Granola

I made some granola the other day. Everyone associates hippies with foods like granola, or  GORP, (Good Old Raising & Peanuts) and if you follow this  blog you know that I love my protein,  that I'm not the "mellow' hippie. Granola does have protein because of the nuts and coconut. I do love my granola and cold soy milk for breakfast right after, not before, my morning walk with the dogs.

The price of granola is out of this world. Sometimes we purchase granola from the  La Farine Bakery in our little area of Oakland. The quality of their baked goods there is amazing including their granola  Generally speaking good granola runs around 6 dollars a pound. I can eat half a pound of granola as a snack, but it's rolled oats, honey and few other ingredients thrown together, and then baked in the oven. Six bucks a pound seems awfully expensive to me.

The other problem with granola is people say; "Oh granola, healthy, I'll eat a big bowl." Wrong, good yes, but it's also packed with calories. In this recipe I put coconut, honey, raisins, 3 different nuts, cranberries, dried cherries, dried bananas, maple syrup,  and brown sugar. All that sweetness packs a punch on the paunch.  Half a cup will do me or anyone for that matter just fine for breakfast.

So, I decided to make a big batch for Geraldine and myself.  I was multi tasking, and that's something an old man shouldn't be doing especially when he has something in the oven. I overcooked the granola but, Geraldine says it's great so it has to be half decent, and she's right because we both keep eating it. If you follow these direction you'll be just fine, but don't make my mistake. I picked out the overcooked parts around the edges, but I'm still a  little disappointed with myself. It's very rare indeed when I overcook foods.

The recipe is below the photos.

 Make Food, Not War

Oats and fixings 

mix it up

bake it up

finished

                                                     Granola
Ingredients:
6 cups organic old fashion rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup almonds
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 dried cherries
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup coconut
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon  ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup crushed dried bananas

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

2) In a plastic zip lock bag and a mallet crush the walnuts, and almonds into bite size pieces and add to the bowl.

3) In a large bowl combine the oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, vegetable oil, coconut, maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and the nuts. Mix well. Use your hands, and make sure everything is incorporated evenly.

4) Spread this mixture out evenly onto two sheet pans, and place in the oven at 300 degrees for 10 minutes. Then take it out, and turn it over, and put it back into the oven for another 10 minutes.

5) Remove it from the oven, and let it cool, and then mix in the raisins, cranberries, cherries and dried bananas. You're done.

That's it. Enjoy!