Gingerbread Granola

I spent the weekend in California, in Huntington Beach specifically, visiting my little sister and her family. I can't decide if I want to come home and aggressively jump into my workpile and ferociously make and conquer new goals or.... not. Maybe I just want to move to Huntington Beach and collect seashells, take up the ukelele, and chase pigeons all day. It might be just as fulfilling. It might even be more fulfilling. What is the meaning of life, by the way? Is it six-mile jogs and flax smoothies or is is it relaxation and double cheeseburgers? Because I could really get into either. Just point me in any direction and obsession kicks in. But hang on. I'm starting to suspect that the meaning of life is all of it: the double cheeseburger, the flax smoothie, the six-mile jog and the beach bum sloth.

While I'm sitting on the fence thinking about such important and meaningless things, I think I'll have some granola. Gingerbread granola, to be exact. It's just the right thing for wafflers like me, because it's about as healthy as that flax smoothie I mentioned earlier and almost as satisfying as a double cheeseburger. I love the warm wintery combination of molasses, cinnamon and ginger. It makes January seem a little more celebratory and a lot less serious. Make some of my granola and have it on a big bowl of yogurt with frozen berries. Or not. Have it on triple scoops of vanilla bean ice cream with caramel sauce and whipped cream. Either way you'll be getting it right. Here's to a New Year of success and failure, work and play, gluttony and diet. Stick around.

Gingerbread Granola

Estimated Cost: $2.00 for 8 servings

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 teaspoon dried ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

4 cups old fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk all ingredients except oats. Add oats and toss to coat. Spread onto foil lined cookie sheet. Bake for 28 minutes, stirring every seven minutes. Let cool before storing in an airtight container.

Next Up:

Better for You Pizza

Blueberry Walnut Maple Granola

Uh, this was really supposed to be Blueberry Walnut Maple Granola, until I found out that I used up all of my walnuts on the previous batch. So could you all just pretend that all of those pecans that you see in the pictures are really walnuts? I'd feel ever so much better if you would just play along. Good, I'm glad that's out of the way now. Welcome to today's post. I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to have a great batch of granola squirreled away in the pantry. Especially if it's Blueberry Pec-uh, I mean Walnut Maple Granola. You won't want anything else for breakfast besides some vanilla yogurt and a heaping pile of Blueberry-uh-Nutty Maple Granola. It's simple to make, honest. You take some oats and douse them with some maple syrup and vegetable oil, then a dusting of cinnamon and a sprinkle of walnuts- or nuts of your choice. (Pecans are also good.) Toast it for a good half hour, stirring here and there. When the house smells like an Autumn weekend in Vermont, take it out and stir in some dried blueberries. (You can make your own dried blueberries by setting your oven temp to 150 and baking them on a cookie sheet for about ten hours.) Now go ahead and grab a handful. I'm going to the store. You know what I'm out of. Walnuts. And pecans now, too. At least I've got my Granola.

Money Saving Tips:

Did I mention you can substitute other nuts if you don't have walnuts? (Pecans, anyone?) Well, you can. And the same goes for berries. Use what you've got and what's on sale. Amen, sistuhs. Oh, and real maple is best but pancake syrup works in a pinch.

Blueberry Walnut Maple Granola

Estimated Cost: $4.00 for 5 cups

4 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup dried blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Scatter oats on cookie sheet. Toast oats for ten minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. In a medium bowl, combine syrup, oil, and cinnamon. Pour over oats and continue to toast, stirring often, for thirty minutes. Remove from oven and stir in berries. Let cool on counter. Store in airtight containers.

Next Up: Honey Vanilla Caramel Apples

Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Granola

What a grand August weekend it was! I'm surprised how close to perfect it played out. I did nothing fabulous. Nothing newsworthy. Really nothing noteworthy, except for the things that I love and a few things to make next week a little easier. I never stepped one foot in a car. Everything happened right around my own house. It was all simple and homey and in the end, just what I needed.
Here's what I did:
I ran 7 miles Saturday morning, finished off a great novel sent to me from my friend Gigi, swam laps in the pool very slowly while pretending to be Michael Phelps, made summer themed sugar cookies with my little charges, attended church, broke up 376 meaningless arguments, sewed the beginning of Sailor's Halloween costume (Belle), cooked tons of great food for this week's posts, baked wheat bread, made lesson plans for the coming week plus graded a few papers, caught up on my phone calls to a few of my sisters, and had dinner guests and impromptu breakfast guests. Guess who did the laundry and cleaned the bathrooms? Quiet Man. And that after mowing the lawn, pulling the weeds, and working on his doctorate classes. I almost didn't even notice to say thanks, so I'm saying it again now. Thank you. Again. Folks, here's what to have for breakfast on a perfect weekend or weekday morning. Homemade crunchy granola just can not be beat. We've all been munching on it like mad. It's cheap to make, so good for you, and is absolutely outstanding with some yogurt and fresh fruit. I've got one more reason you should make up a batch: I'm using my homemade granola in our Tuesday with Dorie cookie. See ya then.
Money Saving Tips: Homemade granola is already so much cheaper than the store bought variety, plus you can customize it according to what you already have on hand. I love to make granola when I have just a few nuts left at the bottom of a couple different bags. I'll use just about any kind. If you can't find wheat germ at a good price, just use extra oatmeal.
Homemade Brown Sugar Cinnamon Granola
Estimated Cost: $3.50
Notes: I didn't have any wheat germ on hand and my market was asking more than $5.00 for a jar, so I swapped it for some of my favorite high fiber cereal pictured below.
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup wheat germ (or additional oatmeal or high fiber cereal)
1 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)
3/4 cup dried fruit, if desired, such as cranberries, raisins, etc.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and coat with no-stick cooking spray. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, oil, water and cinnamon. Bring just to a simmer. Meanwhile, place oats, wheat germ, and nuts on prepared baking sheet. Pour brown sugar mixture over the top and toss to coat. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring often, or until granola is crisp. Stir in dried fruit, if using.
*Brown Bag Lunch suggestion: Place a container of yogurt in the freezer. In the morning, pack up the frozen yogurt and a baggie of granola. By lunch time, the yogurt will be thawed but still cold and will make a lovely lunch with a sprinkle of the protein and fiber rich granola.
Coming First Light of Tuesday:
Tuesdays with Dorie
Brown Sugar, Pecan, and Chocolate Chip Granola Grabbers