Being Super Crunchy

Happy Monday! I don't know about you, but after this weekend I finally feel caught up and back to normal after the holiday rush. I spent Sunday afternoon watching football and making a fabulous breakfast food to get me semi-excited about waking up Monday morning. It's my take on Ina Garten's granola and it's one for the permanent collection. Though I typically envy her fabulous Hamptons home, complete with lots and lots of white accents, sometimes her recipes emulate the Hamptons itself with uppity ingredients that make me go...not-so-much. For example, this recipe calls for 'good honey' as though a) I'm going to purposely seek out really crappy honey lest you tell me otherwise and b) why? Sure it's nice to splurge, but if you have the extra dough, are you really splurging on 'good honey'? She doesn't even explain what classifies as 'good honey' but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it does not include my personal favorite and continuous pantry-gracer, the honey bear (I can picture her disapproving gaze right now...). Needless to say, I adapted her recipe just a bit, as you can see below. You should also note that while not personally tested, I'm pretty sure any dried fruit would work here. I happen to be a big dried cherry fan, though I also added cherry-flavored craisins to give it less of a tart twist. Check it out...

Fruit 'n Almond Granola
*Adapted from Ina Garten
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
2 cups sliced almonds
1 cup dried cherries, chopped
1 cup craisins, cherry flavored
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey (I prefer the 'bear' variety)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Toss the oats, coconut, almonds, and cherries together in a large bowl.

Pour the oil and honey over the oat mixture.

Add the cinnamon, and stir until all the oats and nuts are coated with the liquids. Pour onto a sheet pan. Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice, even golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container.

So there you have it...a delicious breakfast (add into some fat free yogurt) or afternoon snack. What I really want to know from you though is what you typically eat for a weekday breakfast? Do you go oatmeal? Cereal? Coffee black? Starve yourself until lunchtime? Or do you take the time to make a real breakfast to getcha going?

Psst...In case you missed Eat Better Week, check out some fantastic recipes and tips here!