Homemade Granola

(Recipe from my sister Meleece Orme)
3 cups oatmeal
1 cups coconut
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 can apple juice concentrate
3/4 cup almonds (optional)
3/4 cup pecans (optional)
1 cup dried fruit (optional)
(I've never put in the optionals:)

Mix dry ingredients, then add the juice and mix well. Spread lightly on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 275 degrees for around 45 minutes, stirring at least every 15 minutes. (Cook more or less depending on how chewy or crunchy you like your granola.)

I like to serve mine over vanilla yogurt with fresh berries. Delicious! Enjoy.

Fruit Leather

Fruit leather

I had a bunch of peaches that I got this weekend, so I was pretty excited to use them. They weren't very good though, not much flavor and not sweet. I was dissapointed.. But I decided to try my hand at fruit leather since the kids love fruit roll ups and I could add lots of sugar to counter act the lack of flavor... great thing about fruit leather is, you don't have to add any sugar is you don't want to.. more healthy!

Ingredients

Fresh fruit (apricots, peaches, plums, berries, apples, pears,)
Water
Lemon juice
Sugar (if needed)
Spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg (optional)

Directions...
Rinse the fruit. If you working with stone fruit, take out the pits, chop the fruit. If working with apples or pears, peel and core them, then chop. Taste the fruit, if it is really sweet then you will use less sugar, if it is tart you will use more...


Place fruit in a large saucepan. Add a half cup of water for every 4 cups of chopped fruit. Bring to a simmer, cover and let cook on a low heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the fruit is cooked through. Uncover and stir. Use a potato masher to mash up the fruit in the pan. Taste the fruit and determine what and how much sugar, lemon juice, or spices to add. Add sugar in small amounts, to desired level of sweetness. Add lemon juice one teaspoon at a time to help brighten the flavor of the fruit. Add a pinch or two of cinnamon, nutmeg, or other spices to augment the flavor. I did peach leather so I didn't add any spices... but I bet it would be yummy with pear.

Continue to simmer and stir until any added sugar is completely dissolved and the fruit purée has thickened, another 5 or 10 minutes (or more).

Blend fruit in food processor or blender.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper Pour out the purée into the lined baking sheet to about an 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness. I shook the pan side to side slightly to even out the puree.

Bake at 140 to 190 (mine only goes as low as 170 but I baked mine at 190 to slightly speed up the process) all day. It took mine about 6 hours.

When fruit leather is ready, it will no longer be sticky to the touch and will peel off easily after it has slightly cooled.

YUMMY!!!

Granola

This was way yummy! I have been trying to come up with healthier snacks for my kids and this one fit the bill. I think the time it states is a little bit to long... at least in my oven. Next time I think I will probably cook it for about 5 minutes less...

Wish I could remember where I found the recipe so I could give credit where it is due... this is why I need to put the website on the recipe when I save it.

Easy Homemade Granola

2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup dried cranberries (we used cherry flavored Craisins)
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, toss the oats with cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until completely combined.

Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and use your hands to combine them. Gather up some of the mixture in each hand and make a fist. Repeat until all of the oats are coated with the honey mixture.

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread it out evenly, but leave a few clumps here and there for texture.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Sprinkle the nuts over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Let cool completely. Sprinkle the dried cranberries and chocolate chips over the granola and use your hands to transfer it to an airtight container. The granola will keep for 1 week.