Chocolate Cranberry Refrigerator Oatmeal

I cannot take credit for this idea - this recipe is adapted from The Yummy Life. If you love easy, healthy, make-ahead breakfast ideas, please head over and check her out! She has 16 recipes for refrigerator oatmeal that are really tasty!

My husband ran across her recipe a few weeks ago, and shared it on his Facebook page. It's taken me this long to remember to grab the ingredients at the grocery store! He and I have kind of a standing deal - I fix oatmeal for him to eat every morning, and he exercises and eats healthy, and we get to skip  cholesterol medication. It's a win-win situation, right? Before the baby was born, it was no big deal for me to get up and cook some oatmeal while he took a shower. I had to be up anyhow, and I liked the bit of quiet before the kids came downstairs. Post-baby, though, has been a different story! When he gets up in the morning, I am so groggy, I usually sleep through his shower, my alarm, and most of our before-school prep time completely. Ouch. Sometimes we do steel cut oats in the slow cooker, but he likes to schedule early morning tennis court times and doesn't eat breakfast before he plays. And we never remember to coordinate our schedules to that degree, so if I DO remember to make him oatmeal, it's a morning when he won't be at home to eat it.

Darn.

Enter, refrigerator oatmeal! I can pre-make a few jars, and he can either eat at home or take it with him for a post-workout meal. The oatmeal is served cold, so it just couldn't be simpler. Greek yogurt and skim milk are mixed with regular (raw) oatmeal and chia seeds. To that base, you can add any mixture of sweeteners and flavors you like!

Today, I made three versions, from The Yummy Life: Maple Blueberry, Cinnamon Apple, and Chocolate Banana. Or, I meant to. At the last minute, I decided to make a change to the banana pots. I just couldn't see day old, chopped bananas, soaked in yogurt, as being too appetizing. I subbed in dried cranberries (Craisins), because who doesn't like chocolate and cranberries, right? Getting these going assembly line style was really slick - I can definitely see myself doing this twice a week. Hopefully the kids will enjoy them, too!

Chocolate Cranberry Refrigerator Oatmeal

(Adapted from Yummy Life)

Serves 1

In a half-pint sized jar (or similar 8 oz. lidded container), layer: 

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1/3 cup milk (skim, soy, almond, etc.)

1/4 cup regular oats

1 1/2 tsp. chia seeds

2 tsp. sweetener (agave or honey)

2 Tbsp. cocoa

Put the lid on the container and shake vigorously to combine. Open it back up and fill up the rest of the space with dried cranberries, about 1/4 cup. Put the lid back on and turn it back and forth a few times to distribute the cranberries. Stick your jar in the refrigerator, and in the morning you can enjoy the fruits of your labors! 

One last note. I made up one jar of Maple Blueberry Oatmeal on Saturday night, to test the waters. It was tasty, but it never made it to the thick consistency I was looking for. The other versions I made today set up quite quickly. Just FYI. 

Catastrophe

This dish was first served to me on a campout, when I was 14. Now, when I say campout, I mean that a few leaders agreed to take a group of about twenty 14 year olds camping, to pass off some merit badge requirements for our summer camp. As we sat in a planning meeting, trying to hammer out the details, one of the leaders off-handedly mentioned that his family owned two condos near the area we were talking about camping in. All the eyes in the room were suddenly on him...and that, kids, is how my Great 4th Year Camp Out happened in a condo near the shores of Lake Chelan.

The strange digs didn't deter the more rugged of the leaders from feeding us true camping fare, though! Brother Potter pulled out a huge dutch oven in the morning and proceeded to cook us a one-pot camping feast. He called it, simply, Catastrophe.

The recipe is incredibly forgiving, and fairly adaptable. Basically, this is a mixture of breakfast meat, potatoes, onions, eggs,  and (if you like), cheese. Breakfast meat can be sausage or bacon, the potatoes can be hash browns, canned potatoes, or cubed potatoes. Some recipes call for cheddar, some call for Velveeta, and I leave it out entirely.

So. That's clear as mud, eh? I'll give you what I do for my family of 4. With a side of fresh fruit, this is a great breakfast for a lazy Saturday morning, or a fun dinner for a busy weeknight!

Catastrophe
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of bacon, raw, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups of hash browns (I use the cartons of dried hash browns, and use 1 carton)
6 eggs, scrambled

Toppings: (Take your pick)
Cheese
Ketchup
Hot Sauce

In a large dutch oven, cook your bacon until it starts to lose its fat and is sizzling. Add your chopped onions and continue to cook until the bacon and onions are cooked to your liking.

Drain off the fat (or leave it in, if you're feeling feisty), and add your hash browns. Don't stir too much at this point - you want the hash browns to get a little crispy, instead of just steaming them. Let them cook in the remaining bacon grease for a few minutes, then use a spatula to sort of turn the potatoes over, in clumps. Let them brown again. Repeat the process, stirring to break up the browned potatoes, until everything is looking nice.

Finally, add your beaten eggs and continue to cook (gently folding the mixture), until the eggs are completely cooked.

Scoop into bowls and serve with your choice of toppings. My kids prefer ketchup!

Orange Bran Muffins

Brains....Branny, Beautiful brains!

Just me? Really? You don't see bunny brai....oh, never mind.

When I was in my teens, I used to love to visit my Grandma Mary and snitch every last one of her bran muffins. She always seemed to have a container of them, stuck behind the fruit bowl and if I sat at her kitchen table, I could sneak my hand back there and grab a muffin. Or three. Grandma wasn't a baker, per say, but she did have one small drawer in her little 1950's kitchen dedicated to her bran muffins, so I know she took them seriously. Bags of bran, half used bags of cereal, and boxes of dried out raisins. They were perfect. I never got her recipe, but I do remember that it involved bran cereal.

Probably thanks to her, I developed a love for bran muffins. They are always moist and sticky, and I just can't get enough. It's been years since I have been able to sample one of her muffins, and I finally decided to make an attempt to recreate her muffins at home. I didn't have any raisins, but I will add those next time.

The recipe I used came from Better Homes and Gardens, the red and white checked cookbook. I made a few adjustments, and I thought they came out really yummy! I replaced the buttermilk with orange juice, and the white flour with fresh ground whole wheat flour. I really like making mini muffins, so that's what I did here. Mini muffins can be eaten in a single bite, which means fewer crumbs on the floor. They also cook in half the time of normal sized muffins. If you'd like to make normal size muffins, or even jumbo, adjust the baking time accordingly.

Enjoy!

Aunt LoLo's Bran (Cereal) Muffins
Makes 6 dozen mini muffins

Ingredients:
3 cups bran cereal (such as Kellog's All Bran)
1 cup boiling water
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (2 cups wheat berries, ground)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups orange juice (or liquid of your choice, being sure to include a little acidity*)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil

Grease 5 mini muffin tins, and set aside. Preheat your oven to 400.

In a small bowl, combine your bran cereal and boiling water. Stir to moisten everything, and then set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients, then set aside. Make sure you get the baking powder and baking soda clumps broken up!

In a large measuring cup or medium sized bowl, combine your wet ingredients. Whisk to break up the egg yolks.

Add your bran cereal mush and your wet ingredients to the large bowl of the flour mixture. Stir until just combined, making sure to incorporate all of the flour. (This is where you could stir in dried fruit or nuts, if you like.)

Spoon your batter into your muffin tins, and bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the largest muffin comes out clean. Awesome warm or room temperature.


Enjoy!

*This recipe uses two leavening agents - baking soda and baking powder. The baking powder needs heat to work, which is why the muffins rise in the oven. The baking soda needs acid to work, which it would have gotten from the buttermilk in the original recipe. Orange juice is tart enough to make it go off, but a splash of vinegar or lemon juice in whatever liquid you choose would work just as well. Almond milk, soy milk, cow milk...probably even apple juice would be great! By using both leavening agents you get an initial fluff from the baking soda, and the last bit of oomph from the baking powder. This keeps these muffins from being too dense.

Welsh Cakes

Fact: My family has done quite a bit of genealogy, and has turned up ancestors in nearly every part of the Caucasian world. (I'm quite the mutt!) Including Wales.

Fact: March 1 is St. David's Day, a rather important day in Wales as St. David is the patron saint there.

Fact: On St. David's Day, it is traditional to eat welsh cakes.


It probably won't surprise you to know that, prior to seeing a delicious looking pin on Pinterest on March 1, I had no idea St. David had a day, much less a patronage, and I had never heard of a welsh cake.

Being the adaptable person that I am, I decided on the spot that welsh cakes must be a part of that evening's meal. They are absolutely delicious. Moist, chewy, dense, studded with fruit. Picture a pan-fried scone, and you are pretty close. I turned to Joy of Baking to find a recipe, as she has never ever steered me wrong. This time was no different. I made a few alterations, based on what I had on hand and some dietary preferences. While Joy of Baking used sultanas, butter and milk, I used Craisins, butter, and soy milk. (Next time, I think I will try coconut oil instead of the butter.) When you throw these lovelies onto a hot griddle, the butter melts out, frying the exterior to golden perfection. The inside remains moist and toothsome. I'm sure you won't think badly of me if I told you that we ate the entire batch for dinner and when my son asked to have these again the next morning for breakfast, I happily complied.


Welsh Cakes
(Adapted from Joy of Baking)

Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 dashes nutmeg
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small chunks
1/3 cup dried cranberries (ie - Craisins)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup soy milk, as needed

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut in the cold butter until the entire mixture appears crumbly and pebbly (just like making a pie). Add your dried cranberries. Add the beaten egg, and enough soy milk to make a rollable dough.

Sprinkle a countertop or cutting board with flour, and throw your dough down. Knead it into a ball, and flatten it out with the palm of your hand to approximately 1/2" thickness. Using a 3" biscuit cutter or glass, cut out rounds. Cut straight down, without twisting, for the tallest cakes possible after baking. Gather up the scraps and re-roll as many times as necessary to use all the dough, handling it as little as possible each time.

Heat a griddle over medium heat (cast iron is traditional), and cook your cakes until golden on both sides and done in the middle, approximately 2-3 minutes per side.



Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar if desired. Can also be spread with jam, but that is completely optional. Best warm, but also quite delicious after they have cooled down!

Enjoy!

Vanilla Yogurt

Homemade  yogurt is something you should do, REALLY.  It's easy, inexpensive, delicious, and healthy.  Pretty much has everything in its favor!

You can use your favorite kind of yogurt as a starter- I really like Tillamook vanilla bean  yogurt, it has three active cultures, and makes a creamy set.  You can absolutely use flavored yogurt as a starter.  Just be aware that most store bought yogurts have additional ingredients- flavors, sugars, thickeners.  So those will end up in your final product, albeit in a very small amount.

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon whole milk
8 ounces store bought yogurt, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar

In a large pot, over low heat, heat milk to 185 degrees Farenheit, stirring occasionally.  It will form a skin, and will have bubbles around the edges.

Remove milk from heat and let cool to about 110 degrees Farenheit.  It needs to be below 120 degrees, to not kill the yogurt bacteria- 105 to 115 is best.  Stir in sugar, vanilla, and yogurt.  1/4 cup sugar makes a fairly tart yogurt, 1/2 cup sugar is totally kid friendly (and still far less sugar than store bought yogurt.)  You don't want to whip bubbles in, but definitely stir enough to mix the yogurt in.

Pour into two, very clean, wide mouth mason jars and screw lids on tight.  (You will have about a half cup left over- drink it!)  Put jars into a small cooler, and fill with hot tap water.  Shut the lid, and let sit undisturbed until set, 4-8 hours depending on how warm it stays.  You can change the water part way through to keep it warmer, or cover with towels.  

Potato Pancakes (i.e.–Easter Redux)

Edited to add: My father reminded me that these pancakes are also awesome with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chives.


According to family tradition, this is my father’s absolute favorite way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. (Also, according to tradition…this recipe goes back to bachelor days, so we know it’s a goody!)

The biggest surprise was that the four year old ate it! The two year old had two bites, in exchange for two strawberries. (But he did finish all of his ketchup.) Eh – you win some, you lose some.

So, here you go – Easter on a plate!


Poppy’s Potato Pancakes
Ingredients:
3 cups mashed potatoes
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cheese (I used swiss)
1/2 cup ham, cut into bite-size chunks
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl
Preheat a griddle over medium heat, with some canola oil.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients with a spoon. Use a small scoop to scoop out balls of the dough and put it on your pre-heated skillet. Cook until brown and toasty on the one side, then flip over and use a spatula to smash it into a patty shape. When the second side is golden, you might want to flip it back to the first side just to crisp it up.

Enjoy hot, with a little ketchup. Delish!

Creamy Sausage Breakfast Casserole

I think Breakfast Casserole is the best thing to call this. It’s a pot of potatoes, onions, peppers , cheese, crème and sausage, baked until it’s all melty and delicious. It’s very rich, and insanely comforting. It was a favorite at a recent House Party highlighting Philadelphia Cooking Crème, and there was just enough left over afterwards for me to have a bowl when I came home late that night from a speaking engagement.

 

(Ok, yeah. That sounds way fancier than it was. I gave a ten minute presentation to a large group at church about how to use blogging and our online presence as a good example and represent our church. Still, I came home at 9:30 starving, and this hit the spot!)

 

Creamy Sausage and Potato Breakfast Casserole

5 potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 small onions, diced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 tub Original Philadelphia Cooking Crème

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 sausages or bratwurst, sliced

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

 

Preheat your oven to 375. Spray a covered baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, onions, bell pepper and Cooking Crème. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Dump your potato mixture into your baking dish and top with sliced sausage. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, top with cheddar cheese, and return to the oven. Bake another 20 minutes uncovered, or until the cheese is golden and crispy around the edges.

 

 

PS – This recipe was made with Philadelphia Cooking Crème, which was given to me free of charge for review purposes. The coupons came in a box full of “swag” for me and my guests, including a new skillet, and other kitchen wares and coupons. I was not otherwise compensated.

It should have been delicious...

...instead, it was bland and tasted vaguely of onions.

I attempted to make a breakfast casserole for a church breakfast. I used homemade bread, handfuls of dried cranberries, a few chopped (local) apples and eggnog for the creamy, creamy base. Salt was thrown in for some variety and contrast. I added a few fresh eggs to make it into a lovely custard, and baked it until the top was nice and golden.

I was so proud of my dish. I took it to the party, and placed it on the table. Takers were few, but I assumed that was because they couldn't know that it was an eggnog casserole. Had they known, it would have been devoured on the spot!

When I finally found my way to the table and tasted a bite...I knew I had created a Catastrophic Fail. How could the above mentioned ingredients be combined to create something so completely bland...and reminiscent of onions.

Could it be the onions I chopped on the board a few days prior? Had their evil vapors somehow made their way into the apples? Or the bread that was chopped on the same board as well? Did it simply suffer from a lack of salt?

Dear readers, help me out here. How did a lovely Eggnog Breakfast Casserole turn out tasting like...Bland Onion Catastrophe??

For the record, here's my recipe. Seriously - any idea why this wasn't delicious??! Maybe some lemon juice would have helped...or more eggnog spices, to make it more pronounced.

1 loaf stale bread, cubed (1 lb)
2 apples, chopped
1 cup Craisins
6 eggs
1 1/2 cup eggnog
1 tsp. salt
Bake at 350

A (Healthier) Breakfast Casserole

Last night, I was staring at my fridge and larder, willing dinner to manifest itself to me. I couldn't find a recipe that used precisely what I had on hand, so I made one up.

I do that a lot. I'm simply too creative (read: lazy) to follow someone else's directions. Why make a dish that's been made before?

What I ended up with was a scrummy, slightly healthier version of a breakfast casserole. It puffed up in the oven, like a German pancake, and then settled down into a lovely golden layer once it cooled a bit.

Aunt LoLo's (Healthier) Breakfast Casserole

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1/2 loaf stale bread, ripped into pieces
1/2 lb bacon, cut into pieces
1 tsp. minced garlic
6 eggs
2 cups skim milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Spread your bread pieces out in a 9x13 pan. Set aside.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon pieces until crispy. (Leave 'em soft if that's what you like!) When the bacon is nearly done, toss in a spoonful of minced garlic. Drain the fat away.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, skim milk, salt and pepper. When the bacon is done, toss that into the egg mixture, along with the cheese. Pour the egg/bacon/cheese mixture over your bread pieces and press down lightly through the mixture to make sure the bread is submerged and soaked.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to cook, at least 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, or until the top is golden and the eggs are set.

Serve warm.

Our Best Waffles

Back when I was first married I tried making waffles one night after work.  I rushed home, got all my ingredients together, separated the eggs, beat the egg whites separately, lovingly folded them back in, baked them in our brand new waffle iron, and....meh.  No different than Krusteaz waffles.  I really couldn't see what the pull of "homemade" food was, if it didn't taste any different than a boxed mix and took so much work!

Thankfully, I've since changed my  mind about "homemade" food, and decided to try waffles again to see if they were really worth the effort.  And oh, they are.  They really are.

This recipe is based on a basic waffle recipe from my go-to cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens.

If you're looking for a basic, trust-worthy, cookbook then this is what you want!

I've made a few changes- I upped the flour by 1/4 cup and the sugar by a tablespoon.  I cut the oil from 1/2 cup down to two tablespoons (you're welcome, Dad!)

Like all quick breads, these need a quick and light hand for mixing.  Whisk it all together, but for goodness sake leave it lumpy!  A smooth batter means too much mixing, which means gluten developing, which means tough waffles.  Don't do it!

These waffles come out light and egg-y, and taste amazing with lemon juice and lots of powdered sugar.  Of course, Ernie likes them with bottled syrup...but there's no accounting for the tastes of a 4-year-old, she also likes ketchup on her Top Ramen and thinks hot dogs are the epitome of fine dining.

Ahem.

Our Best Waffles

2 cups buttermilk *

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons oil

2 cups flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat waffle iron.

Measure out the milk- beat in eggs, vanilla, and oil.

In a separate bowl whisk together dry ingredients.  Make a well in the center and pour in the liquids all at once.  Whisk together, but leave it lumpy!!

Grease waffle iron and pour in the batter quickly, being careful not to over-fill.  Cook until they stop steaming and peel out with a fork.

This makes about 12 waffles in my waffle iron, enough for 2 adults and 2 hungry toddlers!

MaMa's Oatmeal

I can't believe I haven't posted this yet!



Well, actually, I can. It's oatmeal. Oatmeal porridge. It's grey and...it's oatmeal.



However, fear not - this happens to be one of my mother's favorite breakfasts when she's visiting us. This is how my mother-in-law (MaMa) cooks oatmeal for her family. She cooks it nearly every morning, and serves it with a slice of buttered toast and a glass of milk for a breakfast that is healthy and very tasty! The oatmeal is cooked slowly over medium heat, to make a porridge that isn't watery and isn't gloppy. Delicious!

MaMa's Oatmeal

(adapted by Aunt LoLo)

Ingredients:

1 cup Old-Fashioned Oats

3 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup brown sugar (unpacked), or to taste (I just use the 1/4 cup scoop in my canister and scoop a bit out.)

In a medium saucepan, combine the oats and water. Cover and place over medium heat. Stay close - if this mess boils over, it's a bear to clean up.

Once the mixture starts to bubble, uncover and keep it at a simmer until the water thickens and gets glossy - about 10 minutes.

Add sugar to taste and serve!

Kids love this. Adults love this. Perfect for an autumn morning!

*Serves 2

(In the original recipe, MaMa soaks the oats for about 20 minutes before cooking, so that they don't need to simmer so long. Also, she uses white sugar, to taste - approximately 2 T.)

Baked Eggs in a Cup

I'm sure I've seen this idea a million other places, but this morning it seemed like a stroke of pure genius. Which, even if it isn't MY genius, it definitely is.

These are simply slices of day-old wheat bread, sliced thinly and pushed into muffin tins. Crack an egg in each well, sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh-cracked black pepper and bake at 400 degrees until the eggs are just the way you like them.

Even though the bread wanted to split and crack, the oven was hot enough to sear the outside of the egg where it touched the pan and crisp the edges of the bread, so the whole thing came out clean. Served with canned peaches, we ate them out of hand, with silly little smiles on our faces. A family breakfast on a Friday, that cooked while Mom was in the shower? Brilliant. This might be a start to a lovely new tradition.

Homemade Yogurt

I think I'm turning into my mother. At about the age I am now, she gave up white flour and refined sugar, made her own yogurt and whole wheat bread, planted large gardens, and danced to MTV in the living room, with us in a baby carrier. OK, that last part is all her own thing, and she still plants huge gardens every year, but here I am making wheat bread with her Vitamix, making yogurt, and contemplating using cloth diapers for our next child. She just smiles now and says "Just wait till you start eating nothing BUT sugar."

I think I've mentioned before how I discovered an entire case of powdered milk, pull-dated this year, in our food supply recently. Up to this point, I've made my family drink gallons of the stuff, turned it into Magic Milkshakes and peanut butter balls, and made a completely failed batch of pao de queijo. However, it makes a very nice yogurt!

I had trouble finding precise directions online, and finding more than one source to back up any particular method. Seems like that's normally the case with "cottage" type products. At any rate, here's my mix of a few different sources (probably Hillbilly Housewife and WikiHow). Seems to have worked!

Yogurt
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups water
1 cup powdered milk
2 Tablespoons plain yogurt with active cultures

Supplies:
Quart jar with lid
Saucepan
Thermometer (I used a barista thermometer)
Small cooler
small jars or glasses

1. In the saucepan combine water and milk powder. Stir to combine totally, clip thermometer to pan, and heat to 185 degrees stirring occasionally.
   
2. Remove from heat, and take your yogurt starter out of the fridge to warm up on the counter.
3. Let your milk cool to below 120 degrees (105-115 is best), stirring frequently to make sure your thermometer reading is accurate.
4. Add the yogurt starter to the milk, stir to combine, and pour into a very clean quart Mason jar. Seal tightly, and put in the cooler. Surround your jar with open jars or glasses of very hot tap water, shut the lid, and put a few towels on top for extra insulation. (Not sure if that's necessary, but it's what I did!)
   
5. Leave, undisturbed, for 8-14 hours until set. I changed the water once, right before I went to bed, and put it in the fridge in the morning. If you mess with the yogurt early, I'm told it will take a lot longer to set up. Store in the refrigerator.

We've tried it with sugar, honey, and jam and it's all nice. Although it's not as sour as store-bought plain yogurt, it's still a little sour for our tastes right now, when served plain.

Granola

At one point last year I checked my food storage- between Cannery cases, Costco bags from my parents, and cartons purchased at the grocery store I had WAY TOO MUCH oats. So, rationally, I looked for a way to mix it with sugar and oil and eat it for breakfast.

Following is the recipe I found online, and then modified myself. In keeping with previous recipes, I find the most basic one I can and mess around until we like it. You can mix in any dried fruit you like after baking- we used dried cannery apples this time. In the past I've used raisins, Craisins, and dried goji berries.

This is different than the granola you'll find at the store- because it's so much lower in fat and sugar it doesn't form sugary clumps or clusters- each oat is coated, but separate. Of course it's good in milk, but my favorite is to eat it over a bowl of yogurt. As the nuts cook with the oat mixture they roast a little bit, giving this a delicious nutty taste. Pecans are my favorite nuts to use, mostly because I had a lot of broken ones in my freezer left over from this endeavor last Christmas.

Granola

Ingredients:
4 cups oats
1 and 1/2 cups nuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 to 1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 and 1/2 cups dried fruit

1. In a large bowl stir together first 5 ingredients (the dry ingredients)
2. Either in microwave or on stove heat together vegetable oil and honey. Remove from heat and add vanilla- I like to add a little more than it calls for.
3. Pour liquid over oat mixture and stir to coat well. Spread on a 15x10" jelly roll sheet (baking pan with sides) and bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
4. Let cool and put in storage container- add fruit, mix, and seal. Will keep for a week at room temperature or 3 months in the freezer.