granola and football

It's a good Sunday afternoon when there is nothing on the calendar. That means I can stream football games on the computer and cook in the kitchen at the same time. Today's task was to create a granola that was vegan and had no added sugars. Most of the vegan recipes that I've found have agave, brown rice syrup, honey, maple syrup, but currently I'm not eating any of those things, but still enjoy granola as a snack. Naturally my solution was to make up my own. I've tried 2 other times. Today was attempt number 3.

The first batch was yummy and really peanut butter-y, but I didn't write down what I put in it. Second batch was just okay and I was glad I didn't write it down. I decided today I'd actually write down what I was making just in case it turned out good. And I'm glad I did, because it's the best batch I've made to date, including past batches that have butter and honey and maple syrup and chocolate chips. (So, adding chocolate chips may give this a bit of an edge, but since chocolate allowed to enter my mouth for awhile if you try it, just keep it to yourself. Okay. Deal?)

For dinner, I'm going to make a crusty walnut tofu w/ curry couscous on the side. May or may not write down how I make those. Probably, I will not.

Here's the recipe in my words.

'bec's granola...

(vegan no added sweeteners)

1ish C dates, chopped & softened in microwave or on stove top
add in a little coconut oil Tbs ½ to the dates to help smooth them into a paste
add in ½ - ¾ C natural peanut butter, crunchy always
mix an stir into a paste, add in a little rice, almond, soy milk to make smoother you will know when enough is enough

3 C thick cut oats, not instant (bleh)
2 ½ handfuls of raw walnuts sorta broken up in your hand as you add them to the bowl
same amount of raw almonds, rough chopped
whole and ground flax sprinkled from jar (guessing 2 T)
wheat germ sprinkle on top from jar (again guessing 2 T)
2 large pinches of sea salt
1 ½ C puffed red wheat
(the following spices I sprinkle on top, just guessed at the measurements)
½ t cinnamon
½ t mixed baking spices (I buy these in Rwanda, so you probably don't have them unless I've sent them to you or you are Jus and in Kenya)
¼ t ground ginger (i did measure this)
1 hand full + a little more dried cranberries
some dried peaches, pears and apricots (chopped)

1/4 C unsweetened shredded coconut
mix

add the date/pb mix to the dry ½ at a time
first ½ stir w/ spoon, then add 2nd half and stir w/ spoon until the date/pb is covered in dry ing, then smash up w/ hands (lick hands on way to sink to clean up)

place in 2, 9 x 11 glass dishes, press down and bake at 300 for 45ish minutes, stirring and repressing every 15 min
let it cool in the pan and then break it up and store. I guess if you don’t like it w/ big chunks like I do then you could break it up right from the oven and allow it to cool that way.

*Super yummy! I’ll keep it and only add other fruits and maybe large flaked coconut in the future.

**I use google docs and would be happy to share it w/ you there and we can share ideas. Just let me know and I'll send it your way. It's already been sent to one and I'm excited to see how it evolves.