Granola Girl

This is not so much a recipe, as a suggestion. Make yourself some granola! Store bought granola is insanely expensive, chock full of sugar, and usually dull.

Granola is a great thing to cook with kids. It's hard to mess up, easy to make healthy. You can change the recipe each batch, add and subtract ingredients, until you come up with your household "signature" granola.

Base Granola "Recipe"

4 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)

Up to 4 cups of:

Almonds
Cashews
Hazelnuts
Sesame Seeds
Flax Seeds
Barley Flakes
Pumpkin Seeds
Pinenuts
Dried Coconut

Mix all of your grains and nuts together. Add some honey. I use 2 to 3 Tbsp, but it's entirely up to you. How sweet do you want it?

Pour over about 1/3 to 1/2 cup canola oil. Stir until everything is well coated with the honey and oil.

Pour out on to a cookie sheet and bake in a 325F oven for ~20 minutes.

Your granola will not crisp up in the oven - don't worry if it appears soggy after 20 minutes. It will dry out and become crunchy as it cools.

When cool, add some combination of:

Raisins
Currants
Dried cranberries
Dried blueberries
Dried cherries
Chopped dried dates
Dried apples, mangos, papayas, pineapple, and so on.

The variations are near endless.