Healthy Granola recipe...

Granola is my all time favourite breakfast. In an ideal world I would eat granola with greek yoghurt and fruit every morning. In reality I am all too aware of the hidden nasties cropping up in my favoured breakfast. The biggest culprit is SUGAR. Since January I have been doing my best to avoid refined sugar and limiting the amount of natural sugar I consume. So guess what? Granola for breakfast has been out of the question. I also avoid dairy, which means no greek yoghurt either. But today my friends, I have been doing some experimenting in the kitchen and I have come up with a granola recipe, which in my eyes rivals all the shop bought varieties. It is packed full of nutritious goodness AND it is super easy to make. Do you want the recipe?

I thought so…

First up let me just explain that you can experiment with ratios of nuts and seeds and include whatever ones you want. I just used the ones I had in my cupboard. I also tried to use organic ingredients but this can be costly so it’s up to you whether you do.

Ingredients:

100g jumbo rolled oats

50g dried dates

30g cashew nuts

30g flaked almonds

15g pumpkin seeds

15g mixed seeds

20g dessicated coconut (unsweetened)

1 tbsp raw organic honey

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp coconut oil 

Method:

1.     Simmer the dates in a small sauce pan with about 1cm of water until soft (about 3 mins).

2.     Drain and then blend the dates until smooth

3.     Combine all the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl. I bashed up the cashews but you can also leave them whole. Or if you are feeling really crazy have a mixture of both. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature so you can melt it first if you want. I found that the heat of the dates melted it just fine.

4.     Add the dates and mix well.

5.     Transfer to a baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 160°C for 15 minutes (until golden brown). Reduce the oven temperature to 110°C and cook for a further 30 minutes until dry and crisp.

6.     Set aside to cool and then transfer to an air tight container to store.

7.     Serve with your choice of milk (I like unsweetened almond milk) and you can even add some berries.

So there you have it my ultra healthy, super yummy breakfast treat. Plus your kitchen will smell AMAZING too.

There is natural sugar in this recipe so try not to munch on it too often and watch portion size!

Love you long time. X

What now?

Hello Bloglets, Happy New Year to you all!

Firstly I hope you all had lots of Festive fun, I know I did. SO a New Year has begun and all people seem to be saying to me is forget last year and just get on with this year.

I want to discuss this a bit.

Don’t get me wrong, I cannot wait for life to get back to ‘normal’ this year but even though last year was a tough one I do not want to forget it. It made me stronger. It made me more ambitious to achieve my dreams. But most importantly it made me ME and as much as I wish it hadn’t happened it did and nothing I or anyone else can do will ever change that. HOWEVER although I cannot wait to get back to work, to start planning my travels and to have more adventures I am often reminded of the pain I went through last year. I have regular nightmares, I get jabbed by needles twice a month still and I see scars in the mirror everyday. It is impossible for me to simply move on with my life as though nothing happened and I think it is actually a bit unfair of people to expect me to do so.

The swing side to this is that I do not plan on letting the fact that I had cancer define my life. I have moved on and I will keep doing so but time is the best healer and really I am still undergoing active treatment so actually the nightmare is not over just yet. I am sorry if this post is a little grouchy but I always try to write honestly and this is what I am feeling at the moment. I also know that lots of other people have felt and are feeling the same way and so I thought I would just break the taboo and talk about it a little.

SO what does 2014 hold for me?

The truth is I don’t really know but what I do know is that I can’t wait to see what happens. To have a bit of spontaneity in my life rather than regular appointments etc is going to be a dream. I plan on laughing as much as possible, seeing as much of the world as possible and having as much fun as possible (the blog will be updated accordingly). I hope you can all do the same and I wish you all the best for 2014.

Love you long time. X