i had convinced myself
and hubster
that the secret to my happiness
would be
selling all our clutter
in a
garage sale
i was merrily making my way
through the rooms of our house
tagging and boxing
until i hit
the kitchen
so many things caught my eye
the things i could be making and baking
i stopped all the nonsense
and made granola instead
while i was toasting and mixing
i thought to myself
would i rather
spend a weekend sitting on the lawn
haggling over a quarter
or
call the charity truck
and spend a weekend
at the sea
eating granola
i chose
crunch over cash
4 cups of old fashioned oats
1 cup grape nuts cereal
1 cup dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries or chopped apricots
1 cup toasted almonds, chopped into large bits
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped into large bits
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped into large bits
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup maple syrup
finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
1 Tbs vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
place the oats, grape nuts, fruit and nuts in a large bowl, tupperware or zipoc bag. spray a measuring cup with non-stick food spray and add the honey, maple syrup, orange zest and juice, vanilla, salt, cinnamon and ginger. pour over the oat mixture and shake or stir until everything is well coated. pour out onto 2 sheet pans lined with silpat or greased parchment. place in a 350 oven. check after 15 minutes to see if it is starting to brown. if not, stir and place back in the oven and check on it in 5 minute increments. * if you don't like sticky chewy fruit that can possibly pull out your dental work...put the fruit in after you bake the granola. sometimes i do half and half. store in airtight containers. i love to eat this with ice cold milk poured over it.
i am sharing this at cocina diary