Granola

I think everybody enjoys a good healthy breakfast and when it’s low budget, well it doesn’t get much better than that does it? Still when you wake up at 5 am in a small apartment filled with people and you want to have a healthy brekkie, it could be a challenge because you can’t really mix smoothies in a blender or make any sort of loud noises. Not if you don’t want to be yelled at before sunrise. So I turned to Jamie for help, as I always do, and he provided me with a solution, as he always does. And that’s how I made my first granola dust, around Christmas, packed it into little jars and gave away as presents. But it was so delicious that I decided to make more and now I have it for breakfast every day. Granola is a breakfast food consisting of rolled oats, nuts, dried fruit, honey, sometimes blended into a dust or wholegrain. I make my own in order to control the sugar amount in it and  blend it into a fine powder type of dust because it just shoots right through you and makes you go regularly within 15 minutes after consumption. Filled with good carbs, fiber, fructose and healthy fats, it makes one of the best brekkies you can have. Plus it’s so easy to make it’s a certified fool proof recipe. Could you ask for more?

My version is, as usual, a bit different than the original because I use less fruit so it’s not that sweet. You can use any type of nuts, seeds and dried fruit you want, this is my favorite version.

Ingredients:

• 500 g of rolled oats
• 100 g of almonds
• 100 g of walnuts
• 100 g of hazelnuts
• 100 g of cashews
• 100 g of Brazilian nuts
• 50 g of sunflower seeds
• 50 g of flax seeds
• 50 g of chia seeds
• 50 g of sesame seeds
• 4 tablespoons of raw cocoa
• 6 – 8 big meaty dates
• 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Preparation:

• Spread rolled oats, nuts and seeds on a tray and put in a preheated oven 200 Celsius for around 15 minutes, stirring throughout so it doesn’t burn.

• When done, put in a food processor, add  4 table spoons of cocoa, dates, teaspoon of cinnamon and zest of 1 orange.

• Blitz until it becomes a powdery dust (or a bit more whole grain, depending on how you like it).

• Put in a big jar and enjoy your healthy breakfast every day.

This type of breakfast is really budget friendly. I made enough for a 2,5 liter jar, and I have it for more than a month, and it’s not just me eating, it’s couple of us. So when you divide the price of the ingredients with 30 days and the number of people eating it, the sum turns out to be very acceptable. I eat mine (3 – 4 table spoons) with yogurt and fresh fruit like apples, kiwis and oranges, and it turns out around 400 calories per breakfast, but you can cook yours like oatmeal in hot water, or mix with any type of  milk. You can even add it to your smoothies to make them more fulfilling and nutritious. Just don’t overdo with fruit as it contains a lot of sugar. Go for the leafy greens instead.

Stay healthy and happy guys,

T 🙂