Garden Granola

It's garden planning time again.  I can't wait to get started.  My strawberry plants have come back!  These are the strawberry plants off of just one strawberry plant from last year.  Gwen enjoyed seeing worms of all sizes yesterday and discovering that flowers turn into strawberries.

This is Gwen overlooking our garden.  She found a bamboo stick on the ground and told me "big stick." :)

In my attempt to cleanse my pantry I have been making granola.  It is delicious!  I've tried several recipes...but I tried this one last night and loved it.  I've heard you can substitute applesauce for the oil or mashed up bananas with a bit of water.  Gotta try that one... haven't yet.  Do any of you make granola?  Got a recipe?

8C oats
1 sm pkg coconut (didn't have it, so didn't put it in)
1 1/2 C brown sugar, honey- whatever sweetener you use.  I used 1 C brown sugar, 1/2 C honey
1 C water
3/4 C oil or applesauce
1 T cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp extract of some sort (I put vanilla)
2 C stuff- nuts, raisins, cut up dried apricots, golden raisins (why did I have two boxes of these in my pantry??)
325 degrees, mix ingredients except oats and stuff and coconut and put on stove to boil.  Turn down heat and let simmer for 5 min.  Pour in oats and coat well.  Put on cookie sheets or jelly roll pans.  Cook for 10 minutes at a time and stir.  I cook mine for 10 min, stir and put in nuts, 10 min, stir, and then 10 minutes.  The granola will harden when it cools.  Put on top all the other stuff like raisins once it's cooled.

I find that it is wonderful on yogurt or as a breakfast cereal.  Don't overdo it, this stuff is filling.  Oh, and I put wheat germ on mine too just for kicks.