Homemade Fruit Leather and Homemade Granola

I've got a couple of fabulous recipes that I'd love to share with you! The other night Jill and I had to come up with some refreshments for our RS activity, and we decided that homemade fruit leather and homemade granola would be fun to learn how to make. Jill found this recipes for fruit leather on OUR BEST BITES.
They have a great little tutorial with lots of great pictures. I had no idea you could even make fruit leather without a dehydrator! Shows you how much I know! Jill swears this is easy to make and it turned out SUPER yummy! Here is Jill's finished product--all wrapped up cute and Jill-like:

And here is the recipe from Our Best Bites:

Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups

Ingredients
2 1/2 – 3 cups ripe or slightly over-ripe diced fruit
sweetener to taste: honey, sugar, agave, etc.
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
optional: seasonings, spices, extracts to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to lowest temperature.  140° or higher.  Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  Pour onto a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap, or a silicone baking mat (don’t use foil, parchment, or waxed paper), and spread to 1/8″ thick.  Place in oven and bake for 6-8 hours, until center is not tacky anymore.  Remove from oven and peel off of baking sheet.  Cut into strips and roll in parchment or plastic.  Store in airtight container or freeze.
Tips:
-All fruits will produce slightly different results.  Strawberries and Raspberries are two of my favorites, that consistently produce good flavor and texture.  You might have to experiment to find what works well.  If you’re going to make a giant batch, you may want to test one first to make sure it works well.
- The addition of sugar or honey enhances the texture and makes the fruit roll ups a little more chewy than if you leave it out.
- If using plastic wrap, it will shrink a little as the fruit dries, so do leave a little extra around the edges.  A silicone baking mat works the absolute best in my opinion.

This past Christmas, my friend Melissa made some yummy granola that I really wanted to learn how to make. Here are some pictures of my first attempt at granola:

And here is Melissa's fabulous recipe:

 

In saucepan combine:

1 cup oil  (I use 1/2 cup coconut oil and 1/2 cup light olive oil)

1 cup honey

1 tbsp. vanilla

Heat to warm together but not boiling.

In a bowl mix:

5-6 cups oatmeal

1 cup powdered milk

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sesame seeds (or any kind of seeds)

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup nuts (any kind)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dried fruit (any kind)

Mix together. Then pour liquid over dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Put onto two cookie sheets (sheet cake pans). Bake at 350 for 25 mins. (time should be adjusted based on how crunchy you want it.) Let cool and break into small pieces.

The great things about this recipe, is that you can take out anything you don't like, and add just about anything that you do like. By the way, your house will smell amazing.

Thanks Melissa and Jill!!! Enjoy!