Last week I talked about how we cook toast around here and I got some very fun responses!  This week I wanted to talk about breakfast in general and how we do that .  As I mentioned last week we kind of serve breakfast in shifts around here during the week.

The first shift makes up my husband (who rarely eats anything in the morning anyway) and our oldest son CJ, both of whom are perfectly capable of making their own meal quickly if they need to.  CJ likes it to be simple, nothing complicated, give him a couple fried eggs (though he cooked 5 eggs for himself one morning a couple weeks ago), 2 slices of toast and a glass of milk and he’s happy.

The other boys all eat right after that, depending on when Monkey and Bugs get up (sometimes in the middle of the first shift) they can be appeased with a slice of toast usually.  They aren’t the most patient people in the morning though and can stir up quite a fuss if they get too hungry … not ok in my book, but totally unpleasant to listen too regardless.

The most common breakfast around here hands down is Granola!  Seriously!  I make it about 2 or 3 times a week.  Yes, you read that correctly…I MAKE it!  It is soooooo very simple though.  Once you get used to the idea, you can get very creative and when you have all the ingredients it takes only a few minutes to throw together.  I usually mix it up as I’m waking up CJ, pop it in the oven, take my shower and not too long after that it’s ready to go.

Here’s the recipe:

Basic Granola

6-8 cups of rolled oats (not cooked – amount depends on how much your pan can hold)
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 T Cinnamon
1/4C Brown Sugar
3/4C Honey
3/4C Vegetable oil
1T Vanilla

*Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

*Put the vegetable oil, vanilla and honey in a microwave safe dish and microwave the mixture for about 1 minute (warm not hot).

*Meanwhile, mix the rest of the ingredients in a shallow baking sheet (a very large cookie sheet works great, needs to have edges).

*Pour the warm liquid mixture over the top of the dry ingredients and mix together until ALL of the dry mixture is coated with the wet ingredients (you can add a little more oil if it isn’t covering).

*Place sheet into oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

*Let mixture cool slightly then move into an airtight container (do not put hot mixture into a plastic storage container).  Make sure that you use a spatula to lift all of the granola off the bottom of the pan BEFORE it cools all the way (even if you don’t take it out right away) or it will be VERY difficult to get up later.

HINT: When you have finished mixing all the ingredients prior to cooking your hands are likely to be a pretty gooey, sticky mess ….. BUT follow this suggestion to rinse it off and you won’t be sorry: Just go to the sink and put a little warm water on your hands, take them out of the water and scrub them together for a minute (front and back), then rinse off the mixture under the warm water while still rubbing your hands together.  It is actually a GREAT sugar scrub.

Suggestions: A smaller family may want to half this recipe. This recipe is ULTRA versatile, you can add slivered almonds before cooking (or other nuts, though you won’t be able to get away with it with all children), or dried fruit afterward.  It is great for making into granola bars or trail mix.  You can serve it with fresh fruit, thawed frozen fruit, warm fruit, yogurt, etc.  My kids all like it a little different, so feel free to get creative or set out a bunch of toppings and mixture suggestions and let them go for it!

ENJOY!

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This entry was written by Shera on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 10:35 am and is filed under Large Family Meals, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.