OMG most adorably multi-culti menu plan EVER. I am so amused (and tremendously flattered) that you're planning your meal based on my posts.
FYI, the best oats for granola, like oatmeal, are steel-cut oats, so that should work out nicely given your oatmeal addiction. Also, granola lends itself to infinite tinkering, as long as the proportions stay roughly the same. For example, you could use half raisins and half dried apples, or use dried apricots and walnuts instead of raisins and almonds. Also, you can subsitute maple syrup for the honey, or molasses (your new favorite thing!) for part (not all) of the honey.
As for spices: buying whole spices is an excellent idea; not only is it cheaper, the spices stay fresher. If you tire of your bag-and-hammer system (nice ingenuity, by the way), a cheap coffee grinder will do the trick nicely. I also keep a mortar and pestle on hand for certain things, but seriously: coffee grinder. Just don't try to grind whole cinnamon, which doesn't work very well. (Cinnamon is one of the few spices I buy in both its whole and its ground state, for just that reason.)
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FYI, the best oats for granola, like oatmeal, are steel-cut oats, so that should work out nicely given your oatmeal addiction. Also, granola lends itself to infinite tinkering, as long as the proportions stay roughly the same. For example, you could use half raisins and half dried apples, or use dried apricots and walnuts instead of raisins and almonds. Also, you can subsitute maple syrup for the honey, or molasses (your new favorite thing!) for part (not all) of the honey.
As for spices: buying whole spices is an excellent idea; not only is it cheaper, the spices stay fresher. If you tire of your bag-and-hammer system (nice ingenuity, by the way), a cheap coffee grinder will do the trick nicely. I also keep a mortar and pestle on hand for certain things, but seriously: coffee grinder. Just don't try to grind whole cinnamon, which doesn't work very well. (Cinnamon is one of the few spices I buy in both its whole and its ground state, for just that reason.)
I'll post tofu recipes for you soon.