Granola

Food seems to be a main focus in our lives, perhaps especially mine since being home I tend to do more of the day to day cooking. Whether it be growing our own food, watching the farmers down the road prepare and plant the fields across the street ("Let's go watch the tractors!"), making choices about what kinds of food we will buy, reading books on the subject or just eating throughout our days, food is an important part of our goal to live intentionally, simply. (So don't be surprised to see some more food related posts in the future...) Given it's focus in our lives, perhaps a few of our more favorite recipes are in order. First up is a good, easy, hard to mess up recipe for granola. I make up a batch every week and a half or two and have it for breakfast with milk or yogurt instead of cereal - cheap, healthy and I know what went into it. You can also then make it into granola bars if you're looking for a good portable snack to have on hand. I haven't made the bars in a while, though, so I'll have to add that recipe later once I've tested it again... You can vary this as much or as little as you wish given your tastes and what you have on hand, but here are the basics:

Heat in a pan on low/med heat until sugar is dissolved approx.:
1/4 cup sugar*
1-2 tbsp molasses*
1 cup oil
1/3 - 2/3 cup honey

*1/4 cup brown sugar can be substituted for the 1/4 cup sugar and 1-2 tbsp molasses

Mix in a large (lasagna-sized) oven safe dish:
8 cups oats
1 tsp + cinnamon
1 tsp + ginger
dash or two salt
(Optional additions could include...)
wheat bran
sunflower seeds
sesame seeds
millet
almonds
peanuts

Pour dissolved oil/honey/sugar mixture over oatmeal mixture and stir until dry ingredients are well coated. Place in a 375 degree oven. Bake for approx 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove from oven and allow to cool fully, stirring every so often to keep from sticking. When cool, add any dried fruit you wish (raisins, cranberries, bananas, apples, cherries, blueberries, strawberries....). Pack in an airtight container and enjoy!