My secret granola recipe

I guess its not really secret but it's just kinda different than most granola recipes. I tried forever to make a granola that clumped together without using crap-loads of sugar. They just never seemed to come out like the store bought kind, until I tried this... Nut butter. The nut butter (I usually use peanut) mixed with honey and oil makes a nice sticky goo that clumps the granola perfectly :)

You can use different kinds of nut butters but let me tell you, the peanut butter is good! My husband isn't fond of PB and he loves this granola. There's almost a cup in here but it really doesn't overwhelm the taste at all. This is going to make a gallon. Because its kind of a pain to make it, not hard but time consuming so I like to get it over with. It doesn't last very long anyway. Try mixing up the flavors too, just keep the ratios the same.

Banana Pecan Granola

In a very big bowl:
12 c toasted oats ( toast on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 200)
2 c ground crispy (soaked and them dehydrated) pecans (I grind them in my food processor bc my kids don't like big chunks of nuts. You could just chop them if you like.
1 c chopped banana chips (sweetened)
1 c unsweetened coconut flakes

Melt in a saucepan on low:
1 c coconut oil
1 c honey
3/4 c peanut butter
1/2 t salt

Mix the wet into the dry, you might have to dig in and mix it with your hands to get it all spread out.

Toast on a cookie sheet in batches at 200 for 15 to 20 minutes. It will seem moist still when you take it out but it will get crunchy when cooled. It will be golden brown when it's done.

Ps... We buy pre-made almond milk right now but I used to make it and when I did I would use the leftover meal in my granola. You could substitute any nut meal for the pecans here.
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candied nuts

yummy!!!

1 cup crispy nuts
1/4 cup honey
butter
salt

heat a frying pan a little above medium heat. (i put mine on 5 and i always use a cast iron pan) let it heat up while and then add a couple tablespoon of butter. once its melted and bubbly add the nuts and mix them in the butter to coat and lightly toast them. once the nuts are all hot add the honey - be careful it will bubble up and get really crazy. hot sugar seems to be one of the hottest of hot things! its sticks to you and really burns. let it bubble and do its thing while constantly stirring so its doesnt burn or stick. add about a half teaspoon of salt. it has to be bubbling tho so turn it up if its not. this is what will make the honey end up hard and candy-like in the end. keep it going for about 5 minutes. then turn off the heat and let it cool right in the pan. at this point you could add other ingredients that you didnt want to cook like shredded coconut or dried fruit. once its cooled it will become hard/chewy.

my famous "spicy popcorn"

thats what my kids call it. its not that "spicy"really. it is nutritional yeasty.
this is probably my most popular recipe. kind of sad i know - its just popcorn. but really, its the best popcorn ever!

first start with fresh, homemade pocorn. no microwaves please!
just cover the bottom of a heavy bottomed saucepan with popcorn and then add enough oil to get all the pocorn wet. the popcorn shouldnt be drowning in oil - just coated. i use extra virgin olive oil mostly. i love using coconut oil but my husband has a serious aversion to it. you might have to experiment with the temps of your stove and the kind of pan and the length you leave it on. i turn mine on high. once its halfway popped i turn it down a tiny bit. this seems to help it not burn. its done once the popping starts to slow down. take it off the burner and let it sit to finish popping and cool down.

i always make a big stockpot full of popcorn, i think its a 6 or maybe 8 quart pot. i split it into 2 bowls, one for danny with just salt and butter and one spicy popcorn:
melt 3 Tbs butter and 3 Tbs coconut oil and pour over popcorn
sprinkle about 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp granulated onion over the popcorn and mix gently
sprinkle about 4-5 Tbs nutritional yeast (crush it with your fingers as you sprinkle)
mix well
sometime i grind red pepper flakes into it to make it spicier