I LOVE granola for breakfast, topped with a few tablespoons of no fat Greek yogurt.  Store bought granola, however, is expensive and often full of extra fat that I just don’t need in my life!  Here is the Pea Family version.

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (the regular kind, not quick cooking or steel cut)

4 cups puffed wheat

1 1/2 c wheat germ

1 1/2 c oat bran

1/2 c flax seed meal

1 c sliced almonds or other favorite nut

2 c shredded coconut

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c vegetable oil – I use extra light olive oil.  No, it doesn’t make it taste funny.

1/2 c honey

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 T vanilla extract

2 c raisins or other dried fruit 

NOTE!  Granola is a very personal sort of recipe – everyone has their own favorite ingredients.  You are free to add, detract or substitute anything you think might be tasty.  Don’t like almonds?  Use pecans.  Like walnuts a lot?  Throw in two cups of them.  Hate puffed wheat?  Ditch it and double the oatmeal!  You have a honey allergy?  Substitute maple syrup (real stuff, not Mrs. B’s or Log Cabin).  The basic premise is the same, though…mix together about 8 cups of grainy goodness dry ingredients, whip up a cup  of simple syrup(double the syrup if you like your granola extra sweet), toss with the dry ingredients and toast in the oven until crispy and golden.  Then mix in dried fruit of choice, raisins, cranberries, blueberries, dates, figs, whatever!  Easy Peasy!

In a VERY large bowl, combine oats, puffed wheat, wheat germ, oat bran, flax seed meal, almonds and coconut; set aside. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, oil, honey and cinnamon; bring to a boil and simmer for a minute or two. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over oat mixture; stir to coat. Spread in a large shallow baking pan. I use an enormous, 20 pound turkey size roasting pan for this.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the granola is dry and lightly toasted. Cool. Add raisins or other dry fruit. Store in an airtight container.

For my family, I double or triple this recipe…it goes fast.

This week’s plan is to walk for five minutes, run for two minutes, repeating three times.  I did it!  The first “running” part was done carrying two hardback library books, since I incorporated a trip to the library to return Teen Son#1’s books.  I must have looked pretty silly running towards the library, as if I was trying to get to the book drop before I got charged for late returns!  Uh, which – by the way – was exactly what I was doing!