Granola Shmanola...

I thought the sky was grey due to the time I woke up this morning. In fact, I swear I saw the sun peering through the clouds while I was running. It wasn't until I was safely inside my home when it all happened; the grey clouds exploded and it down poured for a good majority of the day. But who cares! It's fall; we can't have sunny skies forever.

For breakfast I had a simple bowl of cereal with almond milk and coffee...Well with a few new additional ingredients thanks to last night's grocery shop.

To my spelt flakes I added banana, cacoa nibs, flax seeds, the most plump grapes, and fresh figs! Mmm...I must have had figs before but it felt like the first time biting into a real, fresh fig.

After breaky, I threw together a little lunch to get me through my six hour class. I packed a chickpea salad, some grapes, and a bran muffin.

It was then that time; I trudged out into the rain for my morning class. I left my bike at home today as I figured it would be difficult to ride in rain boots equiped with an umbrella. What a brilliant idea --- The few people who braved the wind and rain on their bikes looked in serious pain.

We had a guest speaker from Chatelaine today who spoke to us about the importance of fact-checking. I would have to say it was the most practical and helpful lesson I have sat in on since my first day at Ryerson.

I will then go on to say that I absolutely adore my feature writing class. Not knowing was I was getting myself in to (I thought it would be a broadcasting class,) I was dreading the idea of an entire semester of feature writing. However, after one day I LOVE it. I love the instructor, Rachel. I love the class size. And I already see positive progress in my writing in the near future.

We had an hour break in the afternoon so I headed back out into the rain to visit a friend nearby for lunch.

The rest of the class time was used for pitching our first feature story ideas to Rachel, and then for going over a story from the National Post. It is a lovely story...Even though it's based on tweeting. Check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/magazine/01wwln-lede-t.html?ref=magazine

It really opened my eyes. What has become of our society? Can we not just cherish a moment by ourselves or with the people who surround us? Why must our first thoughts be "I have to tweet this?" I wish I could say this was a bad thing but maybe tweeting is a way for us to remember --- An on going diary for us to recover years later? Or maybe it's a way to hide discomfort, a way to remove ourselves from the present moment...

After class I headed over to Kensington Market to pick up some ingredients to make Meghan's granola. I always forget how sore my feet get walking in rubber boots...When I was just a few blocks away from home I had to remove my boots to stretch out my feet. Let's just say it was a good thing it rained today or I may have walked home barefoot.

When I got home I quickly whipped together the granola mixture so that it could bake while I made dinner.

I switched up the recipe just a tad by using agave nectar in place of the honey and maple syrup.

Well...I wish I could say it was a success. I must remember that my oven gets too god damn hot. No matter what the baking time always ends up being half of what is suggested due to burning.

I didn't take the granola out when it started to seriously brown though as it was still very soft...It wasn't until I finished eating dinner that I realized my granola had turned from a golden brown to a burnt brown. Let's just pretend the granola is coated with cocoa.

I added some craisins and raisins after I removed the brownola from the oven...

I refuse to throw it out --- A little roasted flavour never hurt anyone!

For dinner tonight I had a brown rice patty topped with a tomato mixture and some green salad.

To make the patty I mixed together about 1/4 cup of brown rice with some corn kernels, red onion, garlic, and one egg white. For spice, I added some cumin, tumeric, cayenne, salt, and pepper. After forming a patty, I fried it in some sesame oil until it was golden brown on both sides (about five minutes a side...for me, at least!)

The tomato mixture was a blend of tomato (obv,) red onion, cilantro, chili flakes, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

I dipped the patty in some Dijon mustard and hot sauce.

Dinner was pretty darn good...But I wont be having any patties tommorow as the second one I attempted to make just turned into a jumbled messs.

For dessert I had some of my granola mixed with some walnuts, almonds, and chocolate chips. The chocolate chips actually made it seem like the granola was chocolate flavoured and not just charcoaled...It was quite nice...

Well I must do some dishes now as the kitchen is quite a disaster due to a secret dish that won't be leashed until tommorow...