Seriously Filling Granola

Let's start by say I do not have a green thumb. I've killed every plant I've ever owned. I grew one green bean last year. One. I was so excited that I kept it on the counter admiring it long past the point where it was edible. 

I grew one home-grown bean.

I ate no home-grown bean. 

I even tried planting bulbs - daffodils, poppies, tulips, but I waited so long to plant the bulbs that we were lucky to get the three poppies and few sprigs of green that did come up. I was thrilled with even that.

Then, whoever's been cutting out lawn took them all out.

Pro: someone's mowing our lawn. I'm assuming it's the HOA lawn service, but I thought they only covered the grass around the parking lot, not front yards

Con: They don't seem to understand the boundaries of the garden. First they pruned 90% of the bushes in front of our house away. Now, they've cut up the few flowers I did have.

Pro: someone's mowing our lawn so I don't have to.

Con: Yeah, I'm out.

However, they haven't touched the three gorgeous forsythia bushes in the front yard. These are only thriving because I haven't touched them since we moved in. At all. I won't even look at them directly in case they're get scared and run away. I did sneak a few branches into a vase without the bush noticing.

I just felt I needed to enjoy the flowers a little while before I leave for two weeks.

Let travel season (for work) begin!

First stop, California!

We're going to cover something like 1,000 miles going from hill top to hill top inspecting radio towers. It's long days, few lunch breaks, and gorgeous views.

Did you see the part about there being few lunch breaks? So I'm going to need something to hold me over between gas stations where I can reload on Chex Mix and beef jerky. Breakfast of champions right there.

I found this granola recipe on Oh She Glows! One of my favorite cooking blogs. While we're not vegan, I know that any recipe I get there is going to be dairy-free by default. I got last week's pasta sauce from there and my favorite non-dairy macaroni and cheese recipe - I'll get around to posting that someday. 

This granola is fantastic. It's full of nuts and seeds, fiber, and fruit. It's really filling and kinda tastes like a crispy oatmeal cookie.

I can't wait to enjoy this as we make our way up the "roads" to the sites.

From our last trip: 

(do you see a "road" there? yeah, neither do I)

Then this happened:

Which lead to this:

Since I was just about sure that I wasn't coming off that last mountain, I decided that from now on, I will have a food source with me in that truck. I'm pretty sure I could live for a month on this stuff.

Ingredients (adapted from Oh She Glows)

Wet ingredients

5 tablespoon brown rice syrup

1 tablespoon agave nectar

4 tablespoons applesauce, unsweetened

2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Dry Ingredients

2.5 cups rolled oats (regular not instant)

1 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped

1/2 cup pistachios, roughly chopped

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup raw sesame seeds

2 tablespoon ground flax

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix-ins (I didn't measure these, but I probably used about a cup each)

dried cranberries

pepita seeds

dried cherries

banana chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment, non-stick baking mat, or non-stick cooking spray.
2. Add all wet ingredients into a medium sauce pan and heat over medium heat. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Meanwhile, mix dry ingredients in large bowl.
4. Let the wet ingredients cool for a few minutes (so you don't splash and burn yourself). Then add them to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
5. Pour mixture onto cooking sheet and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Stir every 15 to make sure the edges don't over-cook.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool. The granola will clump and crisp as it cools.
7. Once cool, mix granola and mix ins. I find it easiest to do this in a large ziplock bag.
8. Bring said ziplock bag with you and pray that you don't get stuck on a mountain somewhere in the California desert.

Wish me luck!