Mmmm! Homemade granola!

We LOVE granola cereal here . . . but it's hard to justify the hefty price tag at the grocery store when it's sooooo easy to make at home! Here are two of our favorites:

Granola

3 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup honey (can use more)

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 - 1/2 cup of any of the following: raisins, craisins, sunflower seeds, coconut, slivered almonds

(I often throw in some wheat germ and ground flax seed as well)

Directions: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Heat honey and oil on stove until liquidy. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add honey and oil mixture; stir until everything is moist. Bake in 13x9 pan for 30-60 minutes (depending on how crisp you want your granola to be). I bake mine for 60 minutes. Also, I've found that we like it better when the raisins and/or craisins are added when the granola comes out of the oven; otherwise, they dry out too much if they're in while you bake it.

This is a very forgiving recipe -- you really can't mess it up! And I usually make at least a double batch so it lasts a few days! ;)

Peanut Butter Granola

(this recipe is from another FIAR mom -- thanks, Rebecca!)

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup peanut butter

Melt these two ingredients together until smooth, over low heat. Then stir in:

1/3 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

When all ingredients are warm and smooth, stir in 3 cups of rolled oats until well coated. Put the oat mixture on an ungreased cookie sheet or 13x9 pan. Bake at 375 for approximately 10 minutes, or until crisp. At this point, you can toss in raisins, craisins, sunflower seeds, etc. Then cool and store tightly covered.

This is especially delicious with sliced bananas on top! Yummy!