Granola

Feeling good right now, have a load of laundry clean and dried, made granola, made bread AND the kitchen is clean, it's only 10:20 am! woohoo for me! (not a typical morning--I'm feeling quite productive.....) I wanted to share the granola recipe with you.

**while combining everything else soak in warm water:

1 cup Craisins

3/4 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup dried blueberries

(you can also add pumpkin seeds, apple chunks, and anything else you would like)**

10 cups Old fashioned oats

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup Oat bran

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1 cup sliced almonds

***combine all of these in a large bowl***

in a saucepan combine:

1 cup Maple syrup (she says don't use cheap stuff--I bought mine at Costco)

3/4 cup Oil

1 Tablespoon Cinnamon (or sweet spice mix)

1 1/2 cup honey

Mix together and heat until bubbly.

pour this wet mixture over the dry mixture and mix WELL. Place granola on two jelly roll pans with sides, spread it out so it covers the whole pan. Bake for about 15 minutes then give it a SLIGHT sift- be careful of the edges--this makes the crunchy part. Then switch pans (from top to bottom)and bake another 8-10 minutes, this all depends on how crunchy or chewy you want it. Let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes before transferring it to another container.

This recipe came from a buddy of mine at the gym....I tasted a little it IS yummy! I think my family will be glad to have all of the "supplies" off the counter, they've only been sitting there for a week!

Hope you have a FANTASTIC Friday! We have a soccer game tonight, yeah! Makes Saturday with two games bearable! :)