Maple Fest, Revamped Granola Recipe, & Today's School Lunches

Good morning! 

The kids are off to school, those that attend public anyway, and the baby is still asleep.  So, it's just me & you (& my 8th grader, the dog, the bunny, & the bird)...

Here is what my kids took for lunch today...

1/2 a baked potato, organic plain yogurt (homemade berry sauce, chia seeds, drizzle of organic maple syrup, & homemade organic granola to mix in), 1/2 an organic pear, & an Ak Mak brand organic pb & j cracker sandwich. Not very colorful, I know, but I was in a hurry!  

How was your weekend?

Mine was fine, and consisted of the usual grocery shopping and time spent with family.  

Since we do our shopping on Saturday mornings, and we don't always bring the kiddos, we try to do something fun in the evening.  This week it was the Maple Festival.

Here is the family enjoying their maple stirs (100% pure maple syrup)...

Mine was too sweet for me, so I couldn't finish it.  I offered it to the baby, but he had apparently had enough.  My 8th grader was shivering by the time she had finished her stir.  My 1st grader thought it was ok, but has never had a big sweet tooth.  Now, my husband and my kindergartner savored every bite...she would have eaten the bowl if I had let her!

  

Once she had sugar, she was off...

"Can we get cotton candy?"  "No."

"Can we have ice cream?"  "No."

"Boy, those snow cones sure look good!"  "No."

"Can I have these chocolates?  Please?"  "No."

"Well, what can I have?"  

"French fries...we will share french fries."

and so we did...very reluctantly on my part, due to the fact that they had been deep fried in GMO canola.  It was a treat, though, and not too bad considering that we all shared.  It was the closest thing to real food at the whole festival.  We skipped the ketchup, and enjoyed our treat (my homemade fries are still tastier).

One of the things that I needed to shop for this week was granola ingredients.  We were nearly out, and it is a big part of our breakfast rotation.  I followed this recipe to the letter the last time I made granola, with the exception of adding raisins and dates, and I wasn't a huge fan.  It was too dark, the raisins and dates were rock hard, and it tasted burned.  I crossed my fingers, hoping the kids would still like it, and they did.  Phew...what a relief!  

I tweaked the recipe a bit this time around.  This resulted in a granola with just a hint of sweetness.  Add more honey or syrup if you'd like it sweeter.  I also left half of the seeds, nuts, and all of the coconut NEARLY raw.  We have a thing for raw, around here.  :)  Add them in earlier, or bake them for longer, if you'd like them crunchier.

I love this stuff, because it is so versatile...add stuff in, take stuff out...gotta love that!

Here is what I threw in this batch of granola...

5 1/4 cups organic rolled oats

1/2 cup organic almond slivers

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup unsweetened organic coconut flakes

1/2 cup raw organic pumpkin seeds

1 cup raisins

1 1/2 tsp gr. cinnamon

1 3/4 tsp gr. ginger

1 tsp gr. nutmeg

1/2 cup raw honey

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup organic maple syrup, plus 3 Tbsp

3 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Mix all of the oats, half of the almonds, sunflower seeds, & pumpkin seeds, and all of the spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg) in a large bowl.  In a saucepan, mix the honey, vanilla, & 1/4 cup syrup, & add the butter.  Heat until boiling. 

Pour the honey mixture onto the oat mixture, stirring until evenly coated. 

Pour onto a large parchment or Silpat covered baking sheet, in an even layer.

Here is what my baking sheet was prepped with...

(Yes, it's an old baking sheet, but it still works, so I'm good with it.  :)  The silicone sheet looks dirty, because I took the pic after cooking this batch for the initial 60 minutes.  I was on auto pilot, and forgot to take pics up until that point.  Sorry.) 

Bake for 60 minutes, then remove.  Set oven to 250 degrees.

I then scooped it all back into the bowl, where I added the rest of the pumpkin & sunflower seeds, the rest of the almonds, and all of the coconut and raisins. 

Add the remaining 3 Tbsp maple syrup, and stir to coat.

Spread out in an even layer on the same baking sheet, with either the same silicone sheet, or fresh parchment, if needed.

Bake for 10 minute, then remove.  Let cool.

Here it is!  I store it in an airtight container.  This recipe made 3 qts of granola.  It's great for cereal, snacks, and on top of yogurt.  

:)

Have a great day!