Food, Glorious Food! Part 1

Anybody who has talked to me for more than 5 minutes knows that I have an addiction/obsession: food! Big foods, little foods, natural foods, processed foods, etc.  My family calls me a food snob but I prefer the term "connoisseur." Food is more than just about food.  For instance, I don't cook with hot dogs and american cheese but if you invited me over and fed it to me, I would love it.  Sometimes I feel intimidated to invite people over because of what they don't eat or how they don't cook.  I hope no one is ever afraid to invite me over.
Eating is not just an act of feeding or refueling, it is a time of fellowship.  That is why it is so hard to cook for myself when Aaron is gone.  I theorize that it all has something to do with the Eucharist and the Lamb's High Feast, but I'll save my philosophizing for another day.
When I taste something yummy, I immediately begin to wonder who I can share it with.  If Aaron is having a bad day, I start thinking about what sort of food I can make him.  If someone is sick or hurting, I don't send them encouraging notes or even necessarily call them on the phone, instead I march straight into the kitchen.  I suppose that food is my love language.
What sort of food do I eat?  Well, pretty much anything.  I tend to stay away from casseroles as they usually taste like they are made of cream of mushroom soup and cheddar cheese (not that I really have a problem with either of those ingredients, I just get tired of them).  Instead, I prefer to enjoy the pure creaminess of coconut milk, the tang of chicken marinated in lemon juice, the summer-like flavor of fresh basil, or the dense, rich smell of freshly baked whole wheat bread slathered with butter.  I am a borderline whole foodie.  In my opinion, if you can make it yourself, it will be much cheaper and taste much better than anything store bought.  The only thing I refuse to make are dolmades/grape leaves. I will stick to buying those little bits of heaven from Greek restaurants.
So what is the point of this post?  Good question.  I'll let you know when I figure it out.  Actually, I originally started this blog in conjunction with my thesis which was about food.  Over the next few weeks, I'm going to post a series of recipes and my ideas about cooking.
First up: breakfast!
Aaron loves granola and so do I.  We don't buy generally buy cereals from the store as they are expensive and taste like sugar coated cardboard.  I do enjoy an occasional bowl of cereal when on vacation. Normally, I just make a basic granola recipe, but I found this one just in time for fall.  Check out the recipe here. I thought it sounded too complicated to do in the crock pot so I just baked mine in the oven for about 30 minutes on 350 degrees.  Just be sure to stir it every 10 minutes or so.  In case you're wondering, it tastes great! It would also be cute in a brown paper bag to give as a gift.  Everybody loves homemade granola but for some reason, hardly anybody makes it.  I don't know why.  It is so easy and cost effective to make. It probably takes about 10 minutes or less to mix up.