Saturday, June 6, 2009

CEiMB [Rewind]: Nutty Granola

I've been wanting to try Ellie Krieger's Nutty Granola recipe for awhile now. I noticed it was something CEiMB already hosted in a prior week so I decided to make it for our golf day today. I'm always looking for a healthy, filling snack and this definitely does the trick. It's packed with a lot of good things - walnuts, pecans, almonds, oats, cinnamon, dried cherries (I substituted them for raisins) and 100% pure maple syrup. Everything gets mixed together and bakes for 30 minutes. This recipe rocks for many reasons: 1) It tastes great! (I eat it by itself, with milk, or with fresh fruit and yogurt), 2) It's simple (throw everything in a bowl, mix and bake on a cookie sheet), 3) It's healthy (1/2 cup rolls in around 280 calories), and 4) It makes your house smell SOOOOOO good! I'm not kidding. Next time I have company over (maybe for the Mystery Garden Tour coming up at my house on June 20th....) I'm going to make this. The smell of cinnamon and maple.. reminds me of the holidays and all the yummy pies baking in the oven. Another bonus, Kyle liked it. It's super hard finding snacks that he enjoys that aren't sugary. He's not a fan of granola bars (from the store), he doesn't eat fruit, and he doesn't eat yogurt or string cheese. So, when we are both trying to eat healthy it's hard helping him think through what a healthy snack would be. One downside... pure maple syrup can be quite expensive (a 12 oz. bottle set me back 10 bucks at Whole Foods). I guess it costs to eat healthy because you don't get those crummy ingredients you can't pronounce. When you think about it.. if you're not healthy then you'll really pay in the long run - obesity, pills, diabetes, etc. I'm not about to waste my money on those things. I love to cook, and I'm not going to let 'wanting to eat healthy' stop me. I love Ellie Krieger's "The Food You Crave" cookbook because her food tastes so good and it's good for you. I can't wait for her new book, "So Easy" in November. I already pre-ordered it on Amazon!! Whoo Hoo. Take care everyone, I need to go get ready to golf.

Cheers!


4 comments:

  1. I wasn't a member of the group yet when they made this either, but I think I will try it after reading your post! My boyfriend is the same as Kyle, not big on snacks that aren't sugary, so maybe I will luck out and he'll eat this, too :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. This was one of the very first CEiMB recipes that Sara made with the group. I, like the above mentioned men, am not a big fruit/granola/yogurt eater - and I LOVED this one. I couldn't believe how tasty it was.

    FYI: You can save a buck or 2 on maple syrup if you buy "Grade B" which, I'm told is actually far superior. Our fellow blogger Geoff (born and raised in Vermont) has told me on numerous occasions that the producers up there "laugh when they sell grade A for $20 a bottle to tourists while they keep the good (grade B) stuff for themselves." We now buy it exclusively.

    --Nick/imafoodblog.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good to know, thanks Nick. The only downside to the granola.. it's almost gone! I like it so much I want to eat it with milk for breakfast and as a snack later in the day, but I have to keep in mind it's ~280 calories / .5 cup so that slows me down a little.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm so glad you made this one and enjoyed it! It does smell amazing and is addictive! If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, their Grade B syrup is excellent and not horribly expensive (you can also get Grade B at Costco, but you may not want 2 gallons of it!)

    ReplyDelete