Home-made is best.

I came home this week from work and entered the kitchen. My kitchen table had 4 large containers of oats on it. I looked at my husband, seeking an answer for this immense amount of grains that I did not purchase. He smiled and said he thought I should makes "something" with it.

Now, my family are cereal eaters. This may be the wrong term for their cereal eating behavior. My boys come by it honestly. My husband, in his bachelor years, used to consume 1-2 boxes of cereal in a 24 hour window of time. Just yesterday, my dear husband said that he and the boys had a cereal eating contest during breakfast. He proudly stated that Trevor consumed 6 bowls full of cereal. He said, Nicholas (my 4 year old) gave up after about 4 bowls of cereal. On a weekly basis, I can be found at the supermarket with a cart full of cereal.

When I am being sensible, I will make home-made granola for my family. This is just as easily consumed as the other cereals that I purchase for my guys (after all, I store all cereal out of the boxes in Tupperware cereal holders, so no one is the wiser!).

So, I believe that the four large containers of oats on the table may have been my husband trying to give me a subliminal message of "Please fix some granola for our family. We are in dire need of a healthier, more cost-effective breakfast." Do you think that is what he was trying to say?

A friend of mine asked me this week for a good, low-fat granola recipe. Since she specifically requested low-fat, I gave her one I got off of Cooking Light's website about a year ago. It is good ... but I have to say, I enjoy this recipe so much more. It is also the granola of choice of my family.

Goodness-Greatness Granola

1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup light brown sugar
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup of sliced almonds
1 cup of dried berries (your choice)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil. In a large bowl, combine honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt. Add the oats, wheat germ and stir until evenly blended.

Spread the granola out on the prepared sheets and bake about 20 minutes, stirring a few times to avoid burning and to achieve even baking. Remove pans from oven, stirring and then bake and additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Stir in the nuts and berries of your choice.


Enjoy!