Hey friends!
I've been wanting to make homemade granola for the longest time, but every recipe I've found seemed too complicated for a new(er) baker like me. Then I came across this recipe by Brittany (aka Eatingbirdfood) for Pumpkin Spiced Nutty Granola
and thought I'd give it a try. (With a few FlexitALLIEan additions of course!) Finally a recipe that only had a few steps!
Homemade Pumpkin Maple Nut Granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups thick cut rolled oats
- 1/2 cup unsalted cashew pieces
- 1/2 cup unsalted almonds
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup unsalted roasted sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup coconut flakes
- 1/4 cup wheat germ
- 1/4 cup pumpkin
- 1/2 t vanilla stevia
- 1 tsp blackstrap molasses
- 1 t pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup
- 1/4 cup blue agave nectar
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325°.
- In a large bowl, toss the oats, nuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and wheat germ.
- In a small bowl mix the pumpkin spice, vanilla (or vanilla stevia), maple syrup, agave, molasses, and oil.
- Stir wet into dry and mix through, then spread on a large rimmed baking sheet (I used a shallow baking pan sprayed w/coconut oil spray)
- Bake the granola in the center of the oven for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until nearly dry.
- Let the granola cool and mix in raisins and chocolate chips.
- Check out the finished product HERE: Pumpkin Maple Nut Granola
Today I obviously had breakfast food on the brain, in addition to making granola I ordered a new cereal from one of my favorite sites: meandgoji.com
Me and Goji is a family run company that allows you to create your own super-healthy cereals, granola, and muesli on their website with a host of fun mix-ins. They have a number of "bases" to choose from, including oats, granola, muesli, "healthy hoops," and shredded wheat. You then add in nuts and seeds, dried fruit, spices, etc, and name your cereal for free. You can even put a picture on the container for a small fee- I did this for my mom's mothers day present and she loved it! They come in big capsules that last for quite awhile!
I named the cereal I created today "Raisin the Bar" and made a mix of:
"healthy hoops," 2x raisins, dried apples, dried raspberries, walnuts, pecans, flaxseed, and chocolate granola. Can't wait til it gets here!
1 caveat- a capsule of granola costs anywhere from $7-15, but TRUST me it lasts a long time and is well worth the price. Plus, the capsules are reusable.
As you can see HERE- I use leftover capsules to hold flour, nuts, grains, etc.
And remember yesterday, when I couldn't decide if I was going to exercise or not? Well I had completely forgotten about a new DVD I'd gotten in the mail LAST WEEK and hadn't tried yet- Jillian Michaels Shred It With Weights. I didn't realize it was meant to be a kettlebell workout, but I used a 8 lb weight and it worked just fine. I did level one so far, and liked that the routine was a lot different from anything I've seen from Jillian before. Maybe when I get more time I'll post some exercise video reviews, as I've only done about a million of them ;-). Today I actually made it to the gym and did some yoga, circuit training, and a bit of cardio. Feeling a tiny bit better (though very lethargic) and hoping my health is on the upswing!
'Night!
-Allie