Granola

Many times I enthusiastically - sometimes, maybe, just a tad over enthusiastically - share my latest bargain score on groceries or other necessary items, and most of the time my friends say, "You should write a blog about that!" Sometimes I'll wax rhapsodic about clicker-training dogs, and sometimes I might have a tendency to go on just a bit about a particular point of grammar. My friends will then say, "You should write about that!"

The thing is, plenty of people do "write a blog about that," so I'm pretty convinced they just don't want to listen to me anymore.

Never mind, I'm taking their advice, and I'm writing what I know. And since, as I mentioned in the little "about me" blurb to the right, I enjoy a bit of alliteration, I thought I'd start out with a post about granola. (Grammar, Groceries, Growlies, and Granola. Hey, I write to amuse myself, and I am easily amused.)

Why granola? Well, oats are a wonderful, frugal option for breakfasts, snacks, toppings, or any excuse you can find to eat them. They are a good source of protein and fiber. They can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. They are very inexpensive, especially if you buy them in bulk. A breakfast of whole oats will leave you feeling satisfied much longer than a bowl of cereal, which means you are less likely to hit the vending machine at work - saving you money and calories.

For most of my life, however, my consumption of oats had been limited primarily to cookies such as The Pioneer Woman's Oatmeal Crispies, heavily modified to include copious amounts of chocolate, because I am unwilling to eat oatmeal and granola is expensive.

Store-bought granola, that is.

Once I realized that granola is really nothing more than oats + fat + sweetener + yummy stuff, a whole new world was opened to me. I've made chocolate, peanut butter, raspberry, vanilla, and plain granola. I've eaten it straight out of the container, and I've eaten it with milk, ice cream, yogurt, and fruit.

I played around a bit with the recipe, and I ultimately came to the conclusion that you really don't need nearly as much sweetener as the various internet recipes would have you believe. I do think the fat is pretty necessary if you want clumps. If you don't care about clumps, reduce fat at will!

I've provided my recipe with a cost breakdown using regular store prices, not "awesome sale with a coupon" prices.

Jen's Basic Granola - $2.75 - $4.45

4 cups oats (Quaker, 70 cents)

1 cup ground flax seed (Bob's Organic Golden Whole, 80 cents)

1/4 cup honey (local farmer's market, 80 cents)

1 tbsp vanilla (Costco, 15 cents)

1/4 cup coconut oil (Spectrum organic, ~$2 - pricey but worth the flavor and nutritional benefit)

or

1/4 cup veg oil (Costco, 30 cents)

Mix flax and oats with oil, vanilla, and honey until completely coated. Spread a thin layer in a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until golden brown. Stir occasionally.

Mix-ins

sunflower seeds
almonds
walnuts
cashews
hazelnuts
macadamia nuts
pumpkin seeds
peanuts
dried cranberries
dried apples
raisins
dried bananas
chocolate chips
whole flax seed
wheat germ
shredded coconut
cinnamon
nutmeg
ginger
allspice
cocoa powder

The sky's the limit when it comes to mix-ins!

Mix everything except the fruit and chocolate chips before baking. Fruit goes in after baking, and chocolate chips go in after cooling.

Alternate sweeteners and fats

Play around with these by substituting them for the honey or oil.

SWEETENERS: Try sugar (mix sugar with water to make a syrup), Torani syrup, agave, applesauce, apple juice, grape juice, or skip it altogether!

FATS: Consider peanut butter, olive oil, almond butter, or avocado oil.

Obviously, some of these options are going to be more frugal than others, but play around with it and see if you don't agree homemade granola is easy, delicious, and cheap!