Honey Nut Granola

For the last four months I have been eating a heavily plant based diet. Yes, I sneak in dairy here and there but mostly because it has been a learning process. I love how I have felt eating a cleaner diet and I want to continue to improve my diet. But as everyone importantly adds after a statement about eating healthy is that food has to taste good too. I've found that the more simple I keep the food the better it is. I can let the quality whole foods shine and I don't have to hide anything in syrup or a thick cheese sauce. I recently found a new blog that I've been learning a lot from: MyGreenDiet.com. This recipe is listed as Honey Nut Granola but I wanted to note the changes I made because I plan on making this at least a million more times. 

 Yum. Every week I splurge on a delicious granola that I find in the bulk area of Win-Co. It's $4 a pound and typically the most expensive item I buy every week. I noticed that the ingredients listed were oats, cashews, dried cranberries, and honey. Which is why I was buying it in the first place but I felt silly spending so much for something that seemed pretty doable and cheap to make. Enter the honey nut granola recipe. (These are her instructions, I added my notes.) Here's the link to the original recipe. http://mygreendiet.com/green-diet-plan-recipes/honey-nut-granola/

• 2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 cup sliced or chopped almonds
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut - I think coconut is poison so I used about 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds and 1/4 cup chia seeds instead. 
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup dried fruit (I like raisins, dried cranberries, and/or diced apricots) - I had just over one cup of dried cranberries. This made the perfect blend of oat to nut to fruit ratio. 

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a lightly greased sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.
3. While the mixture is still warm, stir in the honey, vanilla and salt until the mixture is well coated, then the dried fruit. Pour the mixture back onto your sheet pan and return to the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for 1 to 2 hours before breaking up into pieces. Store in an airtight container. This can be stored at room temperature for a week or two; however, it will only stay really crisp for a day or two. Store it in the freeze to maintain crispness for longer.

My house smelled like heaven on earth when this was baking. I actually received a complement when I went back to work that I smelled good. So it doubles as a home freshener and perfume, oh yeah, and you can eat it too. And it tastes like heaven in your mouth. I can't wait to make it again and try all sorts of mix ins.