Granola - 1 Day Before Babies Arrive!!

In continuing my efforts of making different meals/snacks for after we are home from the hospital, I made a little snack today. I was eating a KIND bar this morning I thought - why don't I make my own granola??

Homemade granola is super easy, healthy and often cheaper than the store bought stuff. Plus, if you have a few of the staple ingredients plus an oven and a bowl -- why not make it? You can diversify it by adding it to yogurt or eat it with fruit, or just by itself. So it got me thinking of different ingredients I could whip together today for a not-so-bland-homemade granola. After reading this website, this is what I came up with...oats, walnuts, apples, chia seeds, cocoa powder, cinnamon, coconut oil and raw organic honey.

Oh, but before I forget - we bought a new sofa yesterday! It has power recliners on both sides and is pretty darn comfy. It is the extra sitting space that the downstairs was missing. I have a feeling I will be spending tons of time in this room this summer and fall!

 

But back to the granola. There are a few essentials to make any granola - grain, nuts, sweetener and oil. Then there are your "optional ingredients" like seeds, dried fruit and spices. Here are most of my ingredients, with a few additional spices like nutmeg and ginger. I started off with all my dry ingredients in my bowl - so 3 cups of rolled oats, 1 cup of walnuts, 2 tbsp. of chia seeds, 2 tbsp. of cocoa powder, a dash of salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg - all of these are optional. Then I added my wet ingredients to the bowl which were 1/4 cup coconut oil, 2 tbsp. of raw organic honey and 1 egg white 

 

I originally was going to dry out my granny smith apple pieces and then mix them into the granola after it was done cooking, but then I decided it would take too long. I honestly didn't feel like waiting 8+ hours for it. So I googled a few other recipes to see if anyone opted to use fresh fruit in their granola. I was hesitant it would make it juicy or runny, but it actually came out great! I like the tangy flavor of the apple in the "sweeter" granola.

 

I mixed everything all together so it was all coated with the coconut oil/honey/egg white. I then spread it all out on a baking sheet. I personally like to cover it with aluminum foil or parchment paper to save on cleaning down the road.

 

Here we go! Ready for the oven...350 degrees for 45 minutes.

 

I took an "after" pic - but it looks pretty much the same as the before photo. It is really delicious, and is going great with my decaf coffee on this late afternoon, the day before my boys are scheduled to arrive. ;)

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!! Me and Jimbo are clearly celebrating a little bit differently this year. Be safe and have fun!

xo,
Shaz