The kitchen smells of brown sugar, honey and deliciousness right now because I am in the midst of making homemade granola (recipe courtesy of a coworker). It's very good AND actually pretty good for you. If anyone is interested in trying it, here is the very easy recipe!

In a large bowl, mix together:

4 c. old fashioned oats

1 1/2 c. sliced almonds

1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

In a saucepan, warm together:

1/4 c. cooking oil

1/4 c. honey

then whisk in 1 t. vanilla

Carefully pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and stir gently with a wooden spoon. Line a 15x10x1" baking pan with aluminum foil and spread granola in the pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, stirring carefully every 10 minutes. Transfer pan to a baking rack and cool completely. Or you can transfer the granola to wax paper to finish cooling.

Once cooled, stir in 1 1/2 c. of raisins or dried cranberries and seal in an airtight container.  The mixture will last one week at room temperature or up to 3 months in the freezer.

The recipe makes 9 cups (24 servings).  Nutrition facts per serving: 186 cal, 8g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 52 mg sodium, 27g carbs, 3g dietary fiber, 4g protein.  Disclaimer: I did not calculate the nutrition information, it was provided for me in the recipe I was given.

Enjoy as a snack or with some yogurt or milk in the morning!

As an added bonus, the whole recipe only cost me $6.30... I had most of the ingredients on hand already and only had to buy the oats and the almonds.  And the oats I bought will probably last me through at least 2 or 3 more recipes since I bought the JUMBO canister!