Had to start my morning off with oats!! No chia in this bowl but it was pretty much my normal mix with cinnamon + vanilla + almond milk with about 1/3c unsweetened applesauce cooked in the last 2-3min. Topped with Bob’s Red Mill coconut granola and about 1T pnut butter and 1t cinnamon vanilla almond butter that I made Sunday. Applesauce give the oats a hint of sweetness, extra creaminess, and some fluff! YUM. The mug was radiating yellow!

I planned to make 3 different types of granola. The possibilities are ENDless really. You can completely customize this to your liking. I tried a few new things though that I’m pretty excited about!

What have the dogs been up to lately? Oh you know doing their dog thang…luckily that has NOT included eating poop or jeans. YAY Kenna!

They usually play HARD all morning long and then pass out all afternoon.

inseparable.

FACE!

Granola – Batch 1 [recipes at the end] Instead of using 1/4c of oil in the granola recipes, today I tried using applesauce! I mean, it works in baked goods, why can’t it work for granola?? I used 3T unsweetened applesauce and 1/2T safflower oil [or any light oil].

I bought a new item today that I’m already in love with. Shelled Hemp Seeds! They were on sale at WF for $6.99 [$2 off!]. In just 2T these super seeds pack 11g of protein, 2g of omega-3 fats, and 6g of omega-6 fats.

And you all know my love for brown rice syrup. New to brown rice syrup? Check it out on my ingredients page. Also, I am MORE than happy to let you know Lundberg has NO association with Monsanto. If you don’t know what or who Monsanto is, I urge you to do some research. Are you following the “Month Without Monsanto” blog!? It’s REALLY interesting and quite scary. She recently posted about Lundberg’s products. Check it out!

Trying to stay on track…but it’s so hard…hehehe…almost back to the granola, I swear!

Look what popped UP in the mail today from mom + dad!! Weeee…a St. Patty’s Day gift. Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal! I’ve never used this so I am more than excited. Has anyone cooked with this before?? Thank you parentals ;)

My mess. Revealed. It was actually REALLY easy to clean up from. I used the same bowl for each batch and didn’t need to wash it in between.

Hemp seeds!!

Granola #1 –Apple Cran Nut yields appx 3.5c

1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
3 tablespoon pepitas
2 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons ground flax meal
3 tablespoons brown rice syrup
3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tablespoon safflower oil [or other light oil]

Mix-ins once cooled:

1/3 cup dried apples, chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 325*
Mix all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
Add in wet ingredients and stir until well combined.
Pour onto a parchment lined pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 10-20min stirring about every 5min. Watch closely so it doesn’t burn. It will still be soft when you take it out of the oven. Look for the oats starting to brown and take it out then.
Let cool, it will firm up and become crunchy. Stir in chopped fruit and store in an airtight container.

**Notes** I would really change anything with this mix except adding in a little maple syrup for some of the brown rice syrup. The fruit helps sweeten the granola. I really don’t like overly sweet granola nor is it really necessary.

Granola #2 –Make You Go CRUNCHyields appx 3c

1 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons shelled hemp seeds
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 tablespoons walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons cashews, chopped
3 tablespoons almonds, chopped
2 tablespoons pepitas
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground flax meal
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon sucanat [or pure cane sugar]
3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tablespoon safflower oil [or other light oil]

Preheat oven to 325*
Mix all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
Add in wet ingredients and stir until well combined.
Pour onto a parchment lined pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 10-20min stirring about every 5min. Watch closely so it doesn’t burn. It will still be soft when you take it out of the oven. Look for the oats starting to brown and take it out then.
Let cool, it will firm up and become crunchy. Store in an airtight container.

**Notes** In this I added a lot of protein, fiber, and healthy fats. I also took out 1T of the brown rice syrup and subbed with 1T maple syrup for a little more flavor + sweetness. I also added 1T sucanat for a little sweetness, but it really was not necessary. The applesauce helps to sweeten.

Granola #3 –Banana Coconutyields appx 3

1c rolled oats
2T shelled hemp seeds
1T chia seeds
1/2c almonds, chopped
2T pepitas
1/4t salt
1/2t cinnamon
1T brown rice syrup
1T maple syrup
1T coconut oil, melted
3T unsweetened coconut flakes
3T ripe banana, pureed
1t vanilla

Preheat oven to 325*
Puree banana with a hand blender, food processor, blender, or mash REALLY well with a fork.
Mix all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
Add in wet ingredients and stir until well combined.
Pour onto a parchment lined pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 10-20min stirring about every 5min. Watch closely so it doesn’t burn. It will still be soft when you take it out of the oven. Look for the oats starting to brown and take it out then.
Let cool, it will firm up and become crunchy. Store in an airtight container.

**Notes** The banana puree worked SO well in this. Next time I will change it to 2T banana puree and 1T applesauce as the banana masked the coconut flavor a bit. I would probably also use coconut butter instead of coconut oil. This mix smells AHmazing!!

You could easily transform this into a peanut butter/banana granola by taking out the coconut products and adding in peanuts instead of almonds. Maybe mix in 1T of pnut butter too!

Do you know how hard it was to not eat spoonfuls of this!??? I probably had about 1/3c total. So so so so goooood!!! And really easy to make. These 3 batches were whipped up in no time! Be creative!! This is a great recipe that your kids can help you make and mix in whatever they want! You can also always dumb the recipe down to something like this:

Simple Granola

1c rolled oats
1/2c almonds
1/4c sunflower seeds
1/4t salt
1/2t cinnamon
2T brown rice syrup
1T maple syrup
2T unsweetened applesauce
1t vanilla

I added fruit into 1 batch but not the others. I wanted to keep them open to add things on a whim! Feel like adding some dark chocolate chunks for dessert? More coconut? TONS of ideas!! I definitely want to come up with more variations. Since the banana + applesauce work SO well next on the list is: PUMPKIN!!! Then some type of cocoa granola. YUM.

Granola questions? Ask awaaaaay…SO many of you requested this be part of homemade week, I hope you enjoy! Also, if you make anything from my recipes this week, send me photos!! edibleperspective AT gmail DOT com

After making all of that, I cleaned up the kitchen and got started on dinner. More on dinner tomorrow…but I thought the 101 Cookbooks recipe for Lentil Burgers would be perfect for kicking off homemade week.