Healthy Granola

I love granola. I love the crunch and the yummy taste. But the stuff from the store is always so expensive! So I decided to make my own.

Here's the recipe I started with.

I made a few changes. This has been our breakfast the last few days. With a little bit of almond milk, it's actually quite delicious!

Healthy Granola
Ingredients:

• 4  cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup oat flour (I made my own in the blender)
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 3/4 cup raw walnuts, chopped
• 3/4 cup raw pecans, chopped
• 4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch of cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 2/3 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together oats, oat flour, flaxseed meal, chia seeds, almonds, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.
Add coconut oil, honey and vanilla extract to a small saucepan and place over low heat, stirring frequently until coconut oil is completely melted. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well until oats are completely coated.

Next spread the granola evenly in the baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes stir granola and add dried fruit, if you are using. Return granola to the oven and bake 15 minutes longer or until granola is slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the granola to cool completely on the baking sheet so that little clumps stay intact. Once cooled, transfer to an airtight container. Best used within 7-10 days. Makes 20 servings.

Crockpot Steel Cut Oats

This has become a breakfast staple in our house. Because I am exceptionally lazy in the morning, we used to eat a lot of cold cereal. Too processed and too much sugar for our new diet. Dr. Oskin suggested steal cut oats because they are not processed like rolled oats, and have more nutrients. They take much longer to cook than quick oatmeal, so I've started putting them in the crockpot to cook overnight. And I make batches large enough to feed our family for a few days.

Recipe:

Crockpot Steel Cut Oats

Ingredients:

2 cups steel cut oats
7 cups liquid -- (I use about 3 cups of apple juice as a sweetener and 4 cups of water)
2 Tablespoons chia seeds
1 Tablespoon flax seeds

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients in a crockpot. Cook on low heat 4-6 hours or overnight.

Optional mixins -- When I first started this, I thought the kids would like having extras mixed in. We tried different things including chopped apples, pears, dates, walnuts and raisins with mixed results. Finally, the kids told me they would just rather mix in whatever they choose when they are ready to eat it in the morning and that seems to make everyone happier. Dried fruit works really well. A little almond milk can be added to make a creamier texture.