Hungry Granola

For years, I've been promising to make my own granola--mainly because I prefer not to buy packaged foods but also because I couldn't find a ready-made one that I loved. While visiting my brother and sister-in-law in California last year, I became even more determined to do it myself. As we were about to sit down to dinner at Marci and Michael's, Marci realized she hadn't planned dessert. With that, she rose from the table, grabbed some oats, nuts and dried fruit, mixed them up with honey and effortlessly threw a beautiful batch of granola into the oven in 5 minutes flat. After consuming her delectable, crunchy creation, I vowed to finally make it once I returned home. So back in New York, ready to rock some granola at Kitchen 511, I headed to Old World to gather the necessary ingredients. And that's when a brown bag of Hungry Unbound Granola caught my eye. Placed at the end of the cereal aisle (prime grocery-store real estate, I presume), the simply packaged granola with the clever see-through window in the lower section of the parchment-paper bag allowing figs, dates, coconut flakes and pumpkin seeds to peek through, stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't resist. The homemade stuff could wait. Next morning's breakfast--a bowl of Hungry Unbound G'morning Sunshine Mix topped with berries and almond milk. It's so delicious, I don't know when (or if) I'm ever gonna' get around to making it myself. My only advice--you might wanna' cut up the dates and figs. The pieces are a bit big for my taste. Otherwise, it's pretty granola perfection for something that comes in a package!