Throw It Together Granola

I love homemade granola. Usually I am more of a hot cereal fan, but I do enjoy bowls of homemade, nutritious granola, catered to my personal tastes. Something slightly odd though, is that I rarely eat my cereal with milk. I occasionally eat it with yogurt, but usually I just add fresh fruit and keep my cereal crunchy instead of soggy in the milk. 

Making granola usually requires baking up a large batch of cereal, which then only has a short shelf life since it has no preservatives, and would need to be refrigerated or frozen, which often causes it to lose its crunch.Another thing about granola is that it usually requires some form of fat or sweetener to make it hold together in chunks, and must be baked for a long time at a low temperature and stirred frequently. I personally prefer looser granolas without the chunks.

Therefore, I have discovered a nifty way to make just enough granola quickly. This only works for loose granola though. You just combine all the ingredients in a bowl, approximately a small spoonful of each, and add fresh fruit, milk, or yogurt. The bowl of granola featured here is a combination if cereal squares of cracker pieces, whole hazelnuts, dates, wheat germ, ground flaxseed, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and fresh sliced strawberries.