Have you ever had one of those colds that seems to go away completely, and then it suddenly comes back in a new and equally as aggravating way? I thought I was in the clear yesterday, but just as I was crawling into bed last night, I grumbled because I had a brand new cough. This morning, I was determined to have a nice autumn morning with Mouse despite my scratchy throat. We planted tulip bulbs, met a giant toad who was living in one of the holes we were digging and jumped out when he saw my trowel (the poor thing seemed to be disorientated and confused), and chatted with some of our neighbors.
I was inspired by Amy's post about making granola, and since I was tired of being tired, I decided to make a big batch of my apple cinnamon granola with the hope that it would cheer me up a bit. And, it did! I made a kickin' batch of granola. I told Chick all about the granola on our walk home from school, and as soon as she opened the door she gushed about how amazing the granola smelled. She's a swell kid.
Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup oil (i used canola)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup (adjust according to how sweet you want it)
2 t vanilla
1 T cinnamon
1 t kosher salt
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup coarsely chopped cashews
1 1/2 cup diced dried apples
How to:
Mix oats, oil, sugar, syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a big baking tray. I use my biggest roasting pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and mix in the nuts. Bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and mix in the dried apples. Store in some sort of big jar.
The possibilities are endless. Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds would be great mixed in with the nuts, and raisins (gasp!), cranberries, currants, or dried cherries could be added at the end.
xo e
