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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

I want to cook!

I am so excited about recipes this week, I have rediscovered my love for searching and trying new ideas! I'm feeling good yet on my meds as we continue to discover what my new "thing" is, and this unseasonably cool spell we've gotten here in Nebraska has made me want to bake and cook like a crazy woman.

About a year ago I found a granola mix at WalMart that I fell in love with, they sell it by the bakery. I would splurge and spend almost $4 for a small tub when I felt like treating myself. I've always been watching for a homemade version and think I might have found something similar. This recipe resembles a boxes cereal more than the crunchy mix that sticks together a bit more. I think the next time I make it I'm going to double the syrup recipe and see if that makes it more of a grab and go treat. In any case, I do like the finished product....I just had a bowl of it for breakfast and I LIKED it!

GRANOLA MADE EASY
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup water
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
7 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups pecans (break into any size pieces you like)
dried fruit of your choice - I used about 1/2 -3/4 cup of craisins

Mix brown sugar, water, butter & honey in a small sauce pan. Bring to a low boil. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon & vanilla. Pour over oats and pecans that have been placed in a large bowl and stir till evenly coated. The original recipe said to add the dried fruit after it was cooked and cooled, but I added mine with the oats and nuts. Also you can use toasted almonds or whatever type of nut you like best. Spread into a 9x13 pan that has been lined with parchment paper. I had the paper come up the sides of the pan a bit so that I could stir it without losing cereal under the paper. Bake at 375* for 10 min. Take out and stir, then return the pan to the oven. Turn off the heat and go to bed! Wake up to a delicious granola breakfast. Store this in a tightly sealed container.

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