Living, Loving, Laughing and Then Some: Making Granola

So, I have a confession to make... I love Granola! However I do not love paying granola prices. You knew I was a granola loving hippy didn't you?? It's true, so I decided to save myself a few bucks and make it myself. My favorite site for recipes is Allrecipes.com which is where I found my base granola recipe. *Disclaimer* I have only made it twice and it is far from perfect, but it is a good starting place.

2 bananas
1 1/4 cup dates
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup hot water
I tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
8 cups quick cooking oats ( I used old fashioned)
8 oz of dried fruit (optional)
8 oz of slivered almonds (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F

2. Puree the bananas and dates in a food processor. Add the brown sugar, hot water, vanilla and cinnamon; mix well.

I used chopped and whole dates because it is what I had on hand.

This is what it should look like before step 3.

3. Pour into a large bowl and add oatmeal.

4. Spread onto two large cookie sheets and bake at 250 for an hour and a half stirring frequently.
(I only cooked mine for an hour and I thought it looked done.)

Don't forget to stir it or it will burn. I couldn't eat the first attempt, but my husband did...

This is what it looks like when it's done. I don't add the fruit or nuts until I am going to eat it because we all have different tastes. I like mine with fresh blueberries, walnuts, soy milk and a little honey drizzled on top. Mike likes his dry with raisins. If you like your granola on the sweeter side I suggest adding some brown sugar or even honey. Like I said this is a basic recipe and it can be adjusted to your taste.

I store it in this awesome Tupperware container that Mike's mom gave to me.

I spent most of the process on my computer right beside the oven so that I would remember to stir it about every 20 minutes or so. I was listening to music, drinking a beer, planning dinner and the kids occasionally came around to entertain me.