Monday, July 21, 2014

Simple Homemade Granola

My church proved to me how wonderful it is to be a part of the body of Christ by setting up a meal train over the last few weeks. It was an amazing gift for a new mama!

One lady actually changed my future plans for when I bring meals to people. She brought me many things that could make up multiple meals and were quick and easy. She brought homemade chicken salad with a big container of croissants (perfect for throwing a sandwich together with a crying baby on one arm). She also brought a container of Greek yogurt, another container of blueberries, another of cut-up strawberries, and another of homemade granola. It was amazing for throwing together a healthy breakfast or snack. I loved it, and got many meals out of it. (This is saying something considering I am not a huge yogurt fan)

So I asked her for the granola recipe to share with you all. I loved the taste of the granola, and my husband loved it because it was a little crunchy without being too hard. He always complained about granolas that I bought because they were so hard they would cut up the roof of his mouth (ouch!).

So here is the recipe for you all (it is also VERY affordable, which you all know is right up my alley).

All the ingredients you need are:
-8 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
-1 Cup Olive Oil
-1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
I also added:
- 3/4 cup almonds, which I chopped in the food processor
-almost an entire bag of mini chocolate chips
***The Greek yogurt she brought me was Chobani brand vanilla with chocolate chunks in it (changed my life!), so I saved money by buying vanilla Greek yogurt and adding mini chips to the granola.

Add add ingredients together except chocolate chips and put in a pan. Roast at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring at least every 10 minutes as it burns easily.
Let it cool completely before mixing in the chocolate chips
I used up the rest of a container of oats, and was able to reuse the container to store my granola. It fit perfectly
I've been eating it like this every morning:
Approximately 1 cup of vanilla Greek yogurt, some cut-up strawberries (5 or so), and about 1/2 cup granola. It is the perfect way to start the day, and I at least have one relatively healthy, high-protein meal in me before the day gets crazy.

4 comments:

  1. This looks so yummy!! I love granola but like your husband I am picky about which granolas I do like to eat (I personally don't like any with puffed rice in them!). I'm going to pin this recipe to my Pinterest! :-)

    xoxo A
    www.southernbelleintraining.com

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  2. I imagine that was a real life-saver! My mother-in-law and my sister-in-law did all the cooking for us for the first two months and I don't know what I would have done without them, because I could barely manage to eat one meal per day sitting down - cooking was out of the question! But I'm surprised you're eating strawberries - I was told they often cause allergies and breastfeeding mothers should avoid them. So we have a garden full of juicy, red strawberries that I can only admire wistfully :D

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    1. Good point! Strawberries should be avoided if either the mother or father of the baby have an allergy to them. Otherwise you and I are welcome to eat up!

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  3. We've been making our own granola for more years than I can count. All my kids know how to put a batch together (it's that easy). They mix in all kinds of stuff to change the flavor and up the nutrition. Chia seeds, wheat germ, flax seed, dried cranberries, blueberries, cherries, various extracts and zests, coconut, coconut oil, nuts... Just some of the varieties. They eat it at breakfast, lunch and snacks. Some like milk... Others yogurt and others eat it plain. We cook ours in the crock pot without the lid so we don't have to heat up the house. Other people ask our boys to sell them batches of granola. With the cost of dried fruit and nuts I think it's expensive at around 12 dollars a batch but it is cheaper than our organic store and so healthy I feel it's still a good value.

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I love to fellowship with others and hear what they have to say. I would ask, however, that you be mindful of what you write and try to be uplifting and respectful. Thank you for sharing!