Food: Hippie-Dip Granola

Before the recipe, the news!! Before Christmas, my family adopted a sweet lil pup. He's a Brittany Spaniel, called Junot after my Dad's and I's favourite author, Junot Diaz. (If you haven't read any of his books, check them out!!!) He can be a total terror sometimes, because he's got this boundless energy thing going on, which is so sweet and pure and also sometimes frightening. I love him so much it's kind of ridiculous. There's something about dogs that are is so genuine, it's impossible not to love them. They don't hide their emotions or lie to you or do any of the shitty things humans do. AND THEY ARE SO CUTE.

Here's an old pic of him being a derp and chowing on a soy bone. 

Anyway, he got his rabies shot today and this afternoon his leg got all swollen and he whimpered whenever he tried to stand up and man oh man was it ever heartbreaking. He just kinda wobbled around until we snuggled him into his lil doggie bed underneath the island. We covered him up in a blanket (future over-protective mom right here!!!) and I lay with him until he fell asleep. I'm amazed by how much I love him, already, so fast. Ahhhh!! Here's him as of last week (he's getting so big!!):

Now, granola!

Iconic in it's yuppie connotations, granola nevertheless is one of my favourite snacks. At my old job, I sometimes used to be responsible for breaking up and packaging the restaurant's house granola. I hung out in the little basement bakery by myself, smashing up giant sheets of crispy granola with a rolling pin, with free rein to eat all the bits I wanted. Mmmm, that was the best. That granola used sugar to sweeten however, which I'm trying to avoid in this case, and lots of palm oil, which again, I'm trying to get away from using, after reading about the horrible impacts inflicted on the environment to harvest it (http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/Whats_the_issue.php). So for now, olive oil all the way!

Check out the recipe below. I hope you give it a try!

Hugs,
Kate

A quick note: this is not a clumpy granola. It's looser, and hella crispy (my personal preference), perfect for sprinkling over yoghurt or fruit, or grabbing by the handful.

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened, please)
1 cup cooking dates, chopped
2/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2/3 cup pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsps ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg*
1/2 tsp cloves*
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tsps vanilla

*optional, add if you've got them on hand, but if not, no worries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the wet ingredients.
3. In another bowl, combine the dry.
4. Pour the wet into dry, stir until everything is coated. It should look pretty wet still, but that's good! No worries.
5. Using a large spatula, half the mixture over each baking tray, making sure it's smoothed into an even layer.
6. Place in oven, stirring ever 4 - 6 minutes to avoid the edges burning.
7. Bake for around 15 - 20 minutes, depending on the your oven and the vigilance of your stirring.