The late ’70’s and early 80’s were tough times for me, financially. I was a young mother and in the early ’80’s found myself a single mother with very little income. The economy was tough, so I did everything possible to make my dollar stretch from weeding folks’ gardens for some of the produce, to helping out in the local coop (which has now grown into a very noteworthy business ~ Boise Coop) cutting blocks of cheese and making granola. In exchange for my services there, I was given a 20% discount off of my purchases.
My favorite recipe for granola that they had available there was called “Lola’s Granola.” I loved the coconut flakes, two types of grain flakes and variety of nuts that went into making it. I was happy to earn my discount by making this recipe. It turns out that the recipe’s name comes from a comic stripe character! The syndicated comic strip Bloom County had a free-spirited hippie character named Lola. She was Opus the Penguin’s fiancé. Like Lola, this recipe is whimsical and free-spirited in its own right….
This is that recipe:
1 cup each: rolled oats and red wheat flakes (rolled wheat)
1/4 cup flax seed
1/2 cup date pieces
1/3 cup each: sunflower seeds, toasted almond, roasted cashews
1/2 cup raisins (I like to use both white and dark raisins for color)
1/2 flaked coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon each: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves
1/2 cup honey
1/2 coconut oil
- Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients thoroughly
- Turn out onto parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, turning the mixture once at the 7-minute mark until nicely toasted.
- Cool….enjoy!
It's All Relative.... 
Must be delicious.Do you have a picture??? 🙂
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It is and a great thing to have along on a hike or some other outdoor activity. I thought about an image but I haven’t made any of this for several years! I posted it for a friend of mine. This recipe is more than thirty six years old! I dug it out of a small, plastic index card keeper I kept all of my recipes in back then. All were hand written or typed using an old Olivetti typewriter!
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Would love to try it.Omg !! Really?I can’t believe its 36 years old ! Whoa ! So I just read something that was written before I was born ! (I was born in 1994) 😀 hehe am I right?
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Well, the recipe is at least that old….You’re just a little older than my daughter (1997)…..
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ohh I din know your daughter was roughly my age.I thought she must be very young probably 10 or 12 years old 🙂
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Uh no….I’m a “young” older person. Retired early at 53 five years ago. She’s got two of her own nearly grown! My granddaughter just turned 15 on May 1. My grandson will be 14 in July! Lot of life happening!
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wow ! She has kids too ? Lovely.I m still studying.Dunno when I l have a couple of my own.Maybe when I’m 27.Coz I dont intend to compromise my studies for anythng right now.I plan to do an M.phil as well after my Post graduation gets over next year. 😀
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Stick to your goals! Kids should come when you are financially stable enough to have them. So stay the current course!
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What an interesting story! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I can’t wait to make it
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Great! Let me know how it all came out! I have not made this recipe in a number of years!
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You did some construction back then too. I remember Lola’s granola; good stuff! Was thinking about the coop just a few days ago.
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Yes….I worked as a scab in residential construction…also cut cheese blocks for the Boise Coop. I always visit there when I’m in Boise town. Boise has really grown up to be a nice, well-rounded town! It’s land-locked, so I’ll never move back, but I sure enjoy visiting!
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