How to make granola

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Put six cups of rolled oats into a very large bowl.

Add a cup of flax seed meal. It doesn't matter if you use traditional or golden flax seed, but I always use Bob's Red Mill because I know it's good quality.

This is the dark flax seed meal. The golden flax seed meal has a lighter color.

I sometimes use wheat germ, or wheat bran. It depends upon what I have in my freezer. These should be stored in the freezer, because they do not contain preservatives and they can become rancid.

I start with almost everything raw, because I am going to bake it. I like these 8oz packages from Fresh & Easy because they end up being about a cup and a half, so I don't have to measure.

I said slivered almonds in my ingredient list, but I actually prefer these quartered, raw almonds. Add them in with the seeds.

I like to use 2 cups of sweetened, shredded coconut, but I guess you could use unsweetened.

I like a lot of ground cinnamon, and sometimes I add a Tablespoon of ground ginger powder. It's up to you, but mix this AND the salt together THOROUGHLY with the dry ingredients.

Measure out one cup of honey into a saucepan. I like this kind of measuring cup, because it's easy to push the honey out and it wastes less. Pampered Chef sells them.

Warm up the honey, the hot water, and the vegetable oil on low heat, so that it becomes liquid and easy to pour. It will mix more evenly with the dry ingredients.

Right at the end, just before you pour, add in one or two teaspoons of vanilla extract. I like two, but one might be enough for your taste.

Mix the liquid into the dry ingredients. Make sure the dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed first, so you don't get any super salty bites.

I know it seems like a lot of liquid, but the granola will dry out, as it bakes, and even more, as it cools. Incorporate the liquid evenly.

Spread the mixture out into a large roasting pan. Put it into a pre-heated oven (325 degrees F). At each 15 or 20 minute interval, use a spatula to stir and turn the granola, so that it bakes evenly.

Each time you stir it, turn down the heat a little. This stuff can burn easily. When the almonds are golden brown (about an hour) take it out of the oven and cool completely before adding dried fruit.

This is one of my favorite things to add. I like this and dried, sweetened cranberries. You could also add chopped dates, or chopped, dried apricots or even banana chips. Add what YOU like.

When it's completely cooled, load it into quart bags for the freezer or pack it up in tins or jars as a gift. I like to eat my granola sprinkled on yogurt.