Life With Boys

Recovered family correspondence — January 27, 2008. Original email from Barbara Beach. Original subject: “clusters.” Body preserved verbatim.

Hi D. Here’s how I make granola clusters….grate two orange rinds. Then half and juice the oranges. Into the fresh juice add flax seed ( Ration about 1 to 2…seed to juice) let soak for about 1 to 2 hours. Add this to your cereal (or I use puffed millet (used to be oatmeal), chopped nuts, chopped dates, chopped dehydrated pineapple, dried shredded coconut, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger, a little salt…oh and I put a small amount of stevia (sweetener) into the juice.Real maple syrup also works if you can’t find stevia. I have both stevia liquid and stevia powder. At the end I dump the flax goo into the dry stuff, stir and then spread into greased 9 by 13 glass pan and pound flat then put in very low ( as low as oven will turn on…maybe 110 degrees) and leave it there to dry out overnight or maybe two overnights….may get a food dehydrator next, but haven’t yet. Anyway, this breaks up into cookie type clusters and then the crumbs are good for banana dipping or over yogurt. Anyway, it’s the flax seeds that hold it together…no need for eggs, or sugar, and they are gluten free with the millet. *** Still love the psillium husk for easy quick fiber….teaspoon in large glass of water before bed….easy results in the morning. Cute pic on the blog with you and the boys. Rainy here. Lv, *B.