Crunchy Like That

This weekend was gorgeousness and gorgeosity all rolled into some beautiful, sunshiny weather. I spent the majority of it sitting outside with a book, a crossword puzzle, or my laptop to do some writing. It was pure bliss. Unseasonably warm for October. Still is today. I had nothing major going on this weekend (besides grocery shopping) so I did some cleaning, helped Garrett with his American Indian project for school, and finally got around to making that granola I have been meaning to make.

I admit there was some trepidation in starting this process. Friday night I was sure I had lost all of my mojo, and I was really worried. Everything I made that night bombed, and bombed horribly. I wanted to make brownies, and I had a box mix, so I tried to make it using flax "eggs" instead of real ones. I have no idea what the hell went wrong. I checked on them after ten minutes or so, and the batter was boiling in the pan. It was very surreal. And sad. It all went in the garbage.

Then Drew wanted pancakes for supper, and the pancake mix had moths in it, so I attempted to make them from scratch. I used the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, which is a kick-ass recipe. Where did I go wrong? I don't know. They were horrific pancakes. They, too went in the garbage. I was frustrated, depressed, and exhausted. I told my my kids to feed themselves. I gave up.

Saturday things went much better. :)

A while back I won a free giveaway from the lovely people over at Sunfood. I received sample packs of jungle peanuts, maqui berries, and goji berries. Sample packs because this stuff is not cheap. They are raw delicious superfoods, and I was so happy to win. I ate the jungle peanuts right away. I knew if I made granola, I would not be adding the peanuts because of Grace's allergy. The berries I saved for the perfect raw granola recipe.

I spent some time online searching for the perfect raw recipe, then decided to combine a few and make my own. The oats I added are raw oat flakes that I found at my favorite food co-op. The walnuts pieces are not raw. The cashews are raw, as were the flax seeds and sunflower seeds. I made a date paste, then decided to make a larger batch, so I threw in more oats and added some agave nectar without measuring. I mixed it all together, with the help of my lovely daughter.



We ate some right away, then I dehydrated the rest for what I'm guessing was a couple of hours, but I don't know for sure because I never bother to check the time when I do things. I just dried it until it was the right kind of crunchy for me. Then wa-la! A healthy, delicious, super-packed-with-nutrition snack or breakfast, or even supper for that matter.

Possibly the recipe for this granola, give or take this or that:

1 cup flaked oats
18 small pitted dates, soaked, then processed into a paste
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2-3 tbsp raw blue agave nectar
1/4 cup whole flax seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
pumpkin seeds
dash of cinnamon
dried fruit - I used goji and maqui berries. Just throw them in.
Chocolate chips or cacao nibs would have been nice as well :)
I should have added some raw flaked unsweetened coconut

Mix well, place on dehydrator sheets - Dehydrate at 105 degrees for a couple hours or until it reaches desired crunchiness. Or skip that part and mold it into bars. Whatever you want.


Isn't it pretty? I can't wait to try different variations of this. A much better snack than chips or cookies or brownies like I have been eating lately!

Have fun with this. You really can't go wrong.