Homemade Granola - camp-style

Each summer we have a worker´s retreat at our summer camp, Camp MiVoden.

This last year they served us granola as one of the breakfast cereal options. I´m not usually a big fan of granola - it´s always too crunchy, multiplies in my bowl of milk, and just isn´t that great. This granola looked a little different, a little softer, so I took a little bit, added some raisins, and ate it. I had it each day for breakfast, and then craved it two weeks later! It was so yummy. I asked a coworker, and she told me they made it there, and she had a request in for the recipe. She finally got it, and shared it with me. The first batch I made I ate within a week, though I think I screwed up the recipe, but it was still great.

Granola - MiVoden
(I translated it from pounds & ounces to cups)
Makes about 14 cups

7 c rolled raw oats, old fashioned
2 c coconut flakes
2 c wheat germ
1 1/3-1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 c slivered almonds
about 10 oz vegetable oil
2/3 c water
1/4 c vanilla or maple extract

Mix dry ingredients together.

Combine liquid ingredients into another bowl, stir to combine, then add liquid ingredients to dry and mix to distribute evenly (do not overmix).

Divide evenly between 2 baking sheets.

Bake 350 for 25-30 minutes. Do not stir.

Remove from oven and cool thoroughly on pan. Break apart gently and store in an air-tight container.

OPTIONAL ADD-INS (I´ve added the following with success): cinnamon, various nuts, dried cranberries, raisins, sunflower seeds, oat bran instead of wheat germ. You'll want to add things like raisins, dried cranberries, dried other fruits after baking.)

Date Nut Brown Bread

Relish Magazine had a great recipe for Date Nut Brown Bread. I finally got around to making it, and both Kevin and I loved it. The article said to serve it with cream cheese, but we loved it plain.




Ingredients

2 cups finely chopped pitted dates (about 10 ounces)
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg, at room temperature
2⁄3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup toasted pecan halves, chopped

1. Mix dates, milk, butter and molasses in a medium saucepan over medium heat; stir until butter melts and mixture begins to simmer. Remove from heat, transfer to a large bowl, and cool to room temperature.

2. Preheat oven to 325F. Butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

3. Stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl; set aside.

4. Whisk the egg, sugar, and vanilla until blended well. Add to date mixture; stir well. Add pecans and flour mixture to date mixture; stir until well-blended. Spoon into prepared loaf pan.

5. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of loaf comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes.

Cranberry relish

This is the best cranberry relish. My grandma & my mom made it every year for the holidays. This year I made it. I had some leftovers, and made just a plain cupcake recipe and added in some of the relish. It made a great apple-cranberry-orange muffin.

one 12oz package cranberries, fresh or frozen
4-6 oranges, washed & cut into slices (leave peel on)
4-6 apples, washed & cut into slices, core removed
sugar to taste

side note: More oranges and apples make it less cranberry flavor. Kind of test it out, taste as you go, see how you like it.

Combine all fruits using a grinder. My KitchenAid came with a grinder attachment (yay!). I suppose you could use a food processor, but you don´t want mush, you want it kind of finely diced like.

Add about 1/2-1 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you like it. Let it sit overnight. You can always add more sugar if it´s not sweet enough for you.

This will make around 10-12 cups. Usually my family makes a half recipe and if it doesn't seem like enough make the other half, or add a bit more of each until it´s seems sufficient.

Yummy orange cranberry muffins

I made Sunshine Cake for potluck, and I was hungry for some yummy muffins. I remembered my recipe for Copycat Costco muffins and found a yellow cake mix then added in a can of mandarin oranges (drained) and about 3/4 cup frozen whole cranberries.

These muffins were so good, I only got one and a half of them!