More Granola

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Baby Food My friend Jen is having a baby in October, she put in a special request that next time I come to Limerick to see her, that I bring some granola. She's pregnant so I can't argue! I made her some granola, it as a nut heavy one with lashings of ginger and cinnamon, and a good dose of golden Syrup mmmm. I wanted this to taste a little like ginger nut biscuits, next time I'll add even more ginger. For recipe please refer to Peanut Butter Granola or Super-Granola-food

Then I went to visit my parents - so I made some more granola for my mother - I only took one photos - I'll save you the details, but I added in two teaspoons of mixed spice this time - giving it a nice Christmassy taste - I promise to be home again before Christmas too.... Apologies for all the pictures - but with all the lovely sunshine - they've just come out great

Super-Granola-Food

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Super-granola-food


I’m now remembering why I started to make my own granola – I’d been reading and hearing lots about superfoods and decided to make a concerted effort to incorporate more of them into my everyday diet…….

So for a month I tried to eat and cook my way through the below list. The contents of which are very much open to debate
• Black Beans
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Oats
• Oranges
• Pumpkin
• Salmon • Soy
• Spinach • Tea (green or black)
• Tomatoes • Turkey • Walnuts
• Yogurt
• Wheatgerm
• Tomato paste • Curry ?
• Ginger
• Black Beans • Fresh Herbs
• Dark Chocolate • Olive Oil
• Almonds
• Quinoia
• Seeds

It was quite fun to look at a list of ingredients in incorporate them into meals I already knew or to search out new recipes.

Back to the granola – I was looking for a way to combine a number of these foods so that it would be very easy to eat an amount of them in one go – Granola includes oats, pumpkin (seeds) walnuts, yogurt (to serve) wheatgerm, almonds (pronounced ahhhmint if you’re from Limerick) & even more seeds. Also it’s dead yummy and easy to make. With every batch you make some changes so it’s always different, I have seen some recipes that include cocoa and dark chocolate – so that could be one more off the list included.

Golden Syrup, Hazelnut and Vanilla Granola


Ingredients
This one smells amazing in the oven .
4 cup of jumbo oats 1 cup of wheatgerm
1 cup of hazelnuts & almonds - halved
½ cup of pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
1 serving spoon of unsweetened peanut butter
1 serving spoon of golden syrup
2 serving spoons of water 1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Mix the golden syrup and water over a low heat till dissolved, then stir in the peanut butter, and finally the vanilla essence -remove from heat – don’t worry if the peanut butter remains a little lumpy – it will make some great crunchy pieces in your finished granola. Combine the other dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Then pour over liquid – mix thoroughly once again – turn out onto a very lightly greased large baking tray, spreading as thinly and evenly as you can. Bake in the centre of the oven – for 30-40 mins mixing every 15 mins or so to ensure even browning. Allow to cool before putting in an airtight container.

Serve with natural or flavoured yogurt, and dried or fresh fruit of your choice. Or raw with a spoon straight from the jar at your desk, if you’re working late…. My secret super-shame!! My straight up peanut butter granola can be found here

Peanut Butter Granola

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Peanut Butter for Breakfast

2 1/2 c jumbo organic oats
1/2 c wheat germ
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
3 Tablespoon natural peanut butter
1 heaped tablespoon brown sugar
half cup of pumpkin seeds
half cup sesame seeds

In a large bowl, mix oats seeds and wheat germ together. In a small saucepan, heat up oil, peanut butter, vanilla and brown sugar over medium high heat and let it all melt together. Pour hot mixture over oats and stir well, so that everything is covered. It’s quite sticky at this stage but don’t worry. Spread it out on a non stick baking sheet, and smooth it out a little. The clumps are good as they stick together and make crunchy clusters. Spread mixture on a baking sheet and toast at gas mark 3/4 oven for 30-40 minutes in the middle of the oven, checking on it and stirring it occasionally until mixture is turning golden. When cool, store in a jar.

A recipe I found suggested adding in chocolate, but the best thing about granola is you can add what ever you like. I made a good one recently with toasted hazelnuts and banana chips. Add nuts and seeds into the oat mixture before baking, add dried fruit after when cooled. Some people say that the dried fruit will make your oat mixture soggy, but I haven’t found that, though I haven’t stored granola for much longer then two weeks as it all gets eaten. The peanut butter is optional - but it makes for good clumps.

Pictured is served with yoghurt, raspberries and honey at my desk in the office, no I don’t eat raspberries every day – sadly, normally it’s a banana. I found this recipe a little drier than other recipes, maybe it’s the amount of wheatgerm I hadn’t used that before – or the amount of sesame seeds, I’d have added some sunflower seeds if I had them. I went a little lighter on sugar than recommended and then added honey when serving, yum.

PS a note on food photography - they say it's hard to do and it is. Firstly it's very hard to arrange your food and take pictures of it while it's still hot and you're very hungry. Secondly honey does not stick to rasperries as illustrated in this picture! Any tips greatly appreciated.