trans canada mix

low fat cinnamon granola

You've heard of trail mix well this is 4 lane mix.

Low fat, lots o'nuts and dried fruit, high fibre granola. I've been wanting to make homemade granola for ages (years perhaps) and just didn't ever get around to it. The cowboy and the beautiful brown hound leave today on another of their cross Canada road trips, traveling north away from us and the ocean, then west through boreal forest, rocky shorelines and lakes as big as seas to arrive on the edge of the prairies where he will spend two weeks tidying up and packing up the final bits and pieces of a former life. Remember the incredible steel and plywood (now disassembled and packed into the motorhome awaiting it's journey west) motorcycle crate - the one made for the much loved second Honda CL90 Scrambler which will be shipped back to Nova Scotia.

He and I for most of this still newish year have been strictly following a heart smart diet - no more butter, cream, rare roast beef and/or chocolate mousse for us. It's fish, chicken, heaps of vegetables, lots of fruit and as little fat as possible. I'm happy to report that I've been losing .5 to 1.5 lbs every week, effortlessly. I love to cook and we've been having fabulous tres healthy delicious dinners every evening - absolutely no deprivation felt at all and it is true you actually begin to lose your taste for ... ummm ... well you lose the taste for rich and fatty and I've even lost my, thankfully rare but always there, taste for junk. Crap like frosted blueberry pop tarts or red dye No. 3 cheetos cheesies (eaten sandwiched between dill pickle potato chips). I do digress.

Not only did I want to send my handsome cowboy off with lots of love and comfort, an "in case of emergency please call Susan" card for his wallet (designed by me and laminated), another homemade music CD, Blue Rodeo's - Five Days in July (an every single song is fantastic CD), lots of kisses ... and I wanted to make him a snack for the road that had a bit of protein and some crunch to replace his former road trip snack of kettle cooked potato chips - a treat he only ever allowed himself to eat while making this twice yearly long haul road trip. So ... la recipe

Low fat granola

4 cups of oats (I used 2 1/2 cups of oats and 1 1/2 cups of All Bran Buds)
2 cups nuts (I used a combo of sunflower seeds, whole unsalted almonds, pistachios and pecans)
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (I used a combo of raisins, dried cranberries and chopped pitted dates)
3 tsp cinnamon
nutmeg to taste
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix warm water, maple syrup and vanilla together. Pour over nut, fruit, oat mixture. Stir and mix well. Spread on two large cookie sheets and bake at 300 for 1 hour, stirring every 20 mins.

The next time I make this I might up the sweetness factor just a touch by adding either a bit more maple syrup or some honey and I might add 1 cup of Special K Satisfaction (my current fav cereal) and ... dried apricots, dried blueberries ... oh the possibilities are truly endless. Recipe adapted from urban mommies.

I'm sure gonna miss him ... but I know in my heart that I'm keepin' him forever and for always.