Granola is the simple food that will get your family off to a great start in the morning
Written by Denise Sultenfuss
You love your family, but curating multiple healthy meals in one day for years is a punishing task. If cooking burnout threatens your enthusiasm, cut a few corners, starting with breakfast. You can elevate your healthy-cooking positivity with granola. Homemade granola is the morning fast food that doesn’t compromise nutrition.
One morning, just before dawn, I crept downstairs to watch the sunrise from the cuddle chair in the kitchen. I’d awoken tired and frustrated. Responsibilities and commitments mounted in a pile almost as high as my laundry. With my mug of coffee cradled between my palms, melancholy and a sense of being overwhelmed strangled any sliver of joy that may have tried to emerge that morning.
Soon, the kids would wander sleepily downstairs for breakfast. But that day, unfortunately, I didn’t have the motivation to wave my magic spatula and transform flour into pancakes.
I poked around the pantry and discovered the glass container of homemade granola. Seeing the fruit of my meal prep from weeks ago rehabilitated my mood. That morning, I needed the perfect balance of nutrition and convenience.
Easy. Fast. Inexpensive.
Uninvite Sugar to Breakfast
Too often, store-bought granola contains lots of refined sugar. So, here’s a tiny reminder that eating plans high in refined carbs and sugar contribute to chronic conditions.
Also, refined sugar is an enemy of your immune system. So, as we’ve entered cold- and-flu season, it’s essential to focus on foods that nourish your gut and strengthen your immune system. You want your body to make jiu-jitsu moves and attack viruses and other germs.
Start Your Granola Girl Journey
The time has come for you to shake off some problematic food habits that hold your body captive in a state of fatigue and meal-plan mediocrity. Keep this in mind. Rehabilitate your breakfast plan by serving real foods, like homemade granola. You can serve a nourishing morning meal with a handful of basic ingredients without much fuss.
“You can elevate your healthy-cooking positivity with granola. Homemade granola is the morning fast food that doesn’t compromise nutrition.”
Your New Go-to Cereal
In most households, cereal is already the featured menu item for breakfast. But with the right granola recipe, you can transform a ho-hum breakfast into a powerhouse bowl of crunchy goodness.
Ingredients
5 cups organic oatmeal (sprouted oats is best, just not quick-cook)
½ cup coconut oil or avocado oil
½ cup of real maple syrup or honey
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 cups sliced almonds or a combination of nuts and seeds (sunflower, cashews, pecan, pignoli,
etc.)
1 cup of raisins
1 cup of small apricots, diced
1 cup of cranberries, dried
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cover a 13” × 18” baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts/seeds, melted coconut oil, and maple syrup or honey. Toss until the oat mixture is coated and wet. Pour the mixture onto the baking sheet. Spread evenly. Bake mixture until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes. Stir the mixture every 5-7 minutes to prevent edges from burning. Remove the mixture when done. Cool mixture. Add the dried fruit. Stir to combine.
Clever ways to use granola, other than for breakfast:
• Add layers of granola to a yogurt parfait
• Mix with crumb topping on an apple crisp
• Sprinkle on a salad, then drizzle with balsamic vinegar
• Roll banana slices in granola
• Use as a topping on smoothies and smoothie bowls
To make granola, you don’t have to be a wizard in the kitchen. It’s an easy recipe that uses ingredients found in most American kitchens. CS