I decided to spend my one-handed time researching some ideas and the how/why some ingredients do or don’t work. I have a small issue with an incredibly rapid stream of consciousness. Red light, yellow light, squirrel! I should put some nuts out for the squirrels, although they keep stealing the sunflower seeds. Hmm, I need to order some more poppy seeds for the Men’s Scrub. The Men’s Scrub uses ground oatmeal. I wonder if I have any leftover or if I need to grind some more. I wonder why it didn’t help with the hives. Do I have anything that might have helped with the hives? Yeah, you get the idea. Although it seems like I’m mocking myself, it’s embarrassingly almost word for word the internal thought process that inspired the latest round of research. *grin* And if you haven’t noticed I tend to get a bit obsessive on occasion. Hey, if I was perfect and healthy I could cause some real trouble in this world.
I got a little…interested…in slow cooker recipes the past week. I go through phases where my nook seldom goes dark. So when I needed to stop reading about ingredients and let the info actually soak in I would flip through recipes. I stumbled across a homemade granola recipe and I’m really happy with how it turned out when I made it (I may be munching on some while I’m writing this). Since oatmeal is one of my main interests of research lately I thought I’d go a little wild and share the recipe. It’s the “Basic Granola” recipe in Carol Hildebrand’s “365 Winter Warmer Slow Cooker Recipes”.
“4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (in case you haven’t dealt with oats much and haven’t been learning from anything/anyone about it, it’s the oatmeal tube that has the 5 minute recipe, not the 1 minute *smile*)
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
3 tbsp. vegetable oil, enriched with vitamin E, if desired
Spray the inside of the slow cooker with cooking spray. Put the rolled oats, honey, and vegetable oil in the slow cooker and mix well. Partially cover, propping the lid open with a twist of foil or a wooden skewer to allow the moisture to escape, and cook on low for 2.5 to 3.5 hours, or until the oat morsels are roasted dry and golden brown, stirring every 30 minutes. Allow the granola to cool, then transfer it to an airtight container. Store it in the refrigerator….When the granola has cooled, add in a total of 1 to 2 cups of raisins, shredded unsweetened coconut, chopped walnuts, slivered almonds, or shelled pumpkin or sunflower seeds.”
I used maple syrup for mine and I’ll admit that at two hours I added a bit more syrup right out of the bottle into the mixture. *grin* Don’t forget to stir!! *starts whistling innocently* I believe the syrup can get a tough and bitter if it sits on the bottom too long. Lol. Mixed with some cherry craisins it’s still fantastic to me.
One reason I started researching oatmeal after running across the recipe is that I’ve never figured out why the oatmeal I added to my bath failed to relieve my itching when I had hives. To be honest it felt like I was bathing with a bunch of minnows or something and seriously grossed me out. *cracking up* I did a bit of mind-over-matter and kept bathing in it with the hope that I’d have a few minutes of relief. Aveeno helped me when I was a kid and had the chicken pox, so I’ve been puzzling over it. Oatmeal has phenols and other goodies that are consider anti-inflammatories, plus oatmeal creates a kind of barrier on your skin, which is suppose to protect it. After a lot of reading (I was too miserable to ease my mind when I was itching) it appears that the oatmeal didn’t work because I had such an acute allergic reaction to the medication I had been taking. So thankfully I’m not as skeptical about adding oatmeal to products. It’s still fantastic for exfoliating, but I think it won’t go on my list of anti-inflammatories that I want to experiment with.
Anyway, I hope some of you find the recipe useful. I’m still trying to organize my thoughts about Evening Primrose Oil and Clary Sage. And sampling. And mud. And dogs, especially dogs that keep getting into mud. And one cat stealing the bed of the other cat….
Georgia's Pampering 