May was a big month for the Port and Fin girls- Chelsea and I both gained furry additions to our families!
If you check out Chelsea’s Avocado Mushroom Melts post you’ll see she welcomed a sweet little Frenchie chunkster named Lola. Lola is a former breeding dog who retired at the youthful age of 2 because being pregnant gave her allergies (allergies! awwwwww…).
As for me, I adopted a rescue pooch from Fort Bend, Texas that we have named Hannah (Hannah Beatrix, Hannah B, HB Sauce, Banana, Little Miss… she already has a stack of nicknames. We’re a very nicknamey family). Apparently the shelters down in Texas and California are so overfilled that organizations down in the States have coordinated with intakes here in BC to bring in dogs.
Being a proud new dog-mama, I would love to post some pictures of Hannah but unfortunately I just don’t have a lot of decent ones yet. For one, she is solid black with lovely dark eyes so I can never get my white balance quite right- the little girl just ends up looking like a dark void in all the pictures I take. On top of that, little Hannah is only 8 months old so she is still a barrel of energy, the pictures I do get of her are often blurry since she’s zooooooming off somewhere or another. If you’re really interested you can check out my personal instagram @lolavox, and stay tuned for lots of dog pictures!
Puppies are a lot of work and a lot of payoff. Hannah likes to get an early start so she wakes me up every day between 5 and 5:30am to go to the bathroom (which I am happy to do, even if I lose out on sleep- a housebroken pup!). This is where having an actual yard really comes in handy. We’ll wander about the yard, me still in my pajamas, the grass all dewy from the night, and check on all our plants in the potting boxes. It’s actually rather pleasant! Good thing I’ve never needed a lot of sleep.
After that it’s a walk through our nearest park and breakfast time… for her. Once I get everything done there’s just enough time for me to slap on whatever business casuals aren’t crumpled up in my laundry bin and stuff whatever I can into my mouth before commuting to work.
Enter: homemade granola. What a saviour!
Yogurt, granola, any fruit I might have lying around, maybe chia seeds if I’m feeling extra fancy- it’s such a great weekday breakfast. I usually pick up granola from my favourite bakery out in Crescent Beach but that’s a big mission so this week I attempted to make my own. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to do this before- it’s sooooo easy!
So easy.
So, so easy.
Making your own granola is great for a few reasons:
1. Store bought granola has a lot of sugar, fillers and preservatives in it. Making your own lets you control what goes in it, making it healthier overall.
2. It’s cheap! You will save a heap of money buying ingredients from the bulk bin at your local grocery store instead of buying fancy pre-made granola.
3. It will make you house smell heavenly for a measly 5 minutes of effort. When my husband got home from walking the dog I had to break it to him that I wasn’t whipping up a load of sweets and baking to snack on. Once he tried the resulting (healthier) granola, he perked up again.
4. I mentioned it’s dead easy, right? I’ll say it again. SO EASY!
5. You can customize it to fit your own tastes. This recipe should be considered a guideline at best- I encourage everyone to veer wildly off-course! Love pumpkin seeds? Add ’em. Hate dried cranberries? Use raisins instead. On some kind of cleanse? Take out the brown sugar and add honey, stevia or a little more maple syrup- whatever your diet allows.
The only thing to keep in mind is that you will be baking your granola so try to avoid adding things that are heat sensitive like flax seeds. Other than that- have fun! You can always add your cold-temperature ingredients on top right before you eat it.
| Cranberry Coconut Granola | Print |
- 2 cups rolled oats (not instant or quick-cooking)
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- 2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
- ¼ cup dried, grated coconut (unsweetened)
- ½ cup dried cranberries (unsweetened)
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 large pinch salt
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, mix all dry ingredients except the salt and cranberries.
- In a small bowl, mix coconut oil, maple syrup and salt.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread granola out in a single layer. Bake for 15-20 minutes until fragrant and lightly toasted.
- Let granola cool then mix in cranberries. Store in an airtight container.
What would I need to add to make this granola into granola bars. We need bars for on the go & little hands.
Hi Tanya, I haven’t tried it myself but off the top of my head… I would add honey as a binding agent (or more brown sugar) and then press the uncooked granola into a wax paper lined brownie pan- the harder and more thoroughly you press it in, the more likely you will get sturdy, transportable bars. Bake for 20 minutes or so as you would in the granola recipe. Keep the baked granola in the pan and then refrigerate for 3 hours. After that you should be able to slice them into ‘bars’ with a sharp knife. Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes!