If you can't beat 'em Part Deux

I sense "If you can't beat 'em" becoming a recurring theme here at BMM, yes?

Probably not - I have a mind like a sieve and will most likely forget and never do another one again.

But it surely, it is a good idea.

Anyway, another area in which I am trying (with a wee bit of success) to outsmart my three year old is in the area of nutrition.

The Big Boy is currently subsisting on: milk, cereal, grapes, baked beans, fairy dust, sunshine, pool water, and air.

His consumption of cereal is phenomenally large, and posed a challenge. High quality cereal is prohibitively expensive, and affordable (cheap) cereal is a nutritional wasteland.

What's a mama to do?

Why improvise of course!

The Big Boy loves cereal with little bits of granola, so I cooked up a big batch of of sweet-yet-secretly-healthy granola and mixed it with some Wheaties.

Yummy and secretly nutritious!

The Big Boy is not a fan of nuts or seeds, so I searched and tweaked until I came up with a nut-and-seed-free granola.

Here's the recipe: 

4 cups oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 cup ground flax
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup apple juice
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Mix the wet ingredients in the bottom of a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix until everything is evenly distributed (I found getting in there with my hands to work best here).
Spread the mixture onto a non-stick cookie sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes. Stir the mixture every 20 minutes to ensure even browning.
Allow to cool on the cookie sheet, then store in an airtight container.

Sneaky mama scores one for the team!