New recipes

These last two months I have been trying at least one new recipe a week. To make things easier, the recipe doesn't have to be a main dish. It can be a side dish or salad or something like that. I think even a new salad dressing would count. Here are some of the things we've tried:

• Baked macaroni and cheese (like regular macaroni and cheese, but after you are done making it, you bake it for 30 minutes). We like the regular stuff just as much, so I don't know that I will bother to bake it.
  
• Zucchini-chicken pasta (Mindy's recipe, which I will put in the new cookbook). This was a good recipe. I used the sauce technique on another pasta recipe.
• Garlic-butter sauteed Brussels sprouts. Much better than it sounds, but not something you would do every week. Maybe once every two months with different vegetables.
• Eggs Benedict. This was a big hit with the children. The Hollandaise Sauce was very nice. I think it was the original sauce that would have been used in the broccoli-chicken recipes we have, but that has been changed to something easier using canned chicken soup and sour cream.
• Breakfast burritos. This was a big flop. No one would eat them.
• Grilled chipotle steak tacos. This was great. Even the children ate the meat.
• Beef rogan josh. This was like a beef curry with onions, served on rice.
  
• Cucumber dill salad.
  
• Chipotle chicken salad tacos. Another good, quick recipe from a Rick Bayless Mexican cooking book.
  

As always, if anyone has a good recipe to share, I'm happy to try new things. Sometimes we get tired of eating the same dishes every month--except for macaroni and cheese. The children don't ever get tired of that.

New granola recipe

Granola, plain
8 cups oats (old fashioned, rolled)
8 oz. coconut, optional
1-1/2 cups wheat germ or wheat bran
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups nuts, chopped (pecans, almonds, etc.)
½ cup sunflower seeds
2 Tb. sesame seeds, optional
½ cup water
½ cup oil
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla, optional
Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Combine the water, oil, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla in another bowl or measuring cup. I use a glass 2-cup measuring cup. Heat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until warm and easily mixed together. Pour liquid over the dry ingredients and stir until everything is well mixed. Spread granola on two greased baking sheets. Bake for 45 minutes at 250°. Stir and switch location of baking sheets. Bake for an additional 45 minutes (1-1/2 hours total). Add dried fruit or other items as desired. This makes a chunky, nice granola.