I know I haven't been on in a long time, and that may happen again after this, (so much for blogging twice a week!), but after the breakfast we just had, I had to throw it out there.A little over a year ago I stopped feeding my kids cereal. Really, we stopped buying anything that had any measure of processing and cereal was at the top of the list. Well, this instantly complicated life just a bit since now I would have to get up with my little early birds and make breakfast. I found a pretty good soaked homemade granola recipe a few months ago and made it a couple times. I just didn't love it like I loved my old tried and true unsoaked granola! So, we were back to square one.
Don't get me wrong. The breakfasts we have been having since then have been fun and so yummy! How fun to be able to have breakfast cookies or sprouted scones or just fried eggs with bacon every day! But once in a while, a little cereal would be nice...
Over Christmas I soaked and then dried some oats in my wonderful dehydrator. They were soaked in water and a little buttermilk (about 2 tsp per cup) for about 24-48 hours and kept at about 85 degrees. After drying them I had these nice crispy oats. I stuck them in a bag and left them alone until today, not quite sure what I was going to do with them...
(I imagine if you don't have a dehydrator you could dry the oats in the oven at low low temps, under 150 degrees. In case you don't know, the soaking is to break down and minimize the harmful effects of the phytic acids that prohibit absorption of certain vital nutrients.)
This morning, I decided it was high time for some easy granola. So here is what I did:
4 cups of soaked and dried oats
1/2 cup dried apples
1/2 cup dried pears
1/2 cup raisins
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup soaked, dried and finely chopped walnuts
2-4 tbsp maple syrup
Mixed all together in a big bowl and served with cold raw milk.
The great thing about this recipe is that not only is it fabulous, (and I am pretty picky when it comes to flavor!), but it can be infinitely modified to add whatever dried fruit and soaked nuts are in the house. I almost added flax seeds but didn't want to take the time to grind them. Next time maybe.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.
