Breakfast, Healthy

Carrot Cake Granola Cereal

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I’ve been juicing a lot lately and more consistently which has led me to have an overabundance of shredded carrot/carrot pulp! I’ve managed to use it in quite a few different ways and this raw carrot cake granola cereal is the latest carrot inspired recipe!

I actually make what we call granola cereal (because we could never decide which one it was!) every week on Sunday mornings. I always let the kids pick which kind they want me to make and when I tell you this may be their favorite food EVER, it is not an exaggeration! They will even ask me every morning when they wake up “are we having cereal today?” in hopes that we will!

We’ve come up with just a few varieties over the past few months….chocolate cherry, peanut butter chocolate chip, blueberry chai, loaded oatmeal raisin cookie, pineapple upside down cake…the possibilities are endless! But their favorite HANDS DOWN in the strawberry version with freeze-dried strawberries. They’ll actually ask for it every time almost! But I’m able to convince them to try something different most of the time–as was the case with this carrot cake variation!

So enough about my kids, let’s get to the granola! For this version I deviated slightly from my original master recipe to make it even more healthy! I usually use quite a bit of Garden of Life Protein Powder (sometimes the plantbased meal replacement one or the Protein & Greens) and a hefty amount of melted coconut oil, but I eliminated the oil completely this time and cut WAY back on the protein powder, which you could definitely omit if you want to!

Even with the changes, what resulted was an absolutely DELICIOUS carrot cake granola cereal that my whole family liked better than the original master recipe. I love the fiber and protein you get from the hemp, chia and flaxseed, good carbs from the oats, bits of sweet from the raisins and a little crunch from the toasted pecans! Not to mention a little veggie from the carrots. It truly reminds me of carrot cake in a bowl! Ok, minus the cream cheese frosting but you get the idea. 🙂

Enjoy!

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Carrot Cake Granola Cereal
 
Ingredients
  • 5 c. Regular Rolled Oats
  • 1 c. Shredded or Flaked Coconut
  • ½ c. Ground Flaxseed
  • ½ c. Chia Seeds
  • ½ c. Hemp Seeds
  • â…“ c. Sucanat
  • â…” c. Xylitol
  • 1 T. Cinnamon
  • ¼-1/2 t. EACH Nutmeg, Ginger
  • ½ t. Sea Salt
  • ⅓ c. Vanilla, Plantbased Protein Powder (such as Garden of Life--but this is totally optional!)
  • ½ c. Roasted Almond Butter (with nothing added--no sugar, salt, oil, etc)
  • ½ c. Water
  • 2 T. Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 2 c. Shredded Carrots
  • 1 c. Raisins
  • 1 c. Chopped, Toasted Pecans
Instructions
  1. Place 3 cups oats, coconut, flaxseed, chia seeds, hemp seeds, sucanat and xylitol in a blender or large food processor and process until mixture is a fine meal. Place in the bowl of an electric mixer.
  2. Add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, remaining two cups of oats and protein powder (if using) and whisk everything together.
  3. Add vanilla, almond butter and water and mix on low speed until well-combined. You may have to scrape down the sides once or twice.
  4. Add carrots, raisins and pecans. Mix in on low speed.
  5. Serve with milk and refrigerate what is left.
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Breakfast, Gluten-Free, Snack

Spiced Granola

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Up until recently I have bought Jeremy granola every week for I don’t even know how long.  I buy a very specific organic brand that is healthy and he likes it so even though it’s a little pricey, I don’t mind pay a little extra for the health benefits.  I’ve even made my own granola before but he really likes this specific kind so we’ve always stuck with it.  Until now.

That’s right, I managed to find a granola recipe that BEATS THE CRAP out of the store-bought granola.  Yesssssss.  Not only does he LOVE it, it is even healthier than the organic stuff and, oh yeah, cheaper.  The original recipe is here and yes, I took a little liberty and changed some things (shocker, I know).  The combination of cinnamon and almond flavor totally works in this recipe and it turns so crunchy after it has cooled.  It’s honestly hard to stay out of it.  I like to mix some Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes into mine just to give it that cereal aspect so feel free to add or not add…totally up to you.  You could throw in nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc.  Whatever sounds good at the moment!

Enjoy!

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Spiced Granola
 
Ingredients
Dry
  • 1 c. Thick Rolled Oats (if you don't have access to rye or red wheat flakes, just use all thick rolled oats)
  • 1½ c. Rye Flakes
  • 1½ c. Red Wheat Flakes
  • ½ c. 7-Grain Cereal (can be found in bulk section of health food store or substitute uncooked millet)
  • 2 T. Chia Seeds
  • ½ c. Sucanat
  • 1¼ t. Sea Salt (I prefer pink himalayan)
  • 1½ t. Cinnamon
Wet
  • ⅓ c. Safflower Oil
  • ¼ c. Light Agave
  • ¼ c. Maple Agave
  • ⅓ c. plus 1 T. Raw Almond Butter
  • 2 T. Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 1 t. Almond Extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together. In a medium bowl, stir together all wet ingredients. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir to combine. It will seem dry at first but keep stirring and it will all get coated.
  3. Divide the mixture between the two pans and spread in an even layer.
  4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring, rotating pans and switching racks (if your oven cooks unevenly, like mine does) halfway through. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack and store in an air-tight container.
Notes
Makes 5-6 cups.
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Breakfast, Chocolate, Desserts, Life, Recipes, Snack

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola

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As of today I’ve been in Destin, Florida for five days.  Surprise!  Jealous?  You should be, it’s awesome here.  Sun, sand, emerald blue water and doing a whole lot of nothing.  It’s been glorious.  But of course I had to take a little time out of my day and tell you all about a little road trippin’ snack I made.

See Jeremy and I are actually pretty health conscious (despite what I blog about) and have been getting in shape for this vacation for awhile.  Knowing that we would be in the car for 12+ hours, I wanted something healthy to snack on should hunger strike.  And let’s face it, the healthy options at a 7-Eleven are pretty much limited to the bottled water.  We had to be prepared!

So I thought a nice snack would be homemade granola.  I’ve seen a few recipes but never attempted it myself, so after doing some research I found one that sounded like it had potential and was super versatile (because no way in heck was I NOT going to change the recipe!).  I started with Playgroup Granola Bars from Allrecipes.com.  I modified it alot but the bones of the recipe were great…the granola turned out awesome!  I could not keep my hands out of it and seriously didn’t know if there would be any left by the time we actually got on the road.  And yes, this recipe is healthy.  But healthy can taste really, really good.  Like, “no way can this be healthy” good.  Eat it by the handful or pour some milk over it and enjoy it for breakfast.  And DO play with the recipe…experiment with flavors and ingredients!

Enjoy!

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Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola
Author: 
Category: Breakfast, Snack, Dessert
: 
: 
: 
: 10 cups
 
Ingredients
  • 2 c. Thick Rolled Oats
  • 2 c. Hard Red Wheat Flakes
  • ½ c. 7-Grain Mix (If you can't find it at your local health food store, substitute Wheat Germ or Flax Seed)
  • 2 c. White Whole Wheat Flour (I like King Arthur)
  • 1½ t. Salt
  • ½ c. Sugar in the Raw
  • ¼ c. Cocoa Powder
  • ½ c. Chocolate Protein Powder (I like the All Natural Chocolate Muscle Milk)
  • 2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
  • ¾ c. Honey
  • ¼ c. Safflower Oil
  • ¼ c. Peanut Oil
  • 2 T. Pure Vanilla Extract
  • ½ c. All-Natural Peanut Butter
  • ½ c. All-Natural Dry-Roasted Peanuts (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a large cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the oats and the next 7 ingredients.
  3. In a medium bowl, thoroughly stir together the eggs and the next 5 ingredients.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread evenly into the cookie sheet, pressing down with the back of a spoon or your hands. Sprinkle the dry-roasted peanuts on top and gently press into the mixture. Bake for 22 minutes and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, or until the granola is cool enough to handle.
  5. Get another cookie sheet and break up the granola into small pieces (the peanuts will probably fall off but that's ok), dividing between the two cookie sheets. Bake both cookie sheets of granola for another 10 minutes. Let cool completely and store in an air-tight bag.
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