Cinnamon Maple Granola

Every day, the kids bring home a folder with work from the day and any notes from the teacher.  On Friday, both Madison and Zachary brought home behavior notes for not listening and talking too much during their music class.  I sat down with them to have a conversation about what happened, why it wasn’t appropriate, and what they’re going to do differently next time.  Then we have to decide what sort of consequence should happen.    Being that it was Friday night and a good night for TV, we all agreed that no TV would be it.

Aaron and I were ready. The kids have this new karate show that they love, so we were all set to turn it on for the other three while Madison and Zachary weren’t able to watch it.  Mads, Jax, and Zachary were in the midst of their pirates trying to breach the knight’s castle.  Zoe and Connor were at the kitchen table creating pop-up books and caterpillars.  We turned on the TV, holler that the TV is on, and…nothing.  Not a single one of them made a move for the living room.  Not one.  We left the TV on for about 15 minutes and then gave up.  How weird is that?!?!?!  Feeling like we were giving up on wanting the kids to watch TV.  On the flip-side, they were all playing so great, and we were all having fun!

Because the kids were playing and creating so nicely, I took advantage of the time to whip up a bit of granola.  I love granola!  Granola in my yogurt, granola in trail mix, granola with almond milk.  It’s great—and throw in some maple syrup—mmm, mmm!  This granola doesn’t fail.  It smelled so great cooking and tasted even better for my breakfast on Saturday.

Cinnamon Maple Granola

3 cups oats
¾ cup sliced almonds
½ cup coconut
3 TBSP brown sugar
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
5 TBSP coconut oil, melted
¾ cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, coconut, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In another bowl, combine the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and the vanilla.
4. Pour the maple syrup mixture over the oats mixture and toss to coat.
5. Once the oats are all coated, spread the mixture out on the parchment lined cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the granola is slightly browned, turning every 10 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool.  Once the granola is completely cooled, break up any large pieces and store in an airtight container.