Badness Goes Granola

Okay, not really. But I made some. Granola is one of those foods that I could just never really see the point of. The stuff that comes in the box? Tastes chemically. The powdery looking stuff at the bulk food store? Meh. But then....I made some. And today I made some more. Mmmm....

I've been eating 1/3 cup for breakfast with 1/2 cup of yogurt. On Friday the Princess said to me, "You have to eat something else for breakfast! You ate that day after day after day after day! The next day you have to eat something else. Promise Mommy...." I was out, so I ate something different for the last 3 days, but tomorrow.....

Here's the original recipe - change it as you see fit. I made a fruitless version, just augmenting the amounts of the other ingredients a little, and added chopped crystallized ginger....mmm.....

2 cups oatmeal (I used 1c. oatmeal, and 1 c. spelt)

1/2 cup wheat bran

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp cinnamon

dash salt

dash vanilla extract

1/2 cup each chopped dried apricots, dried cherries and raisins

zest of one lemon or one orange

Preheat oven to 325 F. Combine oats, bran, sesame, coconut, hazelnuts and sunflower seeds in a big bowl.

Heat oil, honey, cinnamon , salt and vanilla in a small saucepan until blended and runny. Pour over oat mixture and combine well. Spread onto greased or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until rich golden brown. Remove from oven and stir in fruit and zest. Let cool, and break into pieces. Stores well in airtight container in pantry.

And here's a photo of the Princess with our latest Snow-girl.

And I've lost another pound!