Great Granola

Granola was often a part of our Christmas traditions. 
I love the flexibility of this tasty recipe!

--from Better Homes and Gardens, New Baking Book, p. 398

Prep: 20 minutes Bake 30 minutes
Makes: 7 cups (14 servings) Oven: 300/350 degrees

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups regular or quick cooking rolled oats (I usually add some of both)
1 cup flaked or shredded coconut
1/3 cup shelled sunflower seeds
¼ cup sesame seed
¼ cup butter
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup honey
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup toasted wheat germ
1 cup raisins

1. Lightly butter or grease large roasting pan. Add oats, coconut, sunflower seeds and sesame seed; spread evenly. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes, stirring several times.

2. While the oat mixture is baking, in a small saucepan combine butter, brown sugar, and honey. Cook and stir over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.

3. Remove roasting pan from the oven; place on a wire cooling rack. Increase oven temp to 350 degrees. Add wheat germ to the oat mixture. Pour warm brown sugar mixture over oat mixture. Using a fork or spatula, stir the oat mixture to coat with the brown sugar mixture. Bake 5 minutes more.

4. Stir raisins into oat mixture. Using a spatula, spread mixture evenly in pan. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes more or until golden. Place pan on a wire cooling rack. Using a spatula, transfer the granola to a large sheet of foil (mixture will be crumbly). Spread evenly. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Notes and variations:
We usually multiply the single recipe batch by four, or eight or ten…depending on how much I need and it tends to come out just the same….just increase baking times as it will need more stirring for even roasting. We like it golden crunchy so I sometimes increase the heat to 350/ 375 to cook it a little faster and it usually takes us at least one hour to make larger batches.

Make it like you like it! Add what you like, take out what you don’t. We like to add Craisins for color. Make your own trail mix, add M&M’s, nuts, no coconut, other dried fruit varieties, marshmallows, etc. It’s also great over yogurt, with fresh fruit, or over ice cream, etc.

Feel free to try different sweeteners like Xylitol, xAgave Nectar, Stevia, more honey, less sugar, maple syrup, etc., if you like, since substitutions work pretty well. The secret in our sauce is a little real maple syrup and less sugar.

Foil Dinners/ Hobo Dinners

These have been a favorite of mine since childhood and family camp-outs.  We always called them foil dinners but I've heard others call them 'hobo' dinners.  Each child in our family was often invited to make their own, to fit their preferences, and mark their name with a permanant marker on the outside for identification after it was cooked.  If we planned to travel a long way to our camping destination, the meat patties were frozen before going in the dinners and transported in a cold cool chest.  These can be cooked in a 350 degree oven for an hour or more, but they're SO much better hot off the coals and eaten outdoors after a healthy day of outside play.

Igredients:
Meat (Ground Beef Patties, Chicken Breast, Sausage, or a fillet of Fish should all work well).
Vegetables, sliced, to compliment the meat

Our traditional dinners include:
Cabbage leaves (washed)
Carrots (baby or large carrots peeled, cut in bite sizes)
Potatoes (peeled and cut in bite sizes)
Ground Beef or Ground Turkey Patties
Onions, sliced (if desired)
Salt
Pepper
Ketchup, Mustard, Steak Sauce, etc. (reserved).

Start by placing two sheets of aluminum foil, shiny side up,(approximately 15-20 inches long, depending on the size of dinner you're wanting to cook).  With the reflective side facing up, place a leaf or two of cabbage in the middle of the foil (the cabbage keeps the meal from burning while cooking--if preferred,  layer newsprint between the sheets of foil for a similar effect).  Layer in the vegetables and top with the meat.  Sprinkle on the salt and pepper to taste. Top with another leaf of cabbage.

Wrap meal tightly to keep in juices and steam while baking.  Bring either end of the foil together above the meal.  Roll theses sides together, as though closing a bag of chips, until seal is snugly against the meal.  Now, fold and roll in each short end till they also touch the meal and make a 'snug' packet.  Place the dinner on hot coals to cook.  Cook for one hour, or until the yummy aroma begins to fill the air, the vegetables are tender and meat cooked through; rotating or turning the dinner at least every fifteen minutes (Caution: Of course it's hot!) 

When done, remove from coals and allow it to sit until it's cool enough to touch, place on a paper plate if desired.  Open carefully allowing steam to escape and keeping ashes out.  If desired, top with steak sauce, ketchup and/or mustard and enjoy!