Clumpy Maple Almond Granola

I've been called granola before. My own husband calls me half-a-hippie. I don't really consider it an insult...ESPECIALLY if it's associated with this granola recipe.  Because this granola is delicious, melt-in-your-mouth crunchy awesomeness and has lots of clumps. Okay, maybe I don't want to be associated with clumps.

I don't know about you, but I'm a clump seeker.  I'll shake the container, eat all the big clumps and put it back in the cupboard.  Some people like granola to be like sand in an hourglass and flow into their bowl, but not me.  So I made this granola to be as clumpy as possible!





Besides, if you're going to make granola yourself (which I have to say is dead easy-why wouldn't you?), shouldn't you make it EXACTLY how you like it?

Sometimes I like dried fruit in my granola...but not today.  Today I wanted it to be mainly clumps of oat-y goodness. You can add whatever dried fruit you want to this granola after it's all said and done if you'd like.

Ingredients:
2 cups oats (not steel cut)
1 cup barley flakes
1 tbsp each wheat germ and oat bran
1 cup raw almonds, chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup pepitas (fancy for pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
3/4 cup real maple syrup
3 tbsp natural peanut/almond butter
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 egg white
A smattering of bee pollen, barberries, hemp seeds and maple flakes

Preheat the oven to 325.
Throw all the dry ingredients into a bowl except the smatterings. Mix it up!
In a measuring cup, melt the coconut oil and add the peanut butter and maple syrup. Add it to the dry ingredients and blend.

Now comes my favourite part.  If you're not a clumpy person (like I am), you don't need to add the egg white. Or if you're vegan...you probably don't want it either. BUT if you like the chunks of granola, here is where the magic happens.

Whisk the egg white in a separate bowl until really fluffy. Add to the mix and carefully stir together.  Don't over mix! Just combine.

Now this is why granola couldn't be easier.  Place on a parchment covered baking sheet and put into the oven.  Don't touch it for 45 minutes or until it's all golden and delicious looking and your entire house smells AWESOME.  You'll be tempted, but don't do it. When it comes out of the oven, leave it alone.

Leave it...and then once it's cooled a bit, add the smatterings (or whatever personal smatterings you have in your cupboard) and then you can break it up into whatever size chunks you would like.  I've added chocolate before at this point and it's delicious too. This will keep in an airtight container for...well, mine's been good for a couple of weeks.  If you can make it last that long! Enjoy with berries, greek yogurt, with milk or just as a snack.

Granola!  Who knew right? So easy you'll never buy it again. Oh-and this makes a LOT so you can share. Makes a nice unexpected gift for someone in a mason jar. Everyone likes granola...so call me what you want! I'm ok with it.

When you wake up, get up.

Advice my Dad has given me.  His Grandmother gave it to him and I will give it to my children. And as much as I didn't want to admit it in the past...it's pretty good advice:

"When you wake up, get up. And when you get up, do something."

He always told this to me growing up, and I always ignored him.  As a teenager, I would wake up, roll back over and go back to sleep.   Or I would get up...and do nothing.   Classic I know.

I spent years of my life rolling over and going back to sleep.  Years of my life, wasting away the morning hours and only enjoying the night. I never understood people who would say: "It's 10:00!  My day is half over!".  What do you mean?  My day had just begun!

I only ever saw the sunrise because I hadn't gone to sleep yet.

Now I am a Mother of three and my children dictate when I get out of bed. I have to say, the advice my parents gave me is ringing true. Dammit.

When I wake up and actually GET UP...my day is always better.  I'm more awake, I have more energy!

And I simply have no choice but to DO SOMETHING when I'm up.  There is always something to do. Change a diaper, make some breakfast, pick something up, empty the dishwasher, do some laundry, put clothes away, clean something, wipe something, sweep something, pack something, DO something.

The truth is, the busier I am, the more energy I have.  The more I do, the more I WANT to do.  Isn't that the truth? Sigh, yes. We all know it is.

Of course, I have my tired days.  The mornings when I just want to finish my coffee. PLEASE LET ME FINISH MY COFFEE.  While it's hot would be nice too.

Before I had children my husband would gently wake me up with a steaming cup of coffee bedside and a kiss on the forehead of my drooling half awake face.  Then he would smile and press a button on his watch. I would hear the "beep" and know he was giving me my requested 30 minutes before we made any sort of plan for the day.  I was grumpy in the morning-that's for sure.  A trait I may or may not (ok I totally did) pass on to a couple of my kids.

Again, these days there are no choices.  I get up because my children need me.  And that's ok.  It's all in the mindset.  I wake up to the noises of my children and my job begins. And it goes until they go to bed at night. But come on-it's a pretty amazing job.  It has its frustrations but I can still stay in my pajamas for at least an hour while I figure out the morning.

Plus-how can you be angry with a child that is SO EXCITED to start their day?  They're that happy to just be AWAKE.  I strive for that!

My life has changed from ignoring my parents and rolling my eyes at their advice to hoping I can follow their advice and then hearing their advice come out of my mouth...aimed at my own children.

Now my parents are my friends and we laugh about how defiant I was and how it's coming full circle. Ha..ha...ha...

Now I await the years when my children roll their eyes at me and cover their heads with their blankets, sleeping in until noon.  I'll let it happen, as my parents let me.  And I know as the years go by, the slow realization that your parents are pretty much always right will come...

So if you want to have more energy, just listen to my Dad...or my Mom. She's pretty insightful too. She's had to put up with my Dad all these years, after all!

The Not-So-Nasty Frosty

Summer is coming.  I know it is.  The calendar says so, and I want to believe it.
So very badly.

With Summer comes delicious chilled beverages and desserts.  Melty delicious frozen ice cream desserts. The only problem with these heavenly sweet treats is they are filled with fat and sugar!  As much as I love them(and I do treat myself from time to time with a REAL ice cream), summer is not the time to pack on the pounds. But it IS the time to indulge.  And on a hot summer day at the beach, there is nothing like ice cream.

Of course you can go to a fast food establishment such and get some yummy ice cream-like frozen dessert. And it'll taste good. But you know deep down there's nothing good in it for you. Tasty emptiness.  Why not have a treat that also treats your body?

Here's where I come in! My homemade frosty-like treat.  But this one has barely any fat, way less sugar (no refined sugar) and probiotics...um...score? You bet!

There's no reason you can't satisfy your sweet tooth and give your body what it's craving too!

Ingredients:

1 cup 0% plain greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cocoa
2 tbsp real maple syrup
1/2 cup milk of your choice
2 tbsp plain kefir

Blend it all up (I used my magic bullet) and then pour it into an ice cream maker.  We have an old school one that you need to crank yourself.  A few turns and there you go! A treat that you don't need to feel guilty about and it's delectably delightful.

If you don't happen to have an ice cream maker, that's ok. All you need to do it let the mixture freeze (I'd put it in a big shallow container so it freezes faster) and then pulverize the chunks in a blender.  Eat immediately! Not too fast-you don't want an ice cream headache.  Those are the worst.  And they really ruin the entire experience, don't you think?

This will make enough for two.  Easily doubled, but not in a magic bullet-need the blender for that.
Or I suppose if you're like ME...enough for one...and a decadent night in front of a guilty pleasure TV show when your kids are in bed so you don't have to share.  Oh come on, we all do it.

Well, there you go!  Don't forget this one in the middle of the summer.  You could even freeze some of this recipe in ice cube trays and have it ready to blend at a moment's notice.

Ahhh Summer...I can taste it already! So can our dog...just waiting for me to drop some.  Not this time Tucker...