Friday, April 20, 2012

One of My New Favorites!

One of my favorite treats is Greek yogurt with granola! In the past, I've resorted to buying a low-fat strawberry granola at my local grocery store. It seemed to have done the trick and added that little extra crunch I so love in my yogurt. Recently, some good friends of ours had us over for dinner and Wendy, my friend, is an AMAZING cook. (She makes croutons, goodies, and several other things I've stole recipes for over the years.) We happen to get on the subject of granola and low and behold, she makes that from scratch too! Not only is it so tasty but it's much healthier than the stuff you'll find in the stores, and it has way less sugar. (I like this!) So here it is:
Wendy's Amazing Granola:
1/3 cup olive oil  (630 calories)
5 cups of oats (1500 calories)
1/3 cup honey (320 calories)
3/4 cup of brown sugar (580 calories)
1 cup almonds (953 calories)
1 cup craisins (340 calories)
2-3 Tablespoons of flax seed (90 calories)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon 

Total 4,413 calories total. (Don't panic yet!)

It makes 9 cups of granola at 490 calories in a cup.

122 calories in 1/4 cup of granola
163 calories in 1/3 cup of granola
245 calories in 1/2 cup of granola

Put the brown sugar, honey, and oil in the microwave and melt together.
Add in your oats, almonds, salt, cinnamon and flax seed. 
Mix well and then spread onto a slightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. 
Remove from oven and stir in craisins. Let cool. 

Thanks Wendy!
Honestly, this is SO easy and takes almost no time at all to make. I know you might think it has a lot of calories but no surprise, granola usually does. The benefit of this verses your store brand is that the calories are coming from a good source - nuts, oats, and grains. Not to mention, it has half the amount of sugar that most granola has. Also, you really don't need much to make a good filling snack or added crunch to your yogurt.

Not only has it become one of my favorites, but my family seems to like it too. My son likes to eat it by the handfuls!
FYI on my yogurt of choice. I'm pretty picky about my yogurt as I tend to like it thick and creamy. For the longest time I was hooked on Dannon's Greek yogurt. Now, it seems as though ZOI honey flavored Greek yogurt and I have become friends. (So good!) Oh, and shall I mention, I always try to eat my yogurt and granola with my U-Swirl (frozen yogurt shop) spoon. Not sure why, maybe because it's like having a treat!

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11 comments:

  1. First of all u re adorable! Second I can't wait to try the granola ;)

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  2. Looks great I need to try this recipe!!

    Keep focused!

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  3. I'll, definitely, be making this! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. MMM looks yummy and love the spoon. Granola has always been a no for me with too many cal. I have been useing Fiber One the 80 cal kind with 80 for 3/4 cup. Its got the crunchy and sweet but yours looks yummy! I love to know exactly what is in what I'm eating when I can.

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  5. For some reason I've always seen granola as a forbidden food when trying to lose or maintain weight loss, but this certainly does look appealing!

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  6. I use to make a LOT of granola! I should get back into doing that! The recipe can be played with to use less oil and sweetener as each person desires...I've used much less honey/brown sugar in the past and had it come out quite good. Play around with the amounts and see how it tastes...helps cut the calories too!

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  7. I do the same thing with my Orange Leaf frozen yogut spoon-just amkes it seem more fun! This recipe sounds great. I am a new follower and love your blog and your wondeful attitude!

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  8. Darn auto correct! Delish...I guess it's not a real word.

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  9. I make my own from time to time too Paige. I don't use oil. I put about 5 cups of oats into a large bowl. On the stove I either heat to a runny consistency 1/3 cup of jelly (we call it jam in Australia and I use apricot) with 1/4 cup of water, or I do the same with honey. When it's kind of runny and a little warm I mix it into the oats and mix for a while to make sure it's all nicely coated. Spread it into a baking dish and into an oven at about 320F and after 25 minutes take it out and stir it around. Then keep doing it for 7-8 minute intervals and stir after each one until it's just starting to go very light brown. Turn the oven off and leave it in the oven for about 10 minutes (helps to dry it out and make it more crunchy and you also use up the extra warmth leftover in the oven..good frugal tip!!). Put it into a big bowl (I usually clean out the one I mixed it in at the beginning and reuse it). Then when the oats are cool, I add raisins, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and some chopped almonds, and some home ground linseeds. And yes, it is crunchy.

    So for me I do 25 minutes in the oven and stir. Then 8 minutes and stir. Then 7 minutes and stir. And then 6. I use the microwave time to keep track of the time. For me I go by the color and usually that is enough for me. Then the oven goes off. I keep it in the fridge.

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  10. perfect combos!! enjoy the homemade goodness.

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  11. I used to make my own too, but this recipe sounds so much better! Thanks for sharing!

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