Homemade "Special L" Cereal Recipe.

Our family was away for the weekend, so there was no Sunday Stew Special, so I thought I'd share a recipe that I created recently which my husband has jokingly named "Special L".  The name has stuck! 

Back when my Mom was visiting, she went shopping and happened to pick up a bag of puffed rice cereal...well, frankly because it was dirt cheap.  But have you ever tried "Puffed Rice"?

It's like eating Styrofoam packing peanuts.  I really can't imagine anyone actually eating this as cereal, I think most people buy it to use in puffed rice cereal bar recipes.  I attempted to make a batch, from this recipe at Spark People, but they didn't stick together, and I didn't feel like trying another recipe that was loaded with corn syrup or melted marshmallows.  Instead, I crumbled up the failed cereal bars, and used it as a cereal!  It was a little on the chewy side, so I decided to give it another go see if I could make my own, yummy, healthy homemade cereal.  Those Kashi  and Muesli ones are crazy expensive.  But if you really enjoy those, you can easily make something similar on your own!  Here's what I did...

Homemade "Special L" Cereal Recipe
Mix together in a big roaster 8 cups puffed rice cereal with a cup each of your favourite add ins such as raisins, diced apricots, cranberries, slivered almonds, etc.
Melt a cup of melted butter & mix with half a cup of honey, stir until well blended.
Pour liquid over cereal mixture, fold gently till well coated.
Place uncovered in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, watching carefully and stirring every 5 minutes or so.  Don't walk away from this one!
If you want to add coconut, add halfway through cooking time, since it burns quite quickly.

Obviously, this isn't very exact - you need to watch and stir so you don't burn this.

I really like my homemade cereal!  It's a nice change from granola - a little lighter tasting.  Of course there's tons of room for creativity in this recipe - make it less sweet or more sweet, and add all kinds of seeds, nuts, and dried or dehydrated fruits.  Just toss in what looks good!  If you try it, let me know how yours turned out.