Granola

Cinnamon Granola with dried cranberries, apricots, dates, coconut flakes and assorted nuts 

Since I shared my Yogurt recipe I figured I might as well share how I make my granola
I make big batches of it now.
 At least 12 cups of old fashion oats and I store it in an old Tupperware cereal container
I do them on two cookie sheets, 3 cups in each batch, two times for 12 cups total.

This is what I did the first time
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
3 cups of old fashion oats or any kind of grain like rye, millet etc
pinch of salt
3 Tablespoons of brown sugar
1 Tablespoon of cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla extract
1/4 of a cup of Extra Virgin Olive oil
and 1/4 of Honey

I hand mixed everything in a large bowl and then spread it evenly on a cookie sheet.
Bake for a total of 25 minutes. Half way through stir the mixture to make sure it is baking
evenly. I've since gotten to lazy to do that step and just let it go with out stirring
It should smell lovely
Once you can smell it keep an eye on it I had one batch burn on me once. Guess the oven decide to
be extra warm that day. I just set the timer on my microwave. Don't go more than 30 minutes

Once it bakes I run a fork kinda like "fluffing it up" then just let it cool for a bit
It does harden as it cools and sometimes I get clumps. If you like it extra clumpy wait until it is
completely cooled before running a fork through it.

Now comes the Yummy stuff.
I add in chopped raw nuts
Almonds, cashews, walnuts and pecans. Plus more if I get them on sale
I prefer organic nuts but I cannot always afford them and it is a bit out of my way to get.
I like them raw because once you toast the nuts they lose their nutritional value. Certain nuts
turn their fat into trans fat and other stuff I read somewhere. Cashews might actually be better for you roasted. If you decide to roast, low and slow is the way to go.
One of my favorite tricks is to bake half the batch of nuts and keep the other half raw.
That way I get yummy nutty flavor and retain the nutritional value of the raw nuts.

After the nuts my favorite ingredient  is dry cranberries and dried apricots
The apricots I chop up into small pieces. I have also started adding dried figs also chopped
I just toss them in the food processor with the nuts and pulse a few times,
 enough to break them up but not enough to pulverize them. I aim for about the size of the
dry cranberries. Lastly my new thing is raw pumpkin seeds and coconut flakes.
Then just toss into some yogurt and enjoy.
So much cheaper and better for you than buying store brand granola which
is loaded with extra sugars preservatives and even GMO's. Especially the stuff that looks
"healthy" is the worst for you and the most expensive (I tend to Google stuff on my phone while grocery shopping sometimes to see if it contains GMO).

I started experimenting with my basic recipe. I was trying to figure out how to make it healthier
I started taking out the salt since I eat out so much and lots of the stuff is processed
I try to save where I can. I did not notice a difference in taste.
Next I would substitute the honey with maple syrup or agave (mostly because I ran out of honey)
Also the last batch I made contained no brown sugar or honey. Just oats, extra cinnamon and
extra virgin olive oil. It came out a bit on the plainer side but not very noticeable once you toss in
all the nuts, fruits and seeds served up in creamy yogurt. Plus I figures if I use the brown sugar
I don't need the honey and vice versa. Molasses is good too!

You can add just about anything to this recipe and omit anything you do not like
It's so easy to change up the taste by just changing out the cinnamon for ginger or cardamon
or any other spice that might be appealing . You can make it more treat like by lightly using the small size
dark chocolate chips, or peanut chips.

I tend to eat about 3/4 of a cup or less twice a day with about 6 ounces of yogurt. It is healthy for you
but it is loaded with calories mostly because of the nuts. But it is the good kind of calories.

If you follow the directions and not toast the oats you basically have muesli. Muesli tends to be a
bit hard to chew so it's best to soak it over night to soften it for breakfast the next day.
Quick oats should not need soaking so they make better muesli than old fashion oats.
But I think quick oats are to fragile to bake for granola. But if you find the granola to hard to chew
then definitively use the quick oats. They might need less baking time. I tend to let my granola sit
in the yogurt for a while and that softens it. You can also eat it cold like cereal or hot
like oat meal.


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Yogurt

My newest obsession is making home made yogurt.

Homemade yogurt with puree blueberries and granola

The only thing I would recommend is a thermometer to check the milk temperature and that it is oven safe too.

I start by boiling 7 cups of whole milk and 1 cup of heavy cream (each cup of milk makes for a cup of yogurt) to 180 degrees, then cool it down to
110 degrees.
The fastest way to cool  it down is by placing the pot in the sink with cold water.

For a while I was getting raw milk. The raw milk I would only heat up to 110 degrees instead of 180 degrees that way it kept all the good "bacteria" and not kill anything by pasteurizing it. If you are using raw milk then you do not need the cream since raw milk is naturally creamier.

I would preheat the oven since I don't have a yogurt maker or an electric blanket.
The oven must be no higher than 110 degrees or else it kills the culture.
I was using plain Greek yogurt at first since my health food store does not sell a yogurt starter.
I do two tablespoons of the Greek yogurt for every 4 cups of warm milk.
I have now been using two tablespoons of my own yogurt mixture that I reserve from my last batch and have had great results so far. I mix it well in the containers that will store the yogurt in the fridge.
Then I place it all in the oven with a pot of boiling water in the bottom to help maintain the oven temperature. The yogurt must be in for a minimum of 8 hours up to 24 hours.
At 24 hours the yogurt is completely lactose free since the live culture eat the lactose.
Sometimes half way through I reboil the water if I feel the oven temperature has dropped.
Then it all goes in the refrigerator to cool down.

After a few hours it's ready to eat. It comes out very thick and creamy.
You can drain and reserve the excess liquid. I just stir it in since it does not bother me.
At this point you can add a little vanilla extract since it is very plain. and unsweetened. I
usually skip that part. But I have been thinking about using a little lemon extract.

I love to eat it with fresh fruit puree and granola. Just honey is great too.
I have served it up with a spoonful of red current jam or apricot jam with granola for my friends.
Basically any jam or jelly will work. It is so much healthier than the supermarket stuff that is loaded with artificial sugars and preservatives. The hardest part is the wait.

One time I made it earlier in the morning and I had it in the oven for 5 hours before I realized that I had forgotten the starter! I had basically made warm milk. But it turned out okay. I took it out and used some of my left over yogurt from my last batched. Whisked it in said a prayer to the yogurt gods and back in the oven it went. 16 hours later I had yogurt! I figured since it was at the ideal temperature it would be okay.

I go through 8 cups of yogurt every week. I need to find a glass container that can hold a gallon. Be great to make it every two weeks instead of every week. I eat 6 ounces in the morning and again in the evening.

I swear I am addicted.

Yogurt is great to help maintain good probiotics and digestive health. It is also a great diet aid plus the calcium is good for your bones and it is much easier to tolerate than milk especially if you make it lactose free. I do not recommend using low fat or fat free milk since it will give you a very watery consistency. You can leave out the cream but I feel that it makes it thicker.

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