Home Made Granola

I've committed myself to feeding my family more healthful meals and snacks this year. I don't buy a lot of junk food, but I make cookies and brownies a LOT! Yum! lol Dave and I have decided since we're not getting any younger, we'd like to get as much mileage out of our bodies as possible... which means some life changes.

Our plan:
Exercise 4-5 times per week. Dave plays basketball for an hour in the morning 3 times a week. I always used to count my waitressing as exercise, BUT I'm adding in 15-20 minutes on our new (free to us) elliptical... and doing pilates a few times a week.
Diet will have some changes. Mainly we're adding in more fiber, which increases the amounts of fruits and veggies we eat. Switching to more whole grain breads, pasta's and cereals. Which brings us to today's topic.... Home Made Granola. Yummy! I got part of this recipe from a friend years ago and the other part from a make a mix cookbook. I adjusted here & added there and the result is pretty much my own now. :) This granola is filling, tasty, and a healthy way to start your day. (or end it, or as a snack throughout lol)

Joy's Home Made Granola

10 C. quick oats (or you can use old fashioned rolled oats if you like to chew a lot more)
1 C. whole wheat flour
1 C. wheat germ
1 C. toasted sunflower seeds (shelled of course)
1 C. sliced almonds
Optional: coconut, chopped walnuts or other nuts, dried fruit such as raisins.

Mix these ingredients together in a BIG bowl. Then mix the following syrup:

3/4 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. olive oil (or any other preferred oil)
1/4 C. water
1/2 C. molasses
1/2 C. honey
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla

Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved. Pour over dry ingredients and stir until everything is coated evenly. Grease 2 large cookie sheets and divide granola between them. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool, store in an air tight container.

This is so easy it's crazy! If you are short certain ingredients, it still seems to work fine... the whole wheat flour and wheat bran can be left out entirely. They do add to the nutrition of this though. The nuts provide a good protein, are cholesterol free, and tasty. :) Molasses adds extra iron.

I'm working on adding more whole wheat flour to baked goods. We've enjoyed whole wheat tortilla's (made with my usual recipe substituting whole wheat for 1/2 the flour) and whole wheat noodles (1/2 the flour as whole wheat). So far the kids have enjoyed all the changes and I feel so accomplished for doing them.

Challenge yourself! Try something more healthful this week! You could always start with GRANOLA!