How to Make The Best Granola Ever

February14

A lot of packaged granola is loaded with sugar and sodium. This one isn't. It's gluten-free and vegan - the best granola ever.

Have you seen how many different kinds of granola you can buy? 

A lot of the granola you see in grocery stores is loaded with too much sugar and sodium… definitely not something you want if you’re trying to eat healthy (and Granola started off as a health food, remember).

Here’s a better idea… make your own. This is a very easy gluten-free, vegan recipe that shows you how to make the best granola ever. I’ve used brown sugar and maple syrup to give it a subtle sweetness and added just a pinch of salt. The almonds and tart cherries bump up the excitement!

Find the printable recipe below the image!

How to Make The Best Granola Ever


Super Easy Chef’s Salad Recipe

April14

I forgot how deliciously rewarding it is to prepare and eat a Chef’s Salad. Here's a Super Easy Chef's Salad Recipe... protein-rich and full of flavor, and looks beautiful on the table, too!   You get your protein. You get your cheese. You get your veggies. You get your crunchy little croutons. You get a healthy, easy-to-make meal that is tied together with a bouncy light vinaigrette.Here's a Super Easy Chef's Salad Recipe... protein-rich and full of flavor, and looks beautiful on the table, too!

Traditionally a Chef’s Salad is made with smoked ox tongue, fresh roasted ham and chicken or turkey cut off the bone and carefully sliced “julienne” style. I’m fine with the ham and chicken or turkey, but the smoked ox tongue is definitely NOT happening in my salad bowl. You go right ahead, and thank you very much.

But what do you do if you don’t have a roasted ham or chicken or turkey hanging out in your refrigerator? You follow my recipe for Super Easy Chef’s Salad. Buy the meat and cheese at the supermarket deli and ask (nicely) for them to cut into ¼-inch thick slices.

You’ll still need to cut the meat and cheese into strips, aka julienne, but that doesn’t take much time. Just stack the slices and cut them all at once. Boiled eggs are easy (and you may already have some in your fridge).

How to Make a Chef's Salad Mama's High StrungYou can use romaine lettuce, but I like to mix it up with iceberg and whatever other leaf lettuce looks good. In this recipe, I used only cucumbers and tomatoes, but you can add whatever veggies you like because, after all, this is a CHEF’S Salad… and you’re the CHEF!

Chocolate Almond Meringue Cookies

February5

 These gluten-free Chocolate Almond Meringue Cookies are light as air and so very sweet. I've also got some tips on how to make perfect meringue every time!

These Chocolate Almond Meringue Cookies are light as air and so very sweet… just like being in love! 

Deliciously rich chocolate blended with almond butter holds the two cloud-like meringue cookies together. Oh, and they are gluten-free!

 These gluten-free Chocolate Almond Meringue Cookies are light as air and so very sweet. I've also got some tips on how to make perfect meringue every time!

 

 These gluten-free Chocolate Almond Meringue Cookies are light as air and so very sweet. I've also got some tips on how to make perfect meringue every time!

I tinted the meringue for the Chocolate Almond Meringue Cookies with food coloring and added raspberry flavoring. Cherry, strawberry or even vanilla would pair nicely with the chocolate almond filling.

You’ll fall in love with these little bites of heaven. Get the recipe here! 
 These gluten-free Chocolate Almond Meringue Cookies are light as air and so very sweet. I've also got some tips on how to make perfect meringue every time!

 

 

Homemade Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake

November15

Homemade chocolate cake makes me swoon. Homemade chocolate cake with cherries… well, that’s a whole other rodeo.

Homemade Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake-Mama's High Strung

 

Make this tempting Chocolate Cherry Cake in a Bundt pan so that when you cut into it at the table… voilà! Beautiful cherries will come spilling out. The cherry pie filling (please, don’t judge) keeps the cake moist.

Oh, and this cake has a secret ingredient: I used freshly brewed coffee to really punch-up the dark chocolate taste.

This is really an easy cake to pull together. Melting the chocolate is probably the most difficult part of this “dump” cake recipe.

So make this recipe tomorrow after you buy the ingredients today… and then saddle-up for the rodeo.

 

If you’re obsessed with Cherry Pie Filling like me, you’ll love these recipes:

Cherry Pie Ice Cream 

Cherry Pie with Vodka Crust

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Hi…
I’m Christina Chavez

I was a TV journalist for many years, but with a house full of kids I decided to come off the road, go to culinary school and follow my passion for cooking. Mama’s High Strung is all about food… everything from creative recipe ideas to some really cool kitchen gadgets and cooking tips. I live in Chicago, but I love to travel and write about my food discoveries! You can reach me by email: mamashighstrung@gmail.com