Your Arteries and Colon Will Thank You

I'm a picky eater. I like my food plain, no frills, with very little sauces and a minimum of mixing things up (keep it separate!). I am NOT adventurous when it comes to food. Having said that, here's a basic, no frills recipe for granola that I love. It's simple and tasty. And customizable. If you're more adventurous than I when it comes to food (and who isn't?) try fancifying it - add raisins, or chocolate chips. Add dried fruit or nuts. Add sunflower seeds. Put fresh fruit on top when you prepare it. Try it with honey or molasses instead of sugar. As it is, I eat it plain. A half cup  or so with 2% milk on top. Sometimes I add cinnamon to the recipe. It's delicious and loaded with fiber. Your arteries and colon will thank you. ;-)

Delicious Granola
8 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup shortening
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp vanilla
1/4 cup ground flax seed (optional)
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Just mix is all together. I usually just use my hands so I can mix the shortening in good, but I suppose a spoon would also work. ;-) Then put it onto a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with raised edges and bake it in a 300 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes, stirring it every 10-15 minutes.

Let it cool then eat it! And store it in a covered container. Yummy!

I had a slight mishap the other day as I was making this. I have a big plastic container that is just the right size to hold a two pound bag of brown sugar. Well, it was just about empty so I decided to refill it. I cut open the bag and dumped it in. Oops! Wrong bowl! Oh no! I dumped all two pounds into my in-progress granola! So then I spent the next ten minutes scooping it carefully off the top and tried to estimate the 3/4 cup to leave behind. Sigh! Needless to say, there are a few oats in the brown sugar now. That's what happens when you make granola while watching American Idol, while talking to your ten year old at the same time. But it came out fine anyway. It certainly made the process more entertaining (albeit in a somewhat annoying way.)

Quack!