oh granola

After eating my weight in chocolate, lollipops, and red velvet cupcakes these past two weeks (thanks but no thanks, Warner), I decided it was time to get back to eating things that are at least a little bit good for me.    My sister comes by for dinner and to watch a certain unnamed TV show every Monday, so I decided it was a perfect time to make some almond granola.  I usually make it with pecans, walnuts, and almonds--but my sweet sister is allergic to almost every nut on the face of the earth except almonds and peanuts. Which I think is weird and random because I figure if you are allergic to most nuts the deadly peanut must be on that list. 

 So I've made this life-changing granola a few times but she's never been able to try it for fear of her life. (I just want to say here that this is the same girl who once convinced herself that her throat was closing up because I was burning a hazelnut scented candle. I highly doubt that the supersized candle that cost $3 at Walmart has any sort of real hazelnut in it but I could be wrong. And when she thought it was cinnamon scented there wasn't a problem. I'm not saying she's dramatic. I'm just saying. ) 

I got this recipe from a dear co-worker and it changed my life. It's wicked easy, too.

Get yourself about three cups of some good old-fashioned oats.

In a saucepan, heat 1/4 cup of oil, 1/4 cup of honey, and 1/4 cup of brown sugar on medium. Add 1 tsp. of vanilla and 1tbsp. of water.

While this is heating, add your desired nuts (preferably ones that don't send anyone in your household running for thier EpiPen) and some shredded coconut to the oats. The beauty of granola is that you can really throw in whatever you have...sunflower seeds, wheat germ, flaxseed. None of which I have, but I often wish I were the type of person who did have such things. 

Mix it all up and then pour the honey/brown sugar goodness over the oats. 

 Bake at 275 for about an hour and fifteen minutes, stirring every fifteen minutes. This is the hard part about granola because once you have put all that effort into getting the ingredients together it is a little exasperating to have to get up to stir it every fifteen minutes. But it's worth it. 

When it's done cooking, you can add some delicious dried fruit like cranberries. I didn't have any. I did have raisins but I don't really like raisins and so I'm pretty sure the box of them that is sitting in my cabinet has been there since long before P-dubs and I started dating. That's a long time. 


Side note: Goal for this weekend...clean out cabinets...


Warm granola might just be my favorite thing to eat. Ever. And my sister is a convert. No more store bought granola for that nut allergy diva.  Warner loves it, too. I brought some into school for her today. She brings me red velvet cupcakes. I bring her granola. She is definitely the better friend. 

To be honest,  I'm not exactly sure how healthy this granola is...but I'm pretty sure it's better than eating a red velvet cupcake for breakfast.