September is National Honey Month: Granola Recipe

By Cal Orey

It’s a cereal mixture of baked oats, nuts, and dried fruit. As time passed, this good-for-you snack made its way to health food stores and now in the 21^st century it’s touted in TV commercials and found in bags, boxes, and bins at grocery stores.

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Decades ago I was a health-conscious nomad in between semesters at college. Paired with a dog we camped out in gold mining country--for a summer. Before we were evicted (due to lack of cash flow and having a canine) from our apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area, I made a big batch of granola and stored it inside a big plastic container and stored it inside our ice chest. The first morning I awoke to our new home-- a van parked on the shore of Tuolumne River in Calaveras County.  Clad in a bathing suit, basking in the sunshine, munching on crunchy granola (and letting the pooch eat his kibble) before taking a swim was going back to nature, carefree and happy.

Good Grief! Homemade Granola

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 stick of European style butter, melted

1/2 cup honey

3 tablespoons premium organic maple syrup

1 cup mixed dried fruit: golden raisins, cranberries, ginger
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
Fresh strawberries, sliced

In a pan place dry ingredients (oats, and sugar). Set aside.  Mix wet ingredients (butter, honey, syrup) and combine with dry ingredients until all ingredients are coated. Bake in a 300 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes. Stir a few times. Remove, cool, add dried fruit and nuts. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. Serves 8. *Serve with milk as cereal or with plain Greek yogurt, slices of fresh fruit, and tea.

The kitchen will smell like a cookie store. A few tips I’ve learned include: Less baking time makes a chewier granola; adding dried fruit when baked is best; easy on the coconut since it’s high in fat; and vegetable oil can be used instead of butter. Eating less is more because the contents are rich in sugar and fat but paired with organic yogurt (plain contains less sugar, more protein) or low fat milk makes it a healthy breakfast or snack. You can buy granola but making it yourself is easy, fun, tastes fresh, and you have the luxury of adding your favorite nuts, seeds, and dried fruit to savor wherever you are during seasonal changes that come with rain, snow or shine.www