Monday, April 30, 2012

Homemade Granola


Strange things have been happening with me. 
The strangest perhaps is called "aging."
I used to be one of those people that others described with disdain like this, "You can eat whatever you want and not gain weight"!
Which, of course was not true. However, I could eat whatever I wanted without major consequences.
But I just had my 39th birthday and with it came the sad realization that my days of butter and cream and never exercising really have to end. 

That's when the next strange thing happened. 
I have started to eat healthier, drink water and even..... exercise. 
Gasp.

Truth be told, I've always cooked somewhat healthily, but that nub of butter, handful of chips, drizzle of bacon fat has all started to make itself visible.

So in the spirit of true stereotypical healthy stigma, I'm posting about homemade granola. 

Granola used to be associated with being a hippy thing. In fact it was an actual adjective when I was a kid to describe someone with hippy-like tendencies.
As in, "oh my god, your Birkenstocks are so granola!" 

Eventually the truth was revealed that granola could actually be not so good for you because of the oils and fat hidden inside. BUT, when I was recently doing some research on healthy foods, it was confirmed that whole grains, fruit, nuts and even olive oil are what we're supposed to be eating. 
The beautiful thing is that when you make your own food, you can control exactly what's in it. 

Alas, homemade granola.


I used this recipe from Ina Garten. But in true Swigs and Grinds form, I used what I had and changed it up a bit. Mine consisted of oats, coconut, sliced almonds, walnuts and dried cranberries. I also substituted olive oil and used a bit of honey to sweeten it. It has been my morning go-to now for a couple of weeks and it really rocks. 


  My favorite is with Greek yogurt, flax seed, some other mystery seed my sister gave me, sliced strawberries and a drizzle of honey. 
Healthy CAN be decadent!