Strawberry-Banana Granola

As I walk down the isles of the grocery store I am again brought to my knees by shock and horror when I notice the seemingly miles and miles of colorful cardboard boxes full of sugar covered press-board; that is supposed to fill the belly of our young ones and provide them with enough nourishment and energy to sustain them through their arduous morning.  Not going to happen!  But alas!  There is a tiny bag...way up high...full of something that looks healthy....full of fiber and oats....and it's delicious!  It is...Granola!  Yum.  One problem-that tiny bag is $6!  There's not enough in that thing to last my 2, 4, and 5 year old for 1 meal!  And so I give you... this: 

Strawberry-Banana Granola (to be said in a loud deep manly voice that echos)

There are many many many granola recipes you can find online and I love lots of them.  This one is just my families new favorite!  I found it here

Strawberry-Banana Granola
1 or 2 bananas
1 cup strawberries
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup water
½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
several gratings of nutmeg (optional)
10 cups rolled oats
½ cup wheat bran
½  cup flax seed
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (I chop my walnuts up pretty small so my little ones don't notice them)
1 cup almonds, sliced, slivered, or roughly chopped
1-1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries

Combine the bananas, strawberries, sugar, honey, oil, water, cinnamon and nutmeg in a blender and blend till thoroughly pureed.

Combine the remaining ingredients except for the dried fruit and mix with your hands till the ingredients are evenly distributed. Pour the fruit sauce over the oat mixture and stir till it’s all evenly mixed.  Bake for 45-60 minutes at 300 F., stirring every 15 minutes or so.

When the mixture has cooled, add the dried fruit and store in an airtight container.   Yield: Plenty! Can be halved.

 I know....that sounds soooo good right?!  We eat it with homemade yogurt and fresh strawberries and bananas in parfait form or just with milk as cereal.  

Be creative and Enjoy! 


SOOO good with  Homemade Yogurt 

Stats:

Better?  Ok that expensive store bought stuff is good....but this is soooo good! *check*

Healthier?  Sorry folks, even the all natural stuff has preservatives...it's gotta last the test of the time shopper.  *check*

Cheaper?  Even if you were to buy everything on this list just for this recipe it'd probably cost you what-$10?  And it makes a good 10 cups!  The expensive stuff is at least $6 for less than 3 cups!  Seriously!  *check*