Monday Mischeif-Hippie Dippie

Tubby in Hippie gear 3 years ago before a Woofstock Meet-Up

Confession: Our mom is a little bit of a hippie.  She rides a Bike Friday to work and frets over the environment, is politically liberal, has all of Bob Dylan's CDs, and loves those boho style clothes from Anthropologie.  The biggest hippie-dippie thing about mom though is her choice of breakfast cereal, granola.  Since her favorite store bought granola from Le Pain Quotidien costs about 12 dollars for a small bag, a price mom would only pay for high quality organic dog treats! She makes like a real hippie and whips up her own granola.

Granola

  
4 cups of old fashioned oats
1 cup almond slices
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (the big chunky flakes, not the little skinny ones)
3/4 cup of unsalted sunflower seeds (not roasted)
3/4 cup of unsalted pumpkin seeds (not roasted) 
1/2 cup of chopped pecans
1 tbsp wheat germ
1 tbsp cinnamon
3 tbsp vegetable oil
generous 1/2 cup of Maple Syrup (preferably Grade B)
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries
 1/2 cup diced dried apricots


Preheat the oven to 350 and stir all of the above ingredients (except the dried fruit) together in large bowl.  Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper and spread the granola out in one layer.  Bake until golden brown, 30-45 minutes (watch carefully to prevent burning)


Cool the granola and stir in the dried fruit.  Obviously you can customize this granola anyway you want by adding whatever fruits and nuts are to your liking.

Ping in her Hippie Dress

Oh and on another note today is Norbert's 6 month senior vet exam so send him some pawsitive vibes, these exams always freak mom out as she is afraid the vet will find something wrong and  Norbert has had some health issues lately with lyme disease and bloat.   Then on a happy note, today is the first official day of mom and dad's week long staycation!