Dusting Off My Oven

Hello friends!!  How is everyone’s week going so far?  We are definitely seeing a change of seasons in these parts; the air is crisper, some leaves are changing colour, the apple trees are heavy with fruit……fall is without a doubt licking at summers feet!  The cooler evenings have been poking at the “baker” hibernating inside to let me know that it’s A-OK to crank the oven up and get the aroma of goodies in the air.  I’ve already baked up some delicious gluten free zucchini muffins which didn’t last very long at all!  Something I’ve really been missing since trying out this gluten free diet is granola.  I did buy a bag of Bakery On Main Cranberry Orange Cashew granola, but before I could try it more than once a mouse got into our pantry and ate a hole through the bag.  But that is another story!  DOH!!  So after hearing my friend rave about a granola recipe her husband had made, I emailed him requesting the it.  Turns out it’s from the Quinoa 365 cookbook which I then borrowed from a co worker.  The only change my friend made to the recipe was to replace 1 cup of the rolled oats for quinoa flakes so I followed suit.  The following photos were taken at night and don’t do this recipe justice, but let me tell you….IT WAS AMAZING!!! Jason and I had to sequester ourselves in the living room because we were eating it by the handful straight from the oven.  LOL  The recipe made 7 cups which just fit into my 4 litre storage container!   Here’s what’s left. We’ve enjoyed it with yogurt, as a cereal with milk (I’ve been using So Delicious Coconut Milk) and as a topping for oats.  This recipe alone has convinced me to order the book.  Can’t wait to receive my copy!  The next recipe I toyed with was the result of an advertisement for sunflower seed butter that I found in a Clean Eating Magazine for trail mix cookies.
I didn’t have any sunflower seed butter, but I did have a jar of peanut, cashew, dried fruit butter that was begging for some attention!  Here’s a peek at the bowl pre mixing:
I love recipes where you just dump all the ingredients in one bowl and mix!  After some serious stirring to incorporate the ingredients…necessary due to the fact that I do not own a stand mixer….and some careful 2 tbsp-per-cookie-measuring, I had 26 beauties ready for the oven. These made the house smell fantastic!  We could hardly wait for them to cool down before diving in. Sarah doesn’t like dried fruit so she’s been missing out on some pretty tasty cookies!  Noah just adores them and they’re good for him, too! I’ve been eating 2 just about an hour before hitting the gym which has been working out well.  No PB burps like some bars can give.  ;)
Other than baking I’ve been hanging out at the soccer field:
And working on the finishing touches of our rec room renovation.  Here’s a sneak peek of a before and (an almost finished) after:
I’ll be doing a full before and after post just as soon as it’s complete.  We just bought some shelving from IKEA this weekend that will go on either side of the fireplace/TV, there’s some artwork to be hung and I have to pick out some window treatments.  *Almost* there!
Before I sign off, have you checked out Krista’s Kraving’s facebook page yet?  That’s where I post all the new (to me) gluten free eats I’ve been trying, my pantry basics and little tidbits of info here and there.  I also post recipe and review links once a week.  Check it out!!
What have YOU been baking lately??
Bye for now!!