What's cookin'?

What's cookin'? Not a whole lot! Being sick for almost three weeks really puts a damper on kitchen activity. Between no energy and no appetite...it's been all I could do to keep some food in the house for my family. There has been the occasional energy burst in which I took full advantage and cooked a healthy meal for us to sit down and enjoy as a family. But for the most part? Not a whole lot of cooking going on...

Before I got sick I got in the habit of making homemade granola at least once a week. My family LOVES it...and not a morsel goes to waste.

I think I am going to use some of my energy on this gloriously rainy day to make another batch. It's good as cereal...mixed with dried fruit as a trail mix...and my favorite, sprinkled over blueberry yogurt. Heavenly.

This is how I do it...based on a combination of probably 5 recipes I'd read!

Homemade Granola

5 cups oats

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup coconut

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup real maple syrup

1/4 cup honey

1 T cinnamon

Pinch salt

Preheat oven to 300'. Place oats and coconut in a large mixing bowl.

Chop nuts and add to the oats.

Then add cinnamon and salt to oat and nut mixture.

Stir to combine.

In a separate mixing bowl add brown sugar, oil, syrup and honey

and stir to combine. Pour combination over the oats and stir thoroughly,

making sure all of the oats are covered in the liquid mixture.

Spread evenly onto a cookie sheet with sides and bake for about an hour

stirring every 10-15 minutes to ensure even browning.

Remove from the oven when oats are a golden brown.

Let the granola cool completely then stir in the dried berries.

Store in an airtight container.

I'm sure this lasts quite a while when stored properly...but it's not going to matter as it won't last more than a week, anyway!

This recipe is so forgiving...and you really can add whatever you want and it will be delicious. Add any kind of nuts...any kind of dried fruit...you really can't go wrong. The only thing I recommend, and learned the hard way, is to NOT bake the dried fruit. It gets TOO dry and doesn't taste good.

Enjoy!