homemade granola

Have you ever made homemade granola? It's easy, delicious, and nutritious! You can keep the ingredients on hand and make it when you run out of other breakfast stuff. You can eat it with yogurt, or with milk or soy milk. You can change up any of the nuts, seeds or dried fruit depending on what you have on hand. Some of my favorites are coconut, pecans, almonds, dried blueberries, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. You can put more honey in if you want it sweeter. Since you make it yourself, you know that it's all good stuff - whole grains, nuts, and dried fruits without a lot of sugar. Who knows what is in the stuff in the grocery store?

Here is a recipe i use, from Rio Caliente Hot Springs Health Spa

Ingredients

2 lbs. rolled oats (not the quick-cooking or instant variety)

3/4 cup pecans, chopped or broken

3/4 cup pumpkin seeds, whole

3/4 cup hulled sesame seeds, toasted or raw

1/2 cup powdered low fat milk

2 T. sesame oil

1/4 cup honey

How to Prepare

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and mix.

Add the powdered milk and mix again. Add the oil and honey and mix thoroughly, using your hands to turn the mixture over and over. Place into baking pans and bake in a slow (250F) oven for 45 minutes to an hour until golden brown.

Stir every 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.

Note: If you add wheat germ, the granola must be refrigerated.

Additional ingredients: Powdered soy milk or flakes, peanuts, wheat germ, bran, oat, rye, wheat or soy flakes, soy nuts, raisins, currants or other dried fruits, almonds or other nuts, dried coconut.

Note: If you add soy flakes, be sure to include them at the very end of baking as they tend to burn.