Granola

Then a few years back, in an effort to remove harmful items (preservatives, MSG, additives) from our diet, I started making my own taco seasoning (you know, the old-school American tacos our moms made us!) It was seriously so easy to make, I couldn’t believe I had not tried it earlier! Next came marinara, salad dressings, pizza dough, ice cream, popsicles, pancake mix, waffle mix, bread crumbs, croutons, granola bars — a whole rash of other pantry staples that were honestly quite fun to make, not to mention almost less effort than buying and certainly healthier!

Now, I’ve always been a “cereal for breakfast” kind of girl and one morning I sat and read the ingredients in our (healthful) cereal boxes and just thought, “I can do better than this.” So, I started making my own granola. I realize that literally every food blogger out there has a granola recipe online, but as I want to keep this real, it was then that I decided I wanted to expand on this idea of making even more of the essential items I keep in my kitchen.Thus the minimalist pantry was born. Other things to try would be:Yogurt, Butter, Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Pickles, Crackers, Stock, Pasta, Tortillas, Nut butters, Applesauce, and Jam. But back to the granola…. I’ve been making this recipe for several years now. I’ve substituted oil for butter, used various sweeteners (honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave), added seeds, different fruits, spices, etc. It’s pretty hard to mess up, unless you overcook or undercook it. It’s a keeper for sure!