My Every-Day-Valentine

I’ve never been a huge fan of Valentine’s Day… Sure, as a kid I loved getting those little “Sweethearts” candy with cute messages on it, but now I see it more as just another over-commercialized holiday. And from a couples’ perspective, I don’t really like how it seems like all the pressure is on the guy to do the wooing, gifting, romancing, etc. Too many women, I think, base their husband’s/boyfriend’s love for them on how well he performs on Valentine’s Day. I mean, c’mon, it’s just one day out of the year! My husband and I see Valentine’s Day more as just an excuse to go out and be with each other than anything else. Now before you write me off as a complete Grinch, please read on…

Now don’t get me wrong – I like flowers, cards, etc. from my husband just as much as any other girl. But why should the expression of love be limited to (or rather focused excessively on) only one day a year? Little things like chocolates and flowers are definitely nice every once in a while, but more than that I appreciate the day in and day out love that PC shows me. He is always kind, encouraging, gentle, and loving toward me. Whether it’s showing appreciation for the measly dinner I made, listening to my hormonal-driven rants and vents, washing the dishes after dinner (we don’t have a dishwasher), or just holding me whenever I just need him (even if it means not getting done as much studying as he would like), he is constantly showing his love for me. This, to me, is true love. And I am blessed beyond words to belong to my Prince Charming.

Now it would be a lie to say that we didn’t “celebrate” Valentine’s Day at all – We usually just keep it simple with dinner and an exchange of cards or something, but this year we decided to go all out and go to a really nice dinner at the Melting Pot (yes, this is about as fancy as it gets for us). With Baby coming soon we knew this would probably be the last time for a while that we would be able to enjoy an extravagant romantic dinner, so we just did it! PC actually had the entire day off of classes – we couldn’t figure out why in the world he would get Valentine’s Day off of all the holidays, but figured it had to do with Loyola being a Jesuit school maybe? At any rate, we’ll take it! So we had a wonderful, relaxing day together and that evening enjoyed a delicious, romantic dinner, and exchanged our cards (actually for Valentine’s and our anniversary he writes me the most romantic letters you can imagine. Yes, he is quite the eloquent Romeo with these letters and leaves me breathless after reading them). So even though I’m not the biggest fan of the holiday itself, I am a huge fan of being with my Every-Day-Valentine and will take any excuse I can get to do so. :-)

Medical Monday: Best Granola Ever!

So this Medical Monday I thought I would share the recipe I use for homemade granola – especially since in the last month alone I have made *cough* three batches of it. Granola is so yummy, whether you eat it with milk, yogurt, or just plain, but it also can get pretty pricey for the good stuff. So after searching around online (thank you, pinterest) I found this recipe  from wallflour girl, and decided to give it a try. My husband and I loved it! Since then, I have actually tweaked it a little bit and added some extra ingredients that we really enjoy, as well as using a little extra of the liquid mixture, which made it more flavorful, clumpy and granola-like. So here is my version of the recipe:

Ingredients:

9 cups oats

1½ cups chopped nuts (we like almonds)

1 cup sweetened coconut 
3 cups brown sugar 

⅔ cup water

1 cup vegetable oil

½ cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1-2 cups of dried cranberries (add more dried fruit if your heart desires!)

(The italicized ingredients make up the liquid mixture.)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease two 9x13 pans  (you could also put tinfoil in the bottom before greasing for easier clean up!).
Place oats, nuts, and coconut in pan, and mix well.

In medium saucepan, heat brown sugar and water until it just begins to boil.

Turn off heat, then stir in oil, syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon.

Pour over oat mixture and stir until evenly coated. Oat mixture should be no more than 2 inches thick to ensure optimal crispiness.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown, stirring every 15 minutes.

Let cool and add in desired dried fruit. Store in air-tight container.

And there you have it! I was surprised at how easy it is to make (and how delicious!) I will definitely be making my own granola from now on! On a side note, I have tried a recipe with a honey base, but it lacked the amazing flavor this one has, so for now we’re just keeping to this recipe. 

Just this last week finished off a whole batch! So needless to say, I will be making yet another batch at some point this week. :-)