granola

I made this granola the other day and it was good. It doesn't have any refined sugar in it, which I like. I actually made it twice, and the first time I accidentally put in 10 cups of oats but the same amount of all the other ingredients, and it was still really good. The other time I made it with the normal amounts.

Ingredients

5 cups rolled oats
1 cup blanched slivered almonds
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup wheat germ
2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups honey
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2) In a large bowl, stir together the oats, almonds, walnuts, pecans, sesame seeds, wheat germ, coconut and sunflower seeds. In a small pan over medium heat, stir together the oil and honey. Cook and stir until blended. You could also do this in a large measuring cup in the microwave, heating for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Pour over the oat mixture, and stir to coat evenly. Spread out in an even layer on two cookie sheets.

3) Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the oats and nuts are toasted. Immediately after it comes out of the oven, stir in the raisins and dried cranberries. Let stand until cooled, and stir again to break up any large clusters. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks, but I guarantee it won't be around that long!

nydisfo

new years day in san francisco-- a decision we made because of the impulse to do something new. my best buddy clark and i were in orange county after christmas, and on the 30th we decided that we should leave early the next morning to san francisco, visit some friends, and spend the day and night there. the best way to take in any new city is on foot or on bikes, so we borrowed some bikes from a friend and parked our car at golden gate park and starting scootin around. golden gate park was surprisingly huge, and has everything you can imagine a park having in it, like a polo field, mountain bike trails, a windmill, a major museum, a major music venue, etc. at one end of the park is ocean beach, which the u.s. open of surfing recently added to its tour.

here is a video of clark, a photographer, taking it in:

Every sky is new

Okay this is a new thing I did, but it's only passive "doing." It fits in the blog more based on wordplay than based on initiative. I saw this sunset once, I had never seen it before, and I will never see it again. Interestingly, I get a lot of the same pleasure out of seeing a sunset each day that I do out of actively doing something new.

I like to run on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, that runs all along the side of the valley, from south of Provo all the way to the north of Salt Lake. I try to go between about 4pm and 8pm each day because the weather is almost always interesting during those hours, no matter what type the weather is. I like running in rain, snow, sun, etc.

This sunset is from driving on I80 the other day. So it’s not actually from running. But this is the type of new thing I see every day while running.

Joy comes in the morning.

Several months ago I was struck by the epiphany that, separating my time as an LDS missionary, I could probably count on my two hands all the times when I have gone to sleep before 11pm since I was about 14 years old. I think of myself as a night person, but can’t say whether that’s due to nature or nurture, aside from the fact that my body doesn’t seem to want to go to bed at night. But really that feeling is more one of procrastination, not wanting to finish everything up to go to bed, or call it quits on an incomplete day, than a feeling of excitement from being so productive in the later hours.

This week’s goal was to engage self-discovery by trying a new daily schedule. I started off with a 10:30pm bedtime on Sunday night, planning to awake at 6:30am. I ended up doing 10:50pm to 6:35am, so pretty close. I continued with that goal throughout the week.

Though convincing myself to go to bed at night will probably continue to be a hard task, I do feel terrific when I wake up early. I like the work that I do in the mornings.

Two quotes that I want to continue pondering:

Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

Elder Russell M. Nelson says, “in order to experience true joy in the morning, or at any time, at least three factors are needed. You need to feel good about the people with whom you live and work—your companions in life. You must feel good about yourself—not in any sense of conceit, but simply a proper esteem for yourself, well deserved. And possibly most important, you must feel good about your relation to God and sincerely love him.”

And also, Benjamin Franklin, whose words, “Early to bed, early to rise, make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” have become commonsense proverb, also promised, “The early morning has gold in its mouth.” He recommended consistency in rising early.