluffy. Also, the glaze… I may or may not have sipped it with a spoon… Have a happy weekend, my loves!

lemon raspberry yogurt cake with honey lemon glaze

cake//

1 c. butter, room temp

3 c. flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. lemon zest 

4 eggs

1 c. plain yogurt

1/4 c. lemon juice

2 c. raspberries

glaze// 

1/4 c. lemon juice

2 tbsp. honey

3 tbsp. milk

3 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease a bundt pan; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, using your fingertips, rub together the lemon zest and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the butter, eggs, lemon juice, and yogurt. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until smooth and combined. Fold in raspberries. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. While the cake is cooling, prepare the glaze. Once cake is cooled, flip onto a wire rack or cake plate. Top with glaze and extra lemon zest if desired. 

apple cinnamon baked muesli

So can we like, be real for a sec? The thing about being a blogger, is people only get to see the things that you choose to put out there- the pretty things, the good days, the yummy recipes, and the beautiful pictures. What you don't see are the REAL things that go on behind the scenes, the crappy days, the recipes that end up being thrown away, and the pictures that, even though you took 120 pictures, the lighting just wasn't right. I feel like I only write the funny cute things, but none of the stuff that's actually… going on in my life. So let's be real. I wanna talk. I don't know why, but it hit me this weekend that… I really don't have many friends. And it's getting old. Sure, I have three close friends and they're OHMYGOSHTHEFREAKINGBESTEST. But over the last year and a half since moving to Namibia, I haven't really clicked with anyone. And I think for the well being of a person, they NEED that person that they click with- they can cry with, laugh with, dance with, and be crazy with. I have a weird thing where I don't cry often, but when I do, it just comes in a random flood of emotions and the gates break open and the tears come pouring. Sunday night at youth group, during worship, I all of a sudden couldn't sing the lyrics. My eyes started feeling like they were about to pop out of my head from holding back all the tears that were threatening to spill. After worship, my nose was running and one of the leaders came up to me and asked me if I was feeling sick. And at that question, I just let go. I burst into tears. I sat down and just… couldn't stop. Then one of my best friends came up, asked if I was okay, and asked if I needed to talk. I nodded my head and we headed outside. I told him what was going on. I feel excluded. and lonely. Things have gotten mixed up and I've been hurt. I was sitting there thinking I have no friends when I had a wonderful one sitting right there, letting me cry my eyeballs out, and encouraging me to the best of his ability. Sure, I could sit here feeling sorry for myself, OR I could be thankful for the gosh dang awesome people God HAS put in my life and do my best to meet new people. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm struggling, yes, and have been feeling like I'm on the verge of tears all weekend. My eyes burn from crying so much, and my mind is confused by a million and five things. But I'll get through it and at the end, I'll be a better person because of the trials I've gone through and the courage I've taken to step out of my comfort zone. So what the heck does this have to do with breakfast? Well not much. Other than the fact that when I'm stressed and feeling like a pile of dog crap, I go into the kitchen and whip up something yummy, and for those few minutes, everything's ok. Be cool. Eat food. 

apple cinnamon baked muesli

2 c. muesli

1/2 c. sunflower seeds

1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking powder

2 eggs

3/4 c. milk

1/4 c. honey

1 c. applesauce

2 small apples

In a small bowl, combine the muesli, seeds, flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add eggs, honey, milk, and applesauce. Pour batter into a greased 9x7 pan. Bake at 375ºF for 20-25 minutes.