Brown Granola

I have fallen out of routine. I have eschewed grocery shopping. Failed at cooking. Haven't gotten out my bicycle in more than a year. The animals no longer get their teeth brushed. I have not stuck to my physical therapy exercises.

But it is now Child's Summer Vacation.

We will commit to rebuilding routine. I like one part of this year's routine. Little Miss has taken to sleeping in. She rolls out of bed at 8:15 or later, which for a child who used to be tap dancing at 6 a.m. is HUGE.

Tomorrow is dress rehearsal. Four plus hours of being backstage with the other little dancers, probably 4:30 pm to 8:30 ish as we give it a practice run before Saturday night's big performance.

Little Miss is sleeping (8 a.m.) and I am making granola. Granola is a staple in this house but I haven't been making it. Bad me! We base our granola on the recipe from the Deirdre Imus' Imus Ranch Cookbook.

Today the only dried fruit I have in the house is one handful of dried cherries. 1/4 cup. I meant to buy at least raisins at Target yesterday but forgot.

So I call this variation brown granola, because except for that tiny batch of cherries, everything in it is boring brown. 

Dry Ingredients

- 4 cups oats

- about 3 tablespoons cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

- about 1 tablespoon grated candied ginger 

- that measly 1/4 cup dried cherries

- about 1/3 cup raw almonds

- about 2/3 cup raw cashews

The WET ingredients

- about 1/4 cup local raw honey

- about 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses

- about 1/4 cup warm coconut oil

- about 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mix wet and dry ingredients until oats are all evenly damp. Spread on cookie sheet and bake in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes, stirring and flipping after 15. You want to cook it until mostly dry. But not burned. Obviously.

Super Fruity Granola

I'm a total fan of Deirdre Imus' granola recipe in the Imus Ranch Cookbook. I am a huge fan of the cookbook even though I'm not a fan of her husband. Don, is it?

She runs a charity letting kids with cancer work her ranch, and this is the food they serve there. She considers her recipes vegan even though she uses honey and eggs-- the eggs she gets from her own chickens.

Today's granola had the following:

- about three cups old fashioned oat meal
- 1/2 cup cinnamon almonds
- 1/2 cup unsalted cashews
- a handful of slivered almonds
- about 2.5 cups dried strawberries, craisins, raisins, golden raisins, and dried blueberries
- cinnamon
- less than 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ginger

For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix. Preheat oven to 300. Spread across large cookie sheet. Cook about 45 minutes, turning every 10-15 minutes and mixing with the turner.

I served some to my daughter this morning with a graham cracker and vanilla yogurt parfait.