Mmmm Mmmmm good......

I LOVE to bake. There's just something about creating a delicious little dish that tickles every ones fancy and leaves them feeling satisfied. My dear friend Heather has inspired me to start making my own bread. I've been doing this for a few months now and I won't be going back to store bought any time soon. It's much more economical and I can sneak all kinds of healthy things into it and and my kids still eat it.

Since the home made bread was such a success I've been motivated to try making more things from scratch. This past weekend I tried granola. And boy oh boy - was it good! Hubs and I love granola but, lets face it, store bought granola is expensive! Sure the initial shopping trip seemed pricey, about twice the amount of a box of granola, but in the end it paid for it's self. I'm on my second batch and I still have enough supplies to make several more. And the cherry on top? My house smells heavenly right now!

Here's the recipe I'm using:

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 Tbs. dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup Extra Ingredients (I use sweetened flaked coconut, sliced almonds, raisins and chocolate chips)
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
3 Tbs. vegetable or canola oil
1 Tb. water
1/2 Tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 275 degrees

Simmer Maple syrup or honey, oil, water and cinnamon over low heat.

Mix oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, salt and extras (leave out any dried fruit for now) in a large bowl.

Drizzle syrup mixture over the oats mixture and stir well coating the oats and extras.

Spread mixture on a 9x13 pan coated with cooking spray and create clumps by squeezing it a handful at a time.

Bake for 30 min. After 3o min stir in your dried fruit extras and bake for another 15 min. Remove from oven and let cool before adding any chocolate chips.

If you have any items that usually are store bought that you make from scratch please share!! I'm always looking from something new to try!