I have been craving this particular breakfast for months now but every time I would go to buy granola my health conscious conscience got the better of me. It seems even at the health food stores granola has a ton of extra crap in it that my body just doesn’t need. I don’t know about you but I don’t want salt  + sugar in my breakfast….at least not all the time. In the end I finally decided to just get over my lazy self and make some granola the way I wanted it.

. 1 cup of oats

. 1/4 cup of steel cut oats

. 1/2 cup of shredded coconut (unsweetened)

. 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds

. 1/2 cup of dried apricots, chopped into small pieces

. 1/2 cup of dried figs, chopped into small pieces

. 2 tbsp of chia, flax or hemp seeds (a mixture of, or you can use just one)

. 2 tbsp of coconut oil, melted

. 2 tbsp of maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 300. Dump everything into a large bowl and mix it together using your hands. Spread the mixture out onto a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove from the oven and let cool. Store in an airtight glass jar for a week or two.

To serve: I have been eating this batch of granola with some plain greek yogurt and sliced pineapple but you can pretty much serve it with any fresh fruit!

*Want to mix it up a bit? Try adding any of the following to your granola

. sliced almonds

. walnuts, chopped

. pecans, chopped

. raisins

. dried cherries

So about a couple months ago I had my first visit with a naturopath. I decided to go for a few reasons. #1 – was to try and help me with my sinus problems. I had sinus sugary 5 years ago to try and put a stop to all of the infections but a year ago I was told I would have to have the surgery again…and I just don’t have the time. Because of this I had hoped that seeing a naturopath may be a good place to begin my search for a happier head without the surgery and constant rounds of antibiotics. #2 – I am always tired. I have been tired my whole life – it’s not just because I’m a new mom. Ever since I can remember napping has been one of my fave things to do…for example when I was little girl and supposed to be doing homework I would open my books and use them as a pillow.. or when Danie and I had friends over and we would be playing house we would often add to the story ” nap time ” hoping that our friends would actually sleep, so we could too. To try and get to the bottom of things my naturopath decided to do an allergy test where they take a bit of your blood and send it off to a lab and in 3 weeks you end up with a very detailed list of your body’s intolerances, from mild to severe. I was expecting to find out I had to cut out dairy but oh no, it had to be my favourite thing in the world…SUGAR – or to be more precise cane sugar. So I now have the privilege of having to cut out cane sugar for the next 6 months. Because of this you will notice a lot of experimenting with new sweeteners in my attempt to keep living the sweet life and these granola bars are sweet! I hope you like them as much as I do.

These are perfect for when you are craving something chocolatey sweet…without the guilt. No refined sugar added!

Take all dry ingredients and mix together. Take all wet ingredients and mix together in a small sauce pan over med heat until melted and combined.

Now mix wet and dry ingredients together.

Grease pan. Spread the mixture out in a baking pan and press it down to flatten.

Bake at 325 for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cooled, dump pan upside down on a large cutting board and cut into bars.

• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 1 cup (mixture of) chopped almonds,pumpkin seeds and walnuts
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup chopped dates
• 1/3 cup unsweetened carob chips
• 3/4 cup organic sugar free peanut butter
• 1/2 cup apple butter
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 4 tbl unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbl vanilla

When I became pregnant I started as most newly pregnant woman do, looking a little closer at what I was putting in my body every time I ate. I found it next to imposible to find a granola bar that wasnt filled with crap. Even the healthy ones were loaded with stuff I didn’t want and were way too high in fat. And so I began my search to create the perfect granola bar. Throughout my pregnancy I made a wide variety of bars, some good some not so good. I even made a few that were near perfect but do you think I wrote down the recipe to any of my attempts?…nope not one. So this is where my search yet again begins. Only this time I will be writing them all down, each and every one of them.

Get together and measure out your supplies.

Dump all dry ingredients together in a big bowl.

Pour all wet ingredients in a pot and mix over med-high heat until melted.

Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry and mix.

Spread the mixture in a pan. Flatten with a spatula.

Bake at 325 for about 25 min. Remove from oven. Make sure you press the hot granola bars down again packing the mixture tight. This time I use a small wooden cutting board, it works great to cover a larger surface and you can realy push hard. Now let cool. Dump pan upside down over a large cutting board. Now cut the bars and eat.

• 5Tbl All natural Peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup brown rice syrup
• 1 1/2 Tbl vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups organic brown rice puffs
• 1/2 cup Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted whole grain cereal
• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup dried fruit ( I used raisins )
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup unsweetened carob chips
• Cinnamon to taste

These are not the perfect granola bar. They are good but a bit crumbly for my liking. And so the search continues.