My Favorite Travel Snack: Homemade Granola

I should probably make some sort of running challenge for myself for the month of May. Between Sunday's 5k and today's three miler, I'm already up to six miles this month. Just living my best life, no biggie.

I'm also eating ice cream like it's my job and wondering why the summer clothes that I dusted off last weekend are straining to zip, so there's a lot of contradictions in my life right now. May is a weird time for me; it's awesome because it's the start of the actual nice weather and the anticipation for summer is real, but it's tricky because in my head I still have time to shed the winter weight and it's finally tolerable to be outside without ten layer of clothes, so I'm all, yes, I will have ice cream with every meal. If you haven't heard, I've run 6+ miles this month. 

If you have any tips on the nice weather/ice cream conundrum I'm currently facing, please share. In the meantime, let's talk candy. Errr, I mean granola. Because people hear "granola" and for some reason they think "healthy," even though it usually has more sugar than a candy bar. Let's break it down by ingredient:

Oats - can be good for you, when not drenched in maple and sugar and the processed crap that makes your oatmeal packet so delicious 

Dried fruit - contains an insane amount of sugar (don't shoot the messenger) 

Sticky sweetener/binder (maple syrup, honey, agave, etc) - again, laden with sugar

Nuts/seeds - it's not the sugar you need to worry about here, but the fat content

Chocolate - do I really need to spell it out for you?

Granola has really pulled a fast one; this sugar bomb snack has somehow convinced consumers that it's health food. Hats off to the ad agency, most likely headed by Don Draper. 

Real talk: it's not health food, considering the amount of sugar in it. But homemade granola is a lot healthier than anything you'll buy at the store. Cheaper, too. Besides convincing us it's healthy, granola manufactures have also somehow pulled off the charade that it's worth your firstborn for a ten ounce package. Remember that when you're making your own from the $15/pound Whole Food granola bar; it's mostly oats and oats are so cheap, they're used to feed farm animals.

Here's the thing about granola, though, it's delicious and it's full of things that give you energy, so it is a great snack in moderation. And since I know nothing about moderation and can eat an entire batch in one sitting, I'm the perfect person to give you a great recipe. I feel a little silly calling this a recipe, since it's granola and designed to be tailored to your tastes. Use this as a guideline for your next tasty batch. 

Homemade Granola*

Ingredients: 

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup slivered almonds 

1/2 cups pistachios

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup honey

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt. 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F. 

2. In a large bowl, whisk together honey, maple syrup, canola oil and vanilla extract. Add ground cinnamon, salt, oats, nuts and pumpkin seeds. Stir until evenly coated in the honey mixture.

3. Spread granola on a sheet tray and bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating and stirring at ten minute intervals. Once browned to your liking, remove from oven and let cool.

4. Once cooled, mix in dried cherries, raisins and chocolate. These won't be part of the gorgeous clusters, but this way the fruit won't get hard and the chocolate won't melt. 

*This is more of an outline than a recipe. Don't like pistachios? Swap 'em for cashews. Have loads of craisins in your pantry? Sub them for the dried cherries. Add shaved coconut, sunflower seeds or marshmallows; do you, boo.

Hopefully some of the granola I've just made will make it with us to the airport. Granola is my go-to travel snack since it's easy and gives me the guise that I'm starting off my vacation on a healthy note. We'll see how much of this batch makes it to Ireland. That's right guys, we're going to Ireland tomorrow! Do I know how to bury the lede or what?