Are you Granola?

Do you wear your healthy-ish eating on your Facebook page for all to see?   While you are scarfing down ho ho's faster than any competitive eater in the dark pantry so you don't get busted.  For once I can say I haven't ever done that.  Mostly because I'm not entirely sure what a ho ho really is.  Nor do I even remotely claim to be into healthy eating.  So maybe I have scarfed down a ho ho in the dark, and just never knew.  (Note to self find and identify exact what a ho ho is.)  All that being said I have been on a huge kick of eating vanilla greek yogurt.  If you haven't tried greek yogurt yet you are seriously missing out.  What could make eating yummy yogurt even better you ask?  If you are me its some yummy granola to sprinkle on the top.  That and I love eating granola WAY better than eating any store bought cereal.  A few weeks back I asked all my peeps on Facebook for good granola recipes, and I hit the jackpot.  I also forgot to save any of those, and now can't find any of them.  Total bummer.  So tonight I was on a mission to make granola.  So I needed a recipe.  Where does one go for a recipe for just about anything on the face of the planet?  Pinterest right?   Well tonight pinterest didn't come through for me.  I know I was shocked too, but it was bound to happen eventually.  Mostly because all the recipes on there called for things I didn't have on hand, and me in my infinite laziness didn't want to drive 11 miles one way just to go to the store for a few ingredients.  So I had to make up my own recipe, and hope it didn't tank.  Here's how it went.

Backwoods Babies Crap I Had On Hand In My Pantry Granola (I might need to find a shorter name)
4 cups oatmeal (I only had quick oats)
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp honey ( I used local honey)
1/4 cup of flax seed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (because Destructo Girl likes to eat straight cinnamon)
1/2 tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 350.  Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl, including the pecans.  Then melt the coconut oil in a liquid measuring cup.  This should only take about 30 seconds.  Pour the melted coconut oil into the dry ingredients, and give it all a quick stir to fully distribute the oil.  Then using your oily measuring cup measure out your honey, and heat for 30 seconds.  The oil residue left in the cup will ensure that all the honey comes out easily, and slightly heating it makes it more fluid moving so it is easier to fully stir the honey onto all the oats. Then add the vanilla, and stir the heck out of it.  When it has been well mixed, pour it out onto a large cookie sheet.  Put in the oven, and toast for 20-22, stirring halfway through.  Keep an eye on it as it can burn super easily.  It will come out looking like this.

Looks yummy right?

Here it is up close.

This is a mildly sweet granola. If you want it more sweet just add more honey, or throw in some brown sugar with the dry ingredients.  I personally like it on the lower end of sweet because I can't handle very much sweetness in the morning, and that is when I eat granola the most.  So just make up your own batch of, Crap I Had On Hand in the Pantry, granola.  Then eat and enjoy.

UPDATE:  I know.  How could I possibly have an update again so soon.  Okay so this granola has been a stinking sensation at my house since I made it.  It was almost completely gone after the first morning...so I had to make some more.  I decided this time to tweak things a bit.

So this time around I had been to the store, and got a few extra supplies.  I grabbed a bag of unsweetened coconut (because my kids like it), a bag of craisins (dried cranberries), and raw slivered almonds.  Those all made an appearance in the new batch, and it was crazy good.  Normally I have all of those things on hand.  However, my toddler recently learned how to open door, and it has been a buffet life for her ever since.  She is paying the price for eating that much dried fruit though so hopefully she'll steer clear of that next time.  I also upped the honey to 2/3 cup because the munchkins were wanting it a bit sweeter.

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