Homemade Granola & Modified Snack Mix

UPDATE (JAN 21, 2012) - In the snack mix below I originally included bugles.  They contain BHT and this family will no longer be consuming them.  Next time I'll substitute them with something else!

As I mentioned previously we are doing a sugar fast here at the Beeler house. Ready for confession #1? Last Sunday we cheated on the fast. Daddy accidentally made muffins out of a package without considering the sugar content and I wasn't strong enough to tell any of us, especially Natalee, who already had it in her head that we were eating them, that we weren't having them. I made a batch of homemade muffins with Stevia but the packaged ones were done first, the children were screaming with hunger and I caved. Du, Du, Duuuuuu.
And....no one died. BUT Natalee had a HORRIBLE day Sunday and Monday. Both days she bit (Sunday me, Monday Lora Jean). She was misbehaved, tantrum throwing, hi and low. By Monday evening/Tuesday morning she had cycled back down...and I knew there was something to this sugar fast and we weren't ready to re-introduced refined sugar quite yet.

So, healthful cooking here I come. My goal in this journey is to not go overboard, to not waste money or other resources (though big parts of me want to purge my pantry like you wouldn't believe), and to make slowly increasing changes that affect us for the better over periods of time.

The children have been eating homemade granola at Lora Jean's and LOVING it (have I mentioned what a blessing Lora Jean's guidance and friendship are to me during this!?). Shock to me, considering I've never given them granola before in my life. But, since they think it's great as a breakfast, snack (and sometimes a lunch or supper for Xavier), I decided I better make some myself. And it is delicious! I eat it in my oatmeal and love it like that but had it plain with milk this morning and it was also very tasty. It will become a staple in the Beeler household.

These recipes came from Lora Jean, who was kind enough to share with me, and I tweaked one to suit the Beeler family (Beeler dad isn't too adventurous when it comes to healthy eating and I wanted it to be something he *might* eat so mine is plain, simple, but healthy & yummy). Here are Lora Jean's recipes:

Sugar Free Granola

10 cups old fashioned oats

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup ground/chopped almonds

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup water

1 tsp. stevia powder (may vary on brand used)

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Measure oil and water in glass measuring cup.

Add Stevia, salt, vanilla and cinnamon. Stir well and dump over dry ingredients.

Mix very well and put in a shallow layer in a heavy pan. Bake on middle rack for

30-45 minutes stirring every 5 minutes until toasted.
This is the original one she made that my children gobbled down.

Homemade Granola Cereal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir and heat together the following:

1 cup pure organic maple syrup

1 1/2 cup butter

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar free apple juice concentrate

1 tbsp. maple or vanilla flavoring

1 tsp. salt

In a large bowl mix dry ingredients:

12 cups old fashioned (rolled) oats

3 cups unsweetened coconut

1 cup ground flaxseed

3 cups chopped/ground pecans or almonds

Pour wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well.

Bake on cookie sheets or a large pan for 20-30 minutes

stirring every 5 minutes to avoid burning edges.

Store in airtight container. Makes 24 cups.

You can substitute whatever you want to make up for the

19 cups dry matter. Try wheat germ, oat bran, sesame, sunflower or pumpkin seeds

or anything you think sounds good. Can also substitute peanut butter

for 1/2 of the butter for a delicious variation! After it is baked you can even throw in raisins or dates if that's your style!

I made the second recipe and substituted half the butter for natural peanut butter, took out the coconuts (neither Mike nor I care for them) and instead just used another 2 1/2 cups of oats. I also put my nuts in my hand chopper (from Wal-Mart) and chopped them finely so they blended in well. I love the way the recipe came out and am thinking in my mind how to make it into granola bars for snacks for the children (and me!). When shopping for this recipe I was very grateful for the bulk grocery stores we have in our area. They make shopping less expensive and more efficient and I was able to get the oats, flax, and almonds for much less than at Wal-Mart.

Tomorrow my niece is having a Pow Wow birthday party and I volunteered to make a snack mix to munch on before and after lunch. I wanted it to be something my kids could eat so I took a recipe I already had and modified it. I turned out fine and my worry in substituting the Stevia for sugar was all for naught.

The original recipe read:
Sweet Party Mix
2 packages Bugles or Chex
1 package Fritos
1 package natural Cheeto puffs (okay, the recipe didn't say natural Puffs - that was all me! the original kind have food dye in them!)
1 package mini pretzels (rods or twists)
3 blocks unsalted butter (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/4 granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

I modified the recipe by omitting the sugar and substituting a little less than 3/4 cup of Stevia and 3/4 cup of sugar free apple juice concentrated (since I had it left over from the granola!).

Mix the snack items.
In a heavy bottomed pan on low heat, melt butter. Add sugar, garlic, and Worcestershire. Stir until smooth and well combined.

Remove from heat and pour over dry ingredients until well coated. Bake for one house at 250*F mixing every 15 minutes. Allow to cool and store in air-tight containers.

If anything, this snack mix might be a hair too sweet. I think I could have reduced the Stevia to a little less than half the called for sugar and still been plenty okay.

This made a ton of snack mix. Is it the absolute healthiest thing on earth? Certainly not! But it is much healthier than a boughten snack mix, was certainly easy enough and is pretty darn close to as sugar free as you'll find. It is also free of MSG and food dyes. You can substitute anything you want for the snack items you put in the mix - nuts would be a winner - and make it as healthy (or as not!) as you'd like. I baked mine in a stoneware deep dish and a black heavy baking pan - baking in shiny aluminum for health purposes would be a big no-no (more on that another day).

SO, the lesson learned today: don't be afraid to try to substitute Stevia or another natural sweetener in for sugar instead of just writing off a recipe. My next stop is going to be trying to bake something for a yummy treat!

I'm excited to be taking this HEALTHY journey with my friend Lori (read about the beginning of her journey here). We work together and she has a son who is also challenged by sugars, milk, gluten and dyes. We're new at this, starting together, and very excited!!