The basic idea is to combine oats with a puffed grain cereal and add a cup of nuts and a cup of dried fruit. When I first started making this, Kashi made a cereal that was a mixture of different puffed grains. I'm not sure if they still make that cereal, but I can't find it in the stores. I've switched to a puffed wheat. My current favorite is Kamut. It is simple and has a nutty taste. I like to stick with something simple that hasn't been over-processed. You don't really need to use three kinds of nuts, but I like this combination. Almonds, walnuts, and sunflower seeds are packed with beneficial nutrients. You can also use just one dried fruit. I think the original recipe used only raisins. At some point, I was making this and didn't have enough raisins and had to throw in some other dried fruit that I had on hand. It was a happy accident. Once I tasted the granola with dried cherries, there was no going back.