Granola ala'Lou

After eating eggs for breakfast for 6 months, I have a craving for granola.

Grab my coat, drive to Target, take a look at the ripoff granola section, and walk out in disgust!

Cascadian Farms is too big of a company for me to "believe in"... yeah, look me straight in the eyes and tell me you're not paying the USDA under the table to label your food organic, or your organic mass production farming isn't just as bad for the land and our economy as your non organic cheaper counter part. (Is it a passion for good food or a paranoia of the man?)

One step to the right and it's Kashi - yep, you guessed it - too expensive. I'm not the kind of hippie that put my pot money in the market in the early 90s and can miraculously afford overpriced oats.

Next step, Mississippi Market. Good Old Co-ops. They must have what I need. They're community supported and good for our local farmers... yes yes yes... oh bummer, they got 2 new buildings and raised their prices so far up their asses that I can't handle the stench. Why do you need to make it so difficult to support you! This isn't some fad, this is a way of life. Bulk section, could you be cheaper? nope. end of story.

I can't wait for the St. Paul farmer's market to start up again.

Last stop - sadly, Costco.
I'll make my own Granola.
To be honest, this was my intention from the very beginning. But some days I'm lazy. Don't hate me.

• 6 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 C honey
• 2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut (optional)
  
• 3/4 C vegetable oil
• 2 Cups slivered almonds or walnut pieces
• 5 C dried fruit (mix them up! cranberries and raisins, or chopped apricots and cherries, whatever your heart desires, or whatever your pantry contains)
• 1 C roasted cashews

1. Preheat over to 300 degrees
2. toss oats, coconut, and almonds in large bowl.
3. whisk together oil and honey in small bowl. (a little trick, use the oil on your measuring cup first, then the honey... the honey will slide right out, Magic!)
   
4. Mix oil/honey with oat mixture w/ wooden spoon until everything is coated.
5. place on a large baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally (VERY IMPORTANT) until golden brown - ~45 minutes.
6. cool, add fruit and mix.
7. store in an airtight container.

Eat with Milk or Yogurt

You can really do anything with this granola, if you want to spice it up, add some cinnamon, or nutmeg to the oil/honey mix, and wha-la gourmet granola. This is a base, do with it what you wish. Just keep the proportions of oats to oil/honey about the same. If you can get the items bulk, it is WAY cheaper than buying at SuperMarket.

***Hint = You can use any nuts you want, but almonds, walnuts, pecans you can bake easily - cashews and peanuts, you can burn easily. I recommend roasting peanuts/cashews separately and adding at the end, or just buying a roasted nut and adding at the end. You can also use any type of dried fruit. Fig and walnut go well together, as do cranberries and walnuts. I like almonds and cherries/blueberries. Pecans and apricots are also tasty. Oh, and do not, really, DO NOT, bake the dried fruit. They turn into little bits of charcoal. Lesson learned by yours truly - had to throw out an entire pan of granola. It was very depressing.****

Special Thanks to the Barefoot Contessa cookbook. Although your recipe was a little over the top, I know how to edit, and appreciate the starting point. Seriously, she knows taste! yum.