With the middle of August coming tomorrow, I can't believe that summer will soon be over. Tomorrow we are having some of our friends over for barbequeing the Greek way, which translates into a lot of juicy meet and fresh vegetables being grilled. I'm going to provide dessert and my help to my boyfriend, as well as cleaning the house, preparing everything for the food and perhaps getting some flowers.
I love having friends over for food. It feels like taking care of your family, so personal and intimate. Everyone is laughing, having a great time and although there is a lot of work behind it, it doesn't matter, because these are memories we are going to have for the rest of our lives...
Yesterday we went for another one of our big walks into the forrest we have here in Rümlang. To our surprise, as we took another road that we've never taken before, we met some young deers. Babies to be correct. Of course, they were scared of us and run quickly the other way, we could see them in the depth of the trees taking a peak at us. Or so we liked to think! It was rejuvenating to be back in the nature and look at its creatures. So simple and yet so beautiful, without the human interference.
In the morning I also managed to quickly prepare a homemade granola. I've been wanting to make some for a long, long time, but I have been postponing it. Only because I think if I make it then I will be tempted to it right away, and it's not the least caloric thing to eat. But to be frank I had A LOT of oat flakes in my pantry and I needed to do something with them, since porridge is not a usual dish during the summer.
The recipe for this one is very simple. You have wet and dry ingredients and you mix them together. Also, the great thing about granola is that you can add whatever exists in your fridge or pantry without worrying about it going wrong. Now, these are the recipes I like. If you are busy and trying to do everything at once, then this will help you a lot in the kitchen spectrum. Plus granola is so versatile and it can be paired with so many other ingredients like yoghurt, milk, as a topping on your porridge, an add-on for smoothies and on its own.
This granola is a little different that your usual kind, since it contains three amazing and good for you superfood powders: Maca, Mesquite and Reishi. Each on each own with numerous benefits for the health. I will start with Maca, my favourite one, a root used by the Incans, which helps with balancing your female hormones, acne, energy levels anaemia and libido. During the Incan Empire it is said that soldiers used it to regain their energy. Reishi is a medicinal mushroom used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and has some effects on protecting you from infections, cancerous cells and chronic fatigue. Mesquite is natural sweetener that doesn't spike your blood glucose levels, which has a lot of fibre and omega 3s.
So there you go! A healthy version of granola you must not resist!
Homemade coconut granola with superfoods
ingredients
4 cups oats
1 cup coconut slices
1 cup nuts (I used almonds, walnuts, flaxseed, popped Amarath and pumpkin seeds)
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon of each: Maca powder, Mesquite meal and Reishi powder
1/4 cup coconut oil (liquid form)
1/4 cup honey or agave syrup
how do I make it?
1. Preheat your oven to 150C. Mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl very well. Everything needs to be combined well before toasting the granola.
2. In a large pan, place a baking paper and then pour on top the mixture in your bowl. With a spoon, make sure the mixture goes fills the surface of the pan.
3. Put the pan in the oven and toast for about 30 to 40 minutes. I toasted mine for 45 minutes. This depends on how crunchy you like it. Every 10 minutes after you begin to toast your granola, open the door of the oven and carefully mix again the mixture with a spoon to make sure everything in there gets a colour.
4. When your granola is ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool completely before serving.
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