Almond Cranberry Granola - Recipe

I decided to try a new recipe for granola that I found here: Almond Cranberry Granola. This recipe makes a very large batch (5 lbs.), so feel free to divide or quarter this recipe. I reduced the cost of this recipe by substituting the honey with a two-ingredient brown sugar syrup that I made. This recipe is just a fraction of the cost of storebought cereals, and it is a lot healthier for you and your family. 

You can also find my simple less expensive recipe for homemade granola here: Mrs. Smith's Granola Recipe

While researching for this blog post, I was astounded by the cost of a box of cereal. On average cereal cost around $4 a pound. We do not buy cereal except on rare occasions or when I need to use it in a recipe like Six Week Bran Muffins. 

I've noticed that in most cases items that go on-sale will be going up in price soon. Stores seem to get rid of their old inventory before raising prices on their new inventory. Sometimes they have the same item in different places with different prices or there will be no price at all. Watch for these signs on your favorites and act accordingly. I bought an extra box of Raisin Bran when I realized that the price was going to increase yet again. It increased by $2.32 a box. 

Almond Cranberry Granola

10 C. Oats 2 C. Coconut 2 C. Wheat Germ

2 C. cranberries 1-1/2 C. Almonds 1 Tbsp. Salt 1-1/2 C. Honey or syrup

2 Egg Whites 1 C. Oil 3/4 C. Water 2 tsp. Vanilla

In a large bowl, mix oats, coconut, wheat germ, almonds and salt, set aside. In a separate bowl mix, honey or syrup, egg whites, oil, water and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients over the oat mixture and mix well. Divide mixture in half and place each half on a large cookie sheet. Spread out evenly. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring every 20 minutes. When baked properly, the granola should be crunchy when cooled. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Smith

Meal Prep For Two - Freezer Meals - Baking Day - Day 1

It has been a hot minute since I have prepared freezer meals, but I am tired of cooking, clean up and repeat three times a day or just grabbing whatever until we are out of whatever. So, I donned my apron and enlisted Number One for help. 

We did our baking today that included biscuits, bread and granola. It was a great sunny day for off-grid baking. Our oven uses a lot of power to power the heating element even though we have a propane stove, so baking on a sunny day works best for us. 

Let's start with the biscuits. We tripled the recipe.

Biscuits (makes10 biscuits)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

Wisk together in a large bowl:

2 C flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Drop in:

5 to 6 tbs cold butter

Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Add 3/4 C milk. Mix until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix. Form into a loose ball and press on a lightly floured surface until the dough is about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 10 biscuits. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pie pan or cast-iron skillet in the preheated oven. Place the biscuits in the melted butter coating both sides of the biscuits. Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot. 

For best results, keep up with the dishes as you go. That way you can move right into the next order of business. 

Sorry about my dirty oven. I had a large spillover and have not deep cleaned it yet. I don't want to do it while we are inside during the cold winter months with no open windows.

I was cooking the turkey bacon and gravy while making the biscuits. 

These are the ugly biscuits that you get after pressing out the dough scraps. They are great for biscuits and gravy. I am missing several pictures, like the pretty pan of biscuits, that I took after baking. I should have checked.

Breakfast is served. 

I made bacon and cheese biscuits out of the pretty biscuits.

I wrapped them in plastic wrap, bagged them up and froze them.

We froze the raw biscuits on a cookie sheet. 

Once frozen we placed them in a baggie with the baking instructions written on the bag.

More clean-up happened before moving on to baking the granola.

Granola: Follow the link below for the recipe. 

Homemade Granola

Granola is Number One's department. We tripled the recipe.

Syrup mixture

Oats and nuts

Mixed all together until oats and nuts are coated.

Ready for the oven

While Number One was taking care of the granola, I was making the bread dough.

A triple recipe almost makes a gallon of granola.

Homemade Bread:

Number One slices the bread. I am not good at it at all.

I am putting together buttered cheese bread for grilled cheese sandwiches.

I wrapped them in plastic wrap.

In between, I made a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon for Number One's dinner.

I ate the ends of the fresh bread for my dinner.

I made up six sandwiches.

I bagged up the un-grilled grilled cheese sandwiches and put them in the freezer. 

This is what we accomplished on our baking day. Tomorrow is a new day, and we have more meal preps planned. I will continue to blog as we go. Thanks for coming along...

Things To Be Happy About:

Cleaving unto one another

Bedtime after a long baking day

Plastic wrap

Saving and re-using bread bags because I can't find bags to fit my homemade loaves of bread.

Remembering to water my houseplants before they perish for good.

A helping hand

Goodnight,

Mrs. Smith