Easy Granola ** Updated **

Now Cholesterol Lowering too!

I'm constantly changing how I make things - improving each time I hope.  My original Granola was big on taste and less about health, the second version was better, last year's version was pretty good too.

Now finally I think I have it, this recipe is the best tasting, most healthy and helps lower cholesterol.

Yummy Granola

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of rolled oats
• 1/2 cup of wheatgerm
• 1/2 cup of mixed seeds [sunflower, flax, sesame, poppy]
• 1/4 cup of dried cranberries or raisins if you prefer
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinammon

• 1/4 cup of honey or maple syrup
• 1/4 cup of light sunflower oil
• Splash of orange juice [optional]

Directions:
Pre-heat your oven to 120c/250f.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine the honey, water and oil and pop into the microwave for 1 minute - don't worry too much about the exact measurements but you should have about 3/4 of a cup of liquid. The mixture is much easier to handle when it's warm and the honey is a lot less sticky.

Mix the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir well until everything is well coated.

Spread out evenly on a baking tray and pop into the oven for 50 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool before storing in an air-tight jar; as it cools it will get crunchy. It should hold for quite a while but I'll bet it doesn't last that long.

Enjoy with natural yoghurt.


Variations:
Use a splash of apple juice instead.
Try different fruit, delicious too!

Crunchy or fine?
If you want large nuggets of granola, then follow the steps above when cooking but however if you prefer a finer granola with smaller/less nuggets then remove from the oven every 15 minutes and give it a stir through with a fork to break the mixture up.

TOP TIP!
For extra crunchy, leave the granola in the oven to cool overnight.  As the oven cools slowly the granola will crunch up much more than allowing it to cool on the counter top.

Citrus Yoghurt

Great as an accompanyment for Blackened Fish

Like all my recipes - quick and easy to make but looks good and tastes even better.


Ingredients:

• 300ml Greek style yoghurt
• Zest from an orange
• 1 lime
• 50ml olive oil

Directions:

Grate the zest from the orange and lime into the yoghurt.  You could also use a lemon in addition!  Squeeze the juice from the lime into the yoghurt and add the olive oil.  Mix well and set aside in the fridge until needed.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cup to 1 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want the result, and how sweet your strawberries are to begin with)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups full fat yogurt (if use low or non fat, then add 2 Tbsp cream)

Method

1 Place the strawberries, lemon juice, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat on medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Use a potato masher to mash up the strawberries as the mixture is heating. As soon as all of the sugar has completely dissolved, remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.

2 Stir in the milk and yogurt, until completely incorporated. Place the mixture in the refrigerator, and chill for at least an hour, preferably several hours, until completely cold, before proceeding.

3 Process the mixture in your ice cream maker 20 to 25 minutes; if you don't have an Ice-cream maker then put the mix in a tub in your freezer but remove it every 10-15 minutes and stir vigorously with a fork - this stops ice crystals forming. It will take longer to freeze this way but the results are just as tasty.

Not sure this instruction is necessary - Eat immediately or keep in freezer until served.

Much Better Granola

Part of the healthy yet tasty series!

I recently reviewed my Granola recipe and realised that I've changed how I make Granola! I'm not great at following recipes in the first place, I tend to use it as a guideline and then adjust according to how I'm feeling, what's in the cupboard and how it tastes as I go along.

At any rate, my much improved Granola is detailed below. Significantly there is no SALT in this, not even sure why there was salt in the original as I rarely use salt. I also found Flax seeds in my local store - these are very good for you. I use maple syrup and honey interchangeably.


Ingredients:
2 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup of wheatgerm
1/2 cup of mixed seeds [sunflower, flax, sesame, poppy]
1/4 cup of unsweetened dessicated coconut
1/2 cup of dried fruit [raisins, mixed peel etc]
1/3 cup of honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup of oil
Splash of water

Directions:
Pre-heat your oven to 100c/220f.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, except the dried fruit. Combine the honey, water and oil and pop into the microwave for 1 minute - don't worry too much about the exact measurements but you should have about 3/4 of a cup of liquid. The mixture is much easier to handle when it's warm and the honey is a lot less sticky.

Mix the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir well until everything is well coated.

Spread out on a baking tray and pop into the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and stir in the dried fruit; give it a good mix. Another 15 minutes in the oven before removing for another stir around - make sure it's browning evenly. Pop back for a final 15/20 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool before storing in an air-tight jar; as it cools it will get crunchy. It should hold for quite a while but I'll bet it doesn't last that long.

Enjoy with natural yoghurt.


Variations:
Use 1/4 cup of apple juice instead of the water and reduce the honey to 1/4 cup.

Thick & Creamy Yoghurt

Tip for thickening home-made yoghurt

Home-made yoghurt, yum, it's so easy and good for you. I have already written and instructions on how to make you own yoghurt. Sometimes, though, it's not as thick as store bought yoghurt. Fear not! Don't panic if your yoghurt is a tad thin or runny - use this easy tip to thicken your home made yoghurt.

Ingredients:

• Home Made Natural Yoghurt
• Muslin
• A Strainer

Directions:
Very simply, the yoghurt can be thickened by draining off some of the excess liquid. Line a strainer with muslin (or strong kitchen paper [if you use kitchen paper, don't use one with colours or scents]) and pour the yoghurt in. Allow to sit for about an hour - the excess liquid will drain through the muslin leaving a thicker yoghurt behind.

The longer you leave it, the thicker it will get. When you have your desired thickness, spoon the yoghurt into an airtight container and return to the fridge.

I'm not sure, yet, what you do with the liquid that has drained off. I'm sure there must be a use for it, and will post again when I've found one. Leave a comment if you have a suggestion.

NOTE: Whilst I've concentrated on thickening home-made yoghurt, this will work just as well with any shop-bought rubbish :)

Natural Yoghurt

Never quite sure if it's Yogurt or Yoghurt, either way, I'm partial to natural yoghurt and so much so, I looked at how I could make my own. I never imagined it could be so easy, and I mean so, so incredibly easy.

Ingredients:

1/2 Pint Whole Milk or Low Fat Milk, whichever is your preference
1 Tablespoon of Live Natural Yoghurt

Note: The yoghurt has to be live.

Directions:

Make sure your starter yoghurt is live; you can buy live yoghurt in most supermarkets - the best starter is live organic; you'll be using the cultures in the live yoghurt to convert your milk into yoghurt - once you've made the first batch then you can use it the make the next and so on.  If this recipe/method does not work then you've probably not used live yoghurt to start.  Big hint: the start has to be live!

For this you'll need a sterile glass jar and lid (heat it the oven to sterilise it) and some aluminium foil.

Heat the milk to near boiling but don't allow it to boil.  Allow to blood temperature and add the live yoghurt and give it a good mix. Pour the mixture into the sterile jar, seal it and wrap the entire jar and lid in aluminium foil - this keeps the heat in.

Now you need to leave the jar for 12/24 hours in a warm place (back in Ireland, a 'hot press' would be perfect for this). I've found that an ideal place is in the oven with just the light on - if you place the wrapped jar beside the light bulb in the oven, the bulb gives off just enough heat to keep the jar warm and allow the cultures to develop and convert the milk into yoghurt.  This is the delicate part - too hot or too cold will kill the live cultures - you may have to experiment to find the perfect location in your home.

You'll know when it's done; it will look, smell and taste like yoghurt - pop it into the fridge the stop it "cooking".

Of course, as you use the yoghurt you'll know when it's time to make the next batch - cultures aren't killed in the fridge so you can use your own yoghurt in a never ending cycle.

Now, isn't that easy?


See Also:- Naan Bread Recipe