Tuesday, August 08, 2006

A Very "Back To Nature" Day

I have always wanted to make granola because people always joke that I am a "granola health food freak"; though I had never eaten it in my life. Maybe they had a point? So I decided to make some granola. I found the basic structure of granola from recipes from vegweb.com and made my own.
Today was my first day of volunteering at a wildlife sanctuay where I get to be outside for three hours. I have to remove invasive plants so they do not kill the good plants. I love learning the names for plants, birds, and insects. Then I got to help track wood turtles and mark them in the GSP system. The turtles were so cute!! Anyway, I love nature so this was the perfect day for me.

Almond Cinnamon Granola

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup maple syrup

Combine dry ingredience in a plastic container. Pour the maple syrup on top until everything is lightly saturated. (You can use more if you think you need it, but if you use to much your granola will be a hunk.)

Cover the container and let it dry in the refrigerator overnight. This allows the flavors to seep in. (If you must have granola you can just cook it now, but the drying overnight really enhances the flavors).

The next day:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spred the granola out in a single layer. Bake for 7 minutes (depending on the oven). The granola should be completly dry and crunchy when cool. Enjoy with your favorite vegan milk of choice (I like vanilla soy) or just take along plain.

This was so easy to make and came out so tasty. I added it to my cereal. I want to experiment with other ingredience. Different nuts and raisins, Ill keep you posted.


2 comments:

Dori said...

Hi Kate. Nice looking food you have going here. I came over to check out some uses for rosemary. I really like my VwaV cookbook also. I have already scrolled through your previous posts and could make some sort of "ooh awhh" comment with every post. I have been considering the mango wraps for sometime. I love stuff like that. I just made the Chickpea and spinach curry tonight for supper, only I used swiss chard.

urban vegan said...

I love granola and it's been awhile since I made any. This looks great. Much cheaper and healthier than many store-bought cereals.