I Crossed Over

I finally crossed over to the dark side. If you would have asked me 2 weeks ago if I would have done this I would have laughed, well maybe not laughed but I'd have said "no way". I guess that's what happens when you leave yourself open to change and growth and options. I like to live that way, hence my blog title.

Anyway, I'm now officially "crunchy". Why?

I made a batch of granola. And I like it.

There I said it.

Now if you would have asked me a mere 2 weeks ago if I'd eat granola, I'd have said nope. I never liked granola. I don't like dehydrated grapes (ie: raisins), and oats were ok, I don't do other dried fruits either and those are always in store bought granola. Actually I believe I found a store bought one I liked that had almonds and none of the aforementioned items (except the oats which are ok) and then after eating the yummy treat promptly got a massive headache from the High Fructose Corn Syrup in the "healthy" granola.

Well, one of the blogs I follow shared her granola recipe that they make at home. I read over it and it sounded good. So I bit the bullet and decided to make some. It was super easy to make and the whole family likes it. I should said that David LOVES it! And it's, get this, healthy and good for you! Imagine that!

This is the part where I share my pics of the process of making the granola and all the supplies but I was a bad blogger and didn't take pics till it was all done. I wasn't sure we'd like it so I didn't take pics. However I'll just give you the run down. Like I said above this is someone elses recipe but I'll share it anyway.

10-12 Cups of Oats (she didn't say which kind, I used the quick oats but I'm not sure it matters)
whatever nuts and seeds you'd like ( I used pecans, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds & pumpkin seeds about a 1/4 to 1/2 lb ea)
1 cup oil (she recommends coconut, I didn't have any so I used olive)
1 cup honey
2 Tablespoons Vanilla (I used the real stuff)
1 Tablespoon salt (just a bit under. My pumpkin seeds were salted so I used a bit less)
Cinnamon (just a few shakes)

Now, get the biggest bowl you can find or get 2 large bowls and split it in half or half the recipe cause it makes a lot!
Throw all your nuts, seeds and oats in the bowl and mix.
In a small bowl mix the oil, honey, vanilla, salt and cinnamon together.
Combine all ingredients and mix well. (the liquid holds everything together)
Pour mixture into 2 greased 9x13 pans
Put into 350 degree oven till golden brown (about 20min for me, we have a gas oven)
Then turn oven down to 200-250 degrees for an hour
Then turn oven off and leave it for 8hrs or overnight (we did overnight)
You can then add shredded coconut or dried fruit (we didn't do this)

I took this out of the oven and Trey wanted to try it and then ate a bowl of it for breakfast. The honey and vanilla and cinnamon make it almost like an oatmeal cookie, just drier.
Here's what it looked like after pulling it out of the oven.

Oh and FYI, she said that when she eats it it helps her milk supply and she jokingly refers to it as "Hello-Milk" granola. So for those nursing mamas out there you might try it. But it does taste good!

I'm glad to have found another snack/meal option for Trey who lately is a bottomless pit (visions of him at 14....) and for David who needed a good for him portable snack while at work.

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