Granola & Grime

Thought //::// “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it” — William James

Granola and grime, doesn’t sound like a very appetizing combination does it? Well don’t worry, two totally separate items 🙂 The grime is just my plans to start spring cleaning a bit early. The winter seems to create messes in places one wonders how it even got there. So slowly, starting with my kitchen, I plan to clean out, organize and put a little elbow grease our small apartment which happens to have many nooks and crannies.

Now to the good part, the granola. I’m on a baking kick I guess. But really, I wanted something crunchy in my beloved greek yogurt. Commercial granolas are not only high in calories and fat, but most often not gluten-free, so why not make my own? It’s just about the easiest recipe ever! This time, I made a fairly simple granola since I usually add fruit or my organic blackberry jam to my yogurt.

Simple Homemade Granola

Makes 8 servings

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup whole almonds, unsalted
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1 T blueberries, dried
• 2 T. honey/agave nectar
• 1 T. maple syrup
• 2 T. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to  325*. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add wet ingredients and combine well. Pour onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread well. Bake 10-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. The granola will still be soft when you take it out, just look for the oats to begin browning – it will harden once it’s cool. Store in airtight container.

Nutrition Stats (per serving) :: 140 calories // 7gm fat // <1gm saturated // 3gm polyunsaturated // 4gm monounsaturated // 0mg cholesterol // 30mg sodium // 190mg potassium // 23gm carbs // 4gm fiber // 6gm sugar // 4gm protein

Try out different combinations of fruit, nuts and seeds – pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds, walnuts!

<> Last, I’ve been seeing a lot of blogs using coconut oil and coconut butter in their recipes… I’ll give you my tack on this new fad in a blog coming up! I’ve also been asked to write a guest blog this week – I’ll keep you updated! 🙂

Question :: Before I give my opinion, what have you heard about coconut??

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