Homemade Cereal

MMMM Cereal. The ultimate frenemy. Its packed with protein and fiber, yet the fat content and sugar content on a lot of cereal AND in a lot of granola is out of control (as my pant size can attest, I really haven't been giving much of a shit about fat content these days)... The thing I love most about this is its free of all the crazy shit they put into commercial cereal and of course.. its DELICIOUS and your house will smell like it should belong in Better Homes and Gardens.

We have been on a homemade yogurt kick in our house this week and this on top of it is just Nirvana.. This recipe makes a TON of Granola cereal. So while initially if you dont have wheatgerm, etc in your house it may be a little pricey, it all evens out when you consider its making you an enormous amount of granola.

We store this in super cute airtight containers (because face it everything is better when its stored in cute containers) to add a little happyness in my grumpy mornings..This recipe is totally interchangeable.. it comes out crunchy and is great with some milk like regular cereal.

So here it is, enjoy!
Ingredients

7 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped dates (I use raisins)
1 cup chopped pecans (I use almonds)
1 cup flaked coconut (Yuck. I hate coconut but this was in the original recipe but I just left it out and put in some flax)

Directions

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix oats, wheat germ, and wheat bran.
In a medium bowl, blend brown sugar, vegetable oil, honey, and water. Mix in vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir the brown sugar mixture into the oat mixture until evenly moist, and transfer to a large, shallow baking dish.
Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, until lightly brown. Mix dates, pecans, and coconut into the dish, and continue baking about 15 minutes. Allow to cool, and store in airtight containers.