Simply Granola

Life on Applegarth Grange is filled with simple pleasures. One of them is homemade granola.
Here is a recipe we use, from the "More With Less" cookbook that we bought when we visited a Mennonite Dairy in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I highly recommend it. We have worn it out and I need a new copy!

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Combine in a large mixing bowl:
2 cups whole wheat flour
6 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of shredded coconut
1 cup of wheat germ (I never used this, figured fresh ground whole wheat flour was enough)

Blend together separately:
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of oil (like organic non-gmo canola or safflower, not olive)
1 cup of honey
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 tablespoon of salt
And I add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (not in the original recipe).

Add blended liquids to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Spread out on two greased cookies sheets and bake 1 hour, or until dry and golden.
Store in covered containers.

Add any other ingredients you may want to add after the granola is baked.
*DO NOT ADD ANY DRIED FRUITS OR NUTS UNTIL YOU ARE DONE BAKING. They will get too crispy and not taste good! This I know from experience.

Now enjoy your breakfast cereal with fresh homemade almond milk!

Spelt

Wheat is the best basic grain for Man. On Applegarth Grange we eat Spelt. Spelt is an ancestor wheat to the grains of more modern times. It is more nutritious and not hybridized or genetically modified. It is what our ancestors would have eated. It makes light delicious breads and rolls. We use fresh cracked Spelt for the most delicious hot cereal, which recipe is included below. We have a Diamant hand mill which you can see at: Lehman's. We fill the hopper with about two cups of spelt, set it to crack the grain, and get to work. Next we sift out the finer particles and freeze the cracked grain in a freezer bag. Then we pour the sifted spelt back into the hopper, set it to grind a fine flour, get to work, then freeze the finished product until we are ready for baking. You can turn your grinding time into an upper body workout if you count and balance your repetions as you turn the hand crank. Here is the cereal recipe we use:

To serve 2 adults -
2 cups of distilled filtered spring water (or whatever you happen to have)
2/3 cup of cracked spelt

Boil the water, add the spelt, get it back up to a boil, then turn on simmer. Takes about 20 minutes.

Divide into two bowls and add - really whatever you like, but what we like is:
1/8 cup dried organic currants
1 Tablespoon of Honey
1 pat of organic butter
1/8 cup dried pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1/8 cup crushed pecans (I keep these in the freezer too)

Enjoy! We had it for breakfast this morning!