Ahh–Week 3. The middle. No one likes the middle week do they? Here’s a short recap because I have a super simple recipe for you today!
MAKE BETTER FOOD CHOICES
This week we tried out Hello, Fresh and I AM IN LOVE!
We had a half off coupon code thanks to my friend, Carmy, so it was affordable and totally worth it. I neglected to take pictures of all my meals because we were way too interested in actually eating them, but they were so great!
We had Garlic Chicken with broccoli and potatoes, Vietnemese Stir Fry and Italian Sausage with Israeli Couscous. I loved how they sent exactly what we needed in individual boxes so there was no measuring or searching for spices I would never buy like Lemongrass! Honestly, the price is a little steep but I have still missed it this week. The convenience of pulling out a box with everything in it was amazing and the recipes were all interesting but normal (& simple!). If you’re looking for something fun to try or for a Christmas gift for that hard to buy for person–definitely check it out!
EXERCISE INTENTIONALLY FOR 30 MINUTES A DAY
Last week I got to try out Orange Theory Fitness so check back tomorrow to read about that. (Spoiler alert: I loved it!)
I also ran the Tannenbaum 10k on Sunday & will have my recap up next week for that!
DRINK MORE WATER
My water consumption has been terrible. The kids have put me to shame with that. I have been drinking way too much coffee so this week I am determined to stick to one cup a day.
Caffeine really affects my sleep and even though I know this, I have still been consuming way too much!
A couple weeks ago I saw a granola recipe that JP posted and frankly, it looked kinda complicated! Since I’m a lazy cook, I reached out to my friend, Lisa, who is an amazing pastry chef, and asked her if granola was really that hard. She kindly broke it down for me and told me to use a 2:1 ratio for dry to wet ingredients. Half of the dry should be oats and then the rest can be whatever I want. The wet can be coconut oil, brown sugar, maple syrup, etc. I headed for the kitchen (ok–after I hit Costco!) and started on my granola. IT WAS SO EASY! and so delicious that I have to share!
Get to the kitchen because this is so simple and tasty to have on hand!
ALLISON’S EASY GRANOLA
DRY INGREDIENTS:
2 cups quick oats (I’ve read that you should NOT use these but it’s worked out great for me and it’s umm…cheaper than steel cut oats!
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 lightly chopped unsalted almonds
1/2 cup hemp hearts
sea salt to taste
cinnamon to taste
WET INGREDIENTS:
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup coconut oil
2 tsps vanilla
DIRECTIONS:
~ preheat the oven to 250 degrees
~ melt the syrup and coconut oil in a small pan on the stove
~ chop the almonds if you’re like me & bought whole almonds! I used my Magic Bullet for a few seconds.
~ mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
~ pour the melted syrup & coconut oil into the dry ingredients and stir
~ add more cinnamon because really, you can never have too much
~ pour the granola onto a baking sheet or large pan and cook for 1.5 hours, stirring half way through
~ remove from oven, let it cool and then store in an air tight container
My kids love this, Anson loves this and I love this! It’s great on plain Greek Yogurt for breakfast or a midnight snack. I’ve tossed in some chocolate chips and pretended it was trail mix as well:)
Enjoy! And let me know what you like to add to your granola!
Mmm! The granola looks great. I make a GF version every few weeks. I like Lisa’s tip of 2:1.
I know! It made it so easy for my brain to get so that I literally don’t need to measure or get specific things as long as I keep that ratio it should work. Lol.