Guest Blog Post: Christine’s Homemade Granola
My sister-in-law, Christine, is one lucky lady. She lives in beautiful Rutland County, Vermont in close proximity to a Price Chopper supermarket. She is having tons of fun checking out all the NuVal scores and making new recipes with high-scoring ingredients. She is so kind as to take pictures and keep me apprised of her latest concoctions – even writing this blog post below! She shows how sometimes, by making your own, you can get higher NuVal scores and save money. This week, while hosting my husband’s other sister and her family, she whipped up a batch of this fabulous granola, even creating a nut-free version for our niece with food allergies. Way to go Christine!
On one of the last “Trade Up Tuesdays,” I noticed that many A Better Bag of Groceries readers are also avid granola lovers. Myself included. I love the diversity and flavor that granola can bring with all sorts of food.
But the one thing I’m not a fan of is paying a lot of money for small portions of things. Especially given today’s economic situation. To be honest, I’m tighter than bark to a tree when it comes to money. So with granola it was a love/hate relationship. If I found it on sale/or on special I would definitely buy it. Otherwise I would wait till the next sale/special. But good news – I started making my own granola. That definitely helps cut costs. Not only do I save money but I also know exactly what goes into it.
I love this recipe especially because it uses one of Vermont’s finest ingredients-Maple Syrup. Although maple syrup doesn’t score well, I feel I’m helping out local economy and it tastes sooo good.
MAPLE-NUT GRANOLA
3 ½ C Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats(Not the quick Oats): Nuval score 57
¼ C chopped pecans: Nuval score 65 (I actually use Walnuts because they score higher-82)
¼ C chopped almonds: Nuval score 81
¼ tsp coarse salt
5 tsp vegetable oil: Nuval score 16 (You can “trade up” to canola oil-Nuval score 24)
5 tbsp Pure Maple Syrup- NuVal score 1
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
**You can use any nuts that you like, it might change the scoring**
You can also add Sunmaid Golden raisins (Nuval score of 91) or Sunmaid regular raisins (Nuval Score of 87)
Pre-heat oven to 325. In a large bowl, toss all ingredients together in order that they appear above. Spread oat mix on a rimmed baking sheet.
Bake until golden brown 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let cool completely. To store, cover and keep at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
This recipe yields 4 cups-1/2 cup servings.
(But if you buy the 1 lb container of the old fashioned oat container, it yields about 7 of these batches)
This recipe is incredibly easy for kids and adults to make. My niece Danielle, helped me with a nut free version(she has nut allergies).
As you can see, my home-made granola contains mostly very high-scoring ingredients. I compared some store brands of granola to see their scores:
Back to Nature Granola-Classic: NuVal score of 28
Cascadian Farms Organic Maple-Brown Sugar: NuVal score of 16
The homemade version is well worth the effort!
Question of the Day
Would you make your own granola?
Posted by: Melissa 6 comments
Posted in: Granola, Guest Bloggers
