Homemade Summer Granola

Breakfast sets us up for the day ahead, at school or work or home, so it's important it's nutritious and filling. There's always toast on offer at our place but often there's omelette with something green from the garden or buttery mushrooms or homemade breakfast muffins or banana bread drizzled with honey. Porridge is the staple of the cooler months but in Summer it's too hot for porridge so I've started making this delicious oaty granola instead. It's delicious with a thick yoghurt or cold, creamy milk. It's so easy to make too!

Yoghurt topped with a simple, homemade granola. Delicious!

I began with a recipe for granola clusters from Karlynn over at The Kitchen Magpie and simply tweaked it to suit us. I reduced the amount of honey, left out the extra sugar, substituted a nut oil for the canola oil and then I put in the nuts, seeds, coconut and dried fruit we like and that I had in the pantry at the time. Here's how I made it: 

Homemade Summer Granola

(Leave out the nuts and substitute no-nut oil if you have a nut allergy.)

3 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
handful of raw almonds, roughly chopped
handful of coconut flakes
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
1 Tablespoon sunflower seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch or two of ground rock salt

1/4 cup macadamia nut oil
1/4 cup honey

1. Preheat oven to 150C and line a flat baking tray with baking paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients except the macadamia oil and honey.

3. Whisk together the macadamia oil and honey in a separate jug then pour over dry 
     ingredients.

4.  Mix lightly to coat dry ingredients.

5. Spread mixture out on prepared baking tray. Push together little "clusters" of mixture 
    so they stick together as they bake. 

   (You may like to use the full 1/3cup honey to make clusters stick together more readily. 
     In using less honey, I found my clusters didn't hold together too well.)

6. Bake in oven until lightly golden. (Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn!)

7.  Cool completely then store in airtight containers ready to serve with breakfast. Yum!

Two jars of homemade granola for the pantry.

While I chose to add dried cranberries, almonds, coconut, chia and sunflower seeds to this batch of granola, next time I might choose different dried fruits, nuts and seeds. You can mix in whatever you fancy for a combination that your family loves. Yum!

I hope you enjoyed a hearty, healthy breakfast this morning and that it left you feeling ready for the day ahead.

Meg

p.s. The other thing I like about making our own granola is that I can forgo a cereal box, and the obligatory plastic packet inside that cereal box, when I shop.  Another good reason to make your own!

A Garden Visitor 8

I heard this fuzzy little fellow before I saw him! Working industriously in our star jasmine, buzzing noisily and so very quickly from one flower to the next, was this very fluffy little bee.

Teddy Bear Bee in flight.

He is an Australian native Teddy Bear Bee (Amegilla bombiformis). My photo is somewhat blurry because this bee is notoriously tricky to photograph. No sooner did I have it in focus and it buzzed off! If you'd like to see much clearer and beautiful photos of this adorable native bee, you can visit this Aussie Bee website.

Teddy Bear Bees are one of Australia's native solitary bees. They are so called because of their golden 'fur'  that resembles that of a teddy bear. They are buzz pollinators, like Blue-Banded Bees, meaning they can take hold of a flower and 'shake' it through vibration to release the pollen inside. Amazing!

This was the first time I have seen one of these special little native bees in our garden. It feels a wonderful thing because, like many other native animals, these bees need habitat and food sources. It's a lovely thing to think that the garden we are growing here provides that for these tiny and very important creatures.

Dandelion Clocks Top

Do you have dandelions growing in your garden? Have you ever picked a fluffy dandelion clock and scattered the seeds with your wishes and breath? I am unable to resist blowing dandelion seeds everywhere whenever I discover a dandelion clock in the garden. Doing so, to me, feels like sweet and whimsical fun.

No dandelion clocks for my photo, just one little not-yet-open bud.

So, when I saw some beautiful and deep dark blue fabric printed with scattered dandelion clocks (there is something that draws me to botanical motifs on fabric) I knew it was for me. This is what I sewed it up to be:

 Now I can wear dandelions!

This was a much quicker project for me because I chose a pattern that I had sewn up before to make another top. The lightness of the fabric did cause me a few challenges because it slipped a bit more as I moved it through my sewing machine. My solution...more pins and more patience!

My little dandelion bowl.

Recently, a close friend gave me this lovely little bowl, so small that it fits snugly in one of my cupped hands. Upon its surface is a scattering of tiny dandelion seeds. So beautiful, my friend and my treasured gift.

A scattering of tiny seeds.

Dandelion clocks are such delicate puffballs. Next time you find one, I hope you'll take a deep breath, close your eyes and make a wish as you blow and disperse those tiny seeds.

Meg