Serving Up {Dessert}: Granola Pudding Parfait

After posting my recipe for Cashew Granola, I feel like I have to share with you one of my favorite ways to eat it....which would consist of layering it with pudding and fresh (or frozen) berries.  It makes for such a yummy, easy summertime dessert.  I could eat it every day and never tire of it!

Here in the Pacific Northwest, berries are plentiful for most of the summer season.  We frequently go to the berry farms and pick our own.  It is just one of my favorite "perks" of where we live.  Would you hate me if I admitted that last summer I filled and froze 15 one-gallon bags with the plumpest, largest blueberries from my next door neighbors bushes = free.  I bagged and froze another 100 pounds of blackberries, picked and delivered to my door for only $1.25/pound.  Yum!

I do have to make one STRONG recommendation that, I think, makes a huge difference in the outcome of your parfait.  If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, purchase their instant Vanilla Pudding for this dessert.  It is unlike the vanilla pudding of your childhood - made with a good whole milk, your instant pudding will be mistaken for a homemade custard.  I promise!  You deserve this!

Of course, you could always use yogurt in place of the pudding for an even healthier dessert - but when I use yogurt it is called breakfast :)

No recipe today folks - because really, it doesn't get any simpler than this!  Just get out your parfait glass and layer your pudding, some berries and some delicious granola (may I recommend this granola).  Then repeat your layers and prepare to swoon!

Serving Up {Breakfast}: Coconut and Cashew Granola

When I first began to weed out processed foods and make more "whole" food for our family, breakfast cereal was one of the first things to go.  Don't let me children's tear stained faces fool you - as a result of my anti-cereal stance they get hot breakfast meals most every single day.  So sad for them, I know!  But there are some days that we do need to be able to pour something into a bowl, drown it in milk and be out the door.  Quick!  Homemade granola is my answer.

I have two recipes that are tied for my favorite granola recipe.  This is one of the two.  Put it in a bowl covered in whole milk and you will find yourself getting out of bed in the morning just to eat it!  My husband and kids even like to eat it dry as a snack.  The only downside to this recipe is that we go through it REALLY fast.  As I have written the recipe below I have already doubled the recipe from what was on the original recipe, but generally I even double this amount.  What can I say?  We like us some granola!

COCONUT AND CASHEW GRANOLA     
(recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)
printable version

6 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
¾ cup dark brown sugar
2 cups slivered or sliced almonds
2 cups cashews
1 ½ cups shredded coconut
½ cup coconut oil
¾ cup pure maple syrup
1 ½ tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the oats, sugar, nuts and coconut. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, maple syrup and salt and stir until well combined. Slowly pour the liquid over the oatmeal mixture and mix well. Divide in half and pour onto two 11x17 baking sheets, spreading out evenly.
Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, checking on it and stirring it every 30 minutes or so.  Bake until golden.

Optional: add 2 cups of raisins after granola is cooled.

Store in an airtight container or freeze.