Friday, June 7, 2013

BreakfastLove: Granola






It could not be easier to make your own breakfast cereal. Granola in particular is very simple. In fact, the hardest part of making granola is shopping for, and deciding on what you'd like to include!

Today I am staying simple. These are all whole ingredients. Although they are packaged for the store shelf, the only ingredient in the container is what the label says on the front: oats, flax seed, honey, craisins, olive oil, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg.

That's it.

4-5 cups "old fashioned" rolled oats
1 1/2 cup local, American honey
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup ground flax seed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1/2- 1 cup craisins, or other dried fruit
as many kinds of nuts you'd like (nut oils are WONDERFUL for you!)

Simply combine those ingredients in a bowl, toss thoroughly to mix and spread on a baking sheet.
Bake at 325 for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Toss lightly to break it up. Return to oven for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Store in an airtight container on your pantry shelf.

So you've just made yourself roughly 2 weeks worth of your own breakfast cereal. The quantity used in this recipe cost about $4.50-$5.00 in ingredients. You can make any kind of granola; throw in coconut, peanut butter, chocolate chips (after baking), whatever you like. Instead of local honey, try local maple syrup, sorgum or molasses. Be creative! Make your own labels! Just DO IT!

Those of you with children will find this a fun, simple, low-mess project to do with the kids. Making your own granola fills your house with all the cookie-good smells without the caloric temptation. You still have time tonight to make your family a healthy breakfast!



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