Friday, May 25, 2012

NomNom: Cranberry Granola

Happy Friday everyone!

You know what I absolutely love? Simple recipes that turn out to be GREAT. Can you tell by now I love to make easy stuff? It's a good thing to discover recipes like those because they could change your life in a good, stress free way.

Let's talk granola. Let's talk Greece. It's been about a year since I traveled to Greece and I've been yearning to travel again lately to an undiscovered place. I miss the excitement of traveling to a foreign country and even the stress that comes with planning a big trip to an unknown country. It's a detail oriented process but the end result is so worth it.


One of the things I love to discover during my trips obviously deals with food. While vacationing in Greece, I noticed there would be little snack shops that sold Greek yogurt with toppings! It reminded me of ice-cream shops here in the states--same concept, different key player. When I first had my taste of plain Greek yogurt, I was disgusted. It was bland and sour. Not cool.

I was hesitant to try it again during my trip but hey, I believe in second chances. So here's the thing, they love to drizzle HONEY over their Greek yogurt. What da what? I mean I've seen fruit as toppings but honey?? Maybe I'm new to the game but it was a new concept to me. The yogurt shop also had toppings such as granola and fresh fruit which I added as well, and that was pretty much the end of it for me.

Granola is such an easy, delicious, healthy, bulk yielding thing to make that you'll never want to get store bought stuff. To me, the best way to eat granola is to have it as a topping on Greek yogurt, adorned with your favorite fruit and drizzled in glorious, sweet honey. It's a reminder of my travel to Greece and also a healthy breakfast or snack to have.


How is everyone going to enjoy their extra long weekend? I have a couple of birthday BBQs to attend and shopping on the agenda which I'm looking forward to. BBQS, friends, and shopping=weekend to look forward to.

Have a GREAT weekend.

Ingredients (Adapted from www.allrecipe.com)
8 cup Oat
1 1/2 C Wheat germ
1 1/2 C Oat bran
1 1/2 C sunflower seeds
1 C finely chopped almonds
1 C finely chopped pecans
1 C finely chopped walnut
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C maple syrup
3/4 C honey
1 C vegetable oil
1 T cinnamon
1 T vanilla
2 C raisin or dried cranberries

Procedure 
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil. 

2. Combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets.

3.  Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Cool, then stir in the raisins or cranberries before storing in an airtight container.


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