Red, white, blue, BIRTHDAYS and my favorite granola, too!

Ah, summer! Warm days spent lounging by the pool, cool nights spent on the porch, birthdays, easy meals and at our house: a couple of birthdays!

This guy had a birthday on July 10th.

This guy turned 13 on the 12th of July.

We saw some fireworks, and lit some sparklers.

All in all, pretty fun!

Not so fun was me being in the hospital on the 8th & 9th, the 11th & 12th, the 17th through the 20th.

UGH.

Kidney stones are not good. Trust me.

So, still definitely recovering from the 3 surgical procedures and hospitalizations. Some days I feel like I'm never going to feel well again. And I really, really hate not being able to clean and cook and decorate. Really hate it.

Today, I needed a yummy, healthy(ish) snack.

The Colonel is on a trip, so I'm kinda on my own.

(not allowed to drive yet)

I decided on granola. Yum.

We have some nut allergies in our family, so we cannot just buy granola. 

Once, when the Colonel was flying somewhere, one of the flight Attendants (FAs) had some delicious granola, and he complimented her on it. She wrote the recipe down for him...Southwest style....on a napkin. He brought it home and I  tried it. I tweaked it a bit to fit my tastes and ingredients that I like to use (for example, Sunflower oil instead of Canola oil...) and VOILA! The best and easiest granola ever!

Here's my recipe...

Grab a big ol' bowl

Then, you'll need:

4 cups Oats (not instant)

2 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup flaked Coconut

Mix all of that in your bowl.

Then, add

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2  cup Sunflower oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

stir it all up!

Pour the mixed granola into a jelly roll pan.

Place that in the oven, preheated to 350o.

Bake for 15 mins, then remove, and stir it all up, turning it over, to brown on the other side.

Place back in the oven for 15 more minutes.

It should be pretty golden and turning brown.

Lay some parchment or wax paper down on the counter...

Dump the hot granola onto the waxed paper.

Allow it to cool and dry. It will become more crunchy. Occasionally break up the pieces into small clusters.

Pour into airtight container. 

Serve in bowls with milk, or on top of yogurt, ice cream, 

or just all by its little lonesome self. De-lish!

Enjoy, y'all!

printable version here!