Granola

I often make granola so I have something better to eat than expensive, sugar loaded cold cereals. All granola starts with rolled oats and then can contain any nuts, seeds and grains that you desire. Usually almonds and coconut are included. The one above is oatmeal, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, wheat germ, flax seed meal, ribbon coconut--almonds will be added in a minute. Other nuts can also be used--when I was at Rebecca's the other day fresh, local pecans were available--so I added some of those. If I have Macademia nuts they are a great addition too. My local grocery store sometimes has unsweetened ribbon coconut, so I use that when I can, but if not then regular baking coconut is OK.

Here is the recipe:

In a very large baking dish mix the following:

5 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup shelled sunflower seeds (I prefer raw ones, but roasted and salted are OK too)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup flax seeds (cracked or milled) (optional)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (optional)
1 cup coconut
2 cups almonds

Mix together and drizzle 1/4 cup cooking oil over the top. Drizzle 1/2 cup honey over that. (You can use more oil and honey--the official recipe uses double that amount, but this suits my taste, Dad adds artificial sweetener to get it to his taste.)

Bake in 300 degree oven for 15 minutes, stir. Bake another 15 minutes and stir again. Bake another 10-15 minutes, (depending on how brown it is getting), stir again, let cool, store and enjoy!