Recipe: Grandpa's Granola

I recently started making my own granola because it is so dang expensive in the store and I like deciding exactly what I want in it -- types of nuts, dried fruit, etc. My grandpa gave me this recipe and it is so good that even Evan has confessed a newfound fondness for the snack. I eat it over plain yogurt with a drizzle of honey.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix together:

2 cups dry Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

2 cups dry 7 Grain Cereal (your choice, as long as it is a grainy flake cereal)

1 cup Flaxseed Meal (there's my flax friend again!)

1 cup All Bran Extra Fiber (I think I just used regular All Bran)

1 cup shredded Coconut (optional)

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

Drizzle over the top of the dry ingredients, then mix together evenly:

1/2 cup Canola Oil

1/4 cup Honey

Toast in oven at 400 degrees, stirring every 2-3 minutes until evenly browned (about 10-15 minutes, but watch it because the sugar burns easily. Sometimes I toast a few of the nuts too). As soon as it is removed from the oven, stir in the variation of dried fruit and nuts, and mix well. While cooling, stir every 5-10 minutes. Store in a tightly covered container - we bought one of those slick Oxo containers with the pop top at the Container Store (but I'm sure many other stores carry them too).

Dried Fruit/Nut Variations:

1. 1 cup chopped Almonds (I've used slivered too)

    1 cup Craisins/dried cranberries (I've added raisins too)

2. 1 package dried Tropical Fruits

    1 cup chopped Walnuts

3. 1 cup Raisins

    1 cup slivered or chopped Pecans

4. 1 cup Unsalted Peanuts

    1 package dried blueberries

5. 1 cup chopped Pecans

    1 cup chopped dried Apricots

6. 1 cup chopped Walnuts

    1-1 1/2 cup dried Bananas