bits of sunshine recipes

Granola - Ben and Elizabeth Style

Heat oven to 300 degrees F

Mix ::
3 c oats
3 c crisp rice cereal
1 c almond slivers
1 c walnut pieces
1 c coconut
1/2 c powdered pecans
1/2 c ground flax
1/4 c sesame seeds

In another bowl mix 1/2 c vegetable oil and 1 c honey

Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and stir to evenly distribute the liquid

Spread on two cookie sheets and roast till golden brown, stirring every 10 minutes

When you are almost done roasting the granola add 2 c dried fruit of your choice
We added 1 c raisins and 1 c dates

Spread on brown paper or parchment paper to cool.

Store in an air-tight container. Large mason jars work really well!

Of course, you can vary the amounts or types of dry ingredients, as well as the fruit.  Just so it equals out to about 10 cups of dry ingredients, plus the 2 cups of fruit. 

Ben, Maddie and I love this with milk for breakfast, Ben loves it sprinkled into his granola, and Isaac likes to just eat it plain. 

If you have recipe variations or other ways to eat granola - add them in the comments!  Thanks!

Granola - from Jeannine

She says "It's my adaptation of a recipe I got from my "More-with-Less Cookbook", which is a lovely Mennonite book, focusing on simplicity, nutrition, natural foods, and making from scratch rather than eating packaged food.

Most of the ingredients can be bought at Aldi, MUCH cheaper than anywhere else. My rough estimate is that it probably costs about $3-$4 per batch (depending on the nuts and fruit, which can be pricey) . If you skip the nuts and fruit, it's about $2 per batch. Not bad!"

Homemade Granola

6 c. whole oats
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 T. cinnamon (or to taste)
1 T. ground cloves (or to taste)
handful of almonds - optional
any dried fruit you like - optional

1 c. water
1 c. oil (I use canola, but you can use any veg. oil)
1/2 to 1 c. honey (or corn syrup, more or less to taste)

Set oven to 250-300 (hotter oven will make it a bit crispier)
In large bowl mix all dry ingredients thoroughly.
In smaller bowl, or 4-cup measuring cup, mix liquids, add to large bowl.
Stir until entire mixture is moist.
Spread on greased cookie sheet, bake for one hour.
Let cool completely, crumble, and store in airtight container.

Serve dry, or with milk (like cereal).

Jeannine's tips::
*you can substitute other spices you like in place of the cloves. I also really like nutmeg.
*you can also use other nuts like walnuts, pecans, etc, depending on what you like.
*to save money, I buy whole almonds and grind them in a food processor instead of buying sliced or slivered almonds.
*dried fruit has added sugar (and can be quite expensive) so I usually add fresh/frozen berries (thawed in the fridge), when serving.
*my favorite way to eat this is (for breakfast) with berries and milk, warmed in mic. for about 35 seconds
*hope someone out there can enjoy this! Let me know what you think here, or if you have made your own modifications.

Elizabeth's modifications::
I made it with just cinnamon - no other spices
I added cashews and raisins - very nice
I didn't have enough honey, so I used some brown sugar - that worked well