Hi everyone,

My husband is getting tired of our ol' granola recipe. Got any great ideas? Presently, I am making it with 6 C oats, 2 C whole wheat flour, 1C oil, 1C honey, 1/2 C water, T vanilla extract, and whatever almond extract I feel whimsical about. Oh yeah, and a little salt. Bake in slow oven one hour....

I know this is the bare bones minimum. We add raisins after baking. I love coconut, almonds, etc, but they tend to be expensive, as do other dried fruits. I would love to see whatever recipes you have, though, as I could save the expensive ones for special occasions! I know there's gotta be better recipes than the one I use.

Thanks in advance.

p.s. or other cereals for breakfast?

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), March 08, 2000

Answers

Boy oh boy does that mix sound good! Sounds like you really spoil that hubby of yours. Tell ya what. He can send me all his cereal and I'll get my box of corn flakes off to him. Ha Ha Kirk

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), March 08, 2000.

Not a full-time every day answer, but a change is nice, and there are some interesting suggestions at href="http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl? msg_id=002hB7">favorite rice recipe , particularly if you have rice stored that you need to work through to rotate the storage. Rice is easiest; but I like just about any grain occasionally, brought to the boil and then simmered long in the evening, left to soak in the warm water (on a slow-combustion wood stove ideally) overnight, then brought back to the boil for ten or fifteen minutes or so in the morning. Add just about anything you like - milk and sugar or honey, pasta sauce, chopped fruit, .... At the moment though (just started autumn in Australia) we have had a year like you wouldn't believe for apples, and I'm trying to work my way through those until I can see daylight again, so (regularly or for a change or for a changing supplement to the old regular) fresh fruit in season.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 08, 2000.

That should have read favorite rice recipe (I think). If that hasn't worked, then I give up.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 09, 2000.

My favorite cook book is More-with-Less Cookbook (suggestions by Mennonites) it has a whole bunch of granola recipes. My favorite, is just like yours except I use 1cup of coconut and 1 cup of wheat germ. I also like to omit the honey and add brown sugar. Another extender is to add Grape Nuts cereal to it. Of course the addition of any dried fruits, try doing you own bananas, apples etc. when they are cheap this year and freezeing them just to add to your granola, in granola the color of the dried fruit is less improtant. Also sunflower, sesame seeds, raisians, figs (dried and chopped like dates) walnuts, pecans, cinnamon, powedered milk, and molassas are all great additions. Vicki McGaugh

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 09, 2000.

Don: Sure wish you were closer than Australia! I would love to have some of those apples....Applebutter, dried apples, applesauce, etc! YUM! Want to trade for some horse apples? Jan

-- Jan B (Janice12@aol.com), March 10, 2000.

Jan: Do horse apples go with corn flakes?....Kirk

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), March 11, 2000.

Oh you guys!

I got a good laugh thinking about serving up a steamin' bowl of cornflakes and horse apples to my husband!

We have been pouring and working concrete the last couple of days and he's been hungry enough for sure, but I don't think even he could gag that meal down!

Thanks for the chuckle.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), March 12, 2000.

You could also try using orange juice in place of the water. I just made it this way and added some cranberries that I had dehydrated myself. Not too expensive, and very good!I also add millet to my granola, and any other grain nut or seed I have around. It never turns out the same. Chris

-- Chris Dehne (mdehne@ccpl.carr.org), March 15, 2000.

Chris, Yum, orange juice sounds great. I will try it in my next batch.Thanks!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), March 15, 2000.

Keep the base recipe the same, and just change your add-ins and flavoring. Try: Almond extract with sliced almonds and cashew pieces Banana flavoring with banana chip bits and sliced almonds Blueberry flavoring with dried blueberries and ground hazelnuts

Or replace the WW flour with oat bran, wheat bran, or wheat germ. Or add cheap cereals like cornflakes or rice crispies to extend it a la Honey-Bunches of Oats.

It's best if you can try to find a cheap source of dried fruits and nuts. I love dried cherries and hazelnuts, but they're pretty cheap in MI. It would cost more for coconut or pecans.

-- Becky M. (beckymom@kjsl.com), March 15, 2000.

I used to be one of the people who made "Aunt Jo's Granola" for the late, great, Josephine Couunty (Oregon) Food Cooperative.

I just found the old "official" recipe. It's good, but you may want to do a slightly smaller batch. I used to make it five gallons at a time.

The coop died almost twenty years ago. That's another story. A story of groovy, hip, trust, and love, versuse record keeping.

I continued making the granola for my family for a long time after that, but haven't done so since the cost of many of the nuts in the recipe went from about two dollars a pound to over six. :0(

Here it is; it's yummy and nutritious. Over the years I learned to make substitutions or wliminations, based on what was available and cheap.

3-4 lbs. rolled oats 1-2 lbs rolled wheat 1 lb wheat germ 1/2 lb bran 1 lb coconut 1/2 lb sunflower seeds 1/2 lb cashews, peanuts, or almonds, or a combination 1 lb currants 1 lb raisins 3 TBS vanilla (real vanilla) 2-3 cups honey 1 cup oil 1 tsp lecithin (optional) 2 TBS cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp cloves 1 tsp allspice

Heat honey, oil, lecithin, and spices, stirring until well mixed. Remove from het. Add dry ingredients in order given (except raisins and currants, unless you like "puffed" raisins and currants) Stir well after each addition in order to coat well Spread on cookie sheet (note: I use shallow baking pans, as it's easier to keep from spilling ingredients later) Toast at 350 degrees until brown (note: I like to stir it a couple of times during the cooking process)

When cool, stir in the currants and raisins (note: I like to stir them in just after removing the granola from the oven--try it both ways)

Buen provecho!

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), March 16, 2000.

I like "Familia" muesli which is slightly different than granola. I just used the ingredient list on the box to make my own, judging the proportions by the descending order of the ingredients. I had a hard time finding millet flakes, though. I guess that would work with granola, too, if you have a commercial one you like.

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), March 16, 2000.