Quote of the day: “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water”
I remember the days, as if they were yesterday, when my sisters and I spent the morning hours of the day working through school at the dining room table. I loved being homeschooled. We thought we were special, and we knew our Mother was our biggest fan! In truth, there was probably nothing particularly special or outstanding about us, but because our mother thought so, it made all the difference in the world! I never felt intense pressure to conform to “the group” as a homeschooler, so I have spent my formative years becoming a very unique individual whom God created, and that is the biggest gift of homeschooling.
Once I heard a very sarcastic remark to the effect that a girl was “homed”…not much schooling was involved! I’m sure that happens sometimes, and that is so sad. The student carries a big responsibility to direct and motivate them self, but it is tempting to place the whole burden on the instructor, when blaming. I hope that in the future, Americans will be able to have the privilege and the right to educate at home. I am who I am today because being educated at home provided a way for my parents to communicate to me that they believed in me, and I was someone special.
Isn’t this blog supposed to be about food? Where was I going with that? Oh yes…the days we sat at the kitchen table “laboring” over school work. I remember being a little jealous that my mom had all kinds of free time to do things she wanted, but we had to do school! She would vacuum, wash dishes, clean things, and fold laundry, but I had to work! I particularly remember days when she made homemade granola. It smelled so good, almost like freshly baked oatmeal cookies.
The recipe here is one that I have put together, though. It has more nuts for protein, and less honey-sugar, and oil instead of butter to be healthier!
Suz’s Granola
Dry ingredients:
8 c. rolled oats
3 c. chopped almonds (use a machine to do this! Way too labor intensive by hand!)
3 Tbl. Cinnamon or pie spice
1 tsp. sea salt
¼ c. sesame seeds
¼ c. corn meal
Wet ingredients:
¾ c. oil
4 Tbl. butter
¼ c. honey (agave nectar is better for those sensitive to sugars)
A little stevia
2 Tbl. vanilla
Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Melt the butter and mix with all the wet ingredients. Pour wet over dry, gradually, and mix well. Taste it to make sure you like the proportions of sweetness, nuts, etc. Spread granola on large baking sheets (probably about 2) and bake in the oven at 350. You will want to stir every 15 min or so. Sometimes I use the broiler to speed things up a bit. Total baking time is about 45-60 min. It will keep awhile, sealed in a jar. It’s nice when it’s warm!
Let me know if you try it and how you like it!
