Goodbye boxed cereal! Hello homemade granola!

Up until recently, I've been only buying the all natural boxed cereals and granolas - think Kashi. They're really yummy and at least somewhat healthier than what you normally get in a box. Then I started buying them only when they were on sale. Then they seemed to stop going on sale, or the sale wasn't really a sale. So I stopped buying boxed cereal and granola.

Rather depressing, really, because I find it so much easier to pour bowls of cereal in the morning and hand out bananas and oj than to come up with something creative for every breakfast! And the fact that ever since I was pregnant with Esther, I can eat cereal at any time during the day.

My sister has been messing around with recipes lately, trying to create her own snack foods and found and adapted a recipe for granola. I was somewhat doubtful, wondering if I'd really be up to making my own cereal each week. But I gave it a try and voila! It really was simple and delicious! The recipe is extremely versatile and you could add just about anything to it. Give it a try and tell me what you think!

Cinnamon Stove Top Granola

INGREDIENTS
•1 1/4 tablespoons olive oil
•5 cups rolled oats
•1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
•1/3 cup butter
•1/4 cup honey
•1 tablespoon molasses
•1/2 cup packed brown sugar
•1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds (optional)
•1/2 cup dried cherries (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Combine the oats and cinnamon and add them to the pot. Cook and stir until lightly toasted, stirring constantly, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour the oats out onto a large baking sheet and add the butter to the pot. When the butter has melted, stir in the honey, molasses and brown sugar. When the mixture starts to simmer, return the oats to the pot and continue to cook and stir until coated and hot.

2.Remove from the heat and stir in the almonds and cherries. Pour onto a large cookie sheet and allow to cool. The granola will harden as it cools. When cool, transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature.

Notes: I toast the oats longer and keep it on the stove top for a bit longer after adding the liquid ingredients. Keep mixing or it will burn! It cooks it a bit longer so it will be toasted and crunchy. Then take it off the heat and add your dried fruit.

I also add about a 1/3 C. wheat germ, 1/2 C. Coconut, raisins, dates, etc. Anything goes really. I've added sunflower seeds and those are tasty. I'm thinking I would love to try pumpkin seeds come fall time! I recently added that dried fruit from Costco (cherries, blueberries, raspberries). SOOOO good!