Sweet & Salty Granola Recipe

A few weeks ago I was searching the grocery store for some good and healthy granola. Brogan and I go through granola like it's nobody's business. We love putting it on greek yogurt, mixing it with fruit, and munching on it with almond milk for breakfast. It seems hard to find a great granola that we love that isn't filled with tons of sugar and preservatives. So I decided to just wing it and make my own granola.... and it turns out it is super easy to make granola! This granola has a hint of sweet and salty, which makes it great for any snack or topping. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

*will make one pan of granola, but I encourage doubling or tripling the recipe :)

1 1/2 c. oats

1/2 c. almonds 

1/2 c. chopped pecans

1/2 c. chopped walnuts 

1/8 c. flax seeds 

1/2 c. dried cranberries

1/4 c. pure maple syrup 

1/4 c. coconut oil 

1 tsp. brown sugar 

1. Pre-heat over to 250 degrees. 

2. in a medium or large bowl, mix all of the dry/solid ingredients. 

3. in a small-medium bowl, mix the liquids (maple syrup + coconut oil) 

4. after mixing the liquid together well and there is no separation between the two, pour the liquid into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until all dry ingredients are coated with the syrup. 

5. lay a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spread out the granola evenly.
6. sprinkle (very lightly) sea salt across the granola. This makes it salty! 

7. bake for 1 hour. 

8. cool for 30 minutes 

9. break up granola and store in a gallon ziplock bag or sealed container (granola will crumble extremely easily). 

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A Cranberry Recipe Roundup

I don't know about you guys, but ever since Thanksgiving I have been in a holiday food trance. I have been thinking about all the different holiday dishes, snacks, and desserts that I am dying to make. I  made my own cranberry sauce this year (I have a weakness for that fruit!) and my family loved it. So I figured it was good enough to share on here. I have been snacking on the leftovers for the last week and it has made me want to try other cranberry recipes so I did a little searching and found some! 

1  // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

Note: 

- recipe 4 calls for champagne, but if you're like me and don't drink alcohol, then you can replace it with sparkling cider :)

- recipe 5 can be found below. 

Ingredients: 

1 cup organic cane sugar 

8 oz fresh cranberries 

1 cup water 

1 TBSP ground cinnamon 

1 TBSP ground cloves 

2 TBSP pure organic maple syrup 

1. Pour water and sugar into a saucepan and cook on high until boiling. 

2. Then add in fresh cranberries. 

3. Reduce heat to medium and  add cinnamon, cloves, and maple sugar. continue to stir until cranberries start melting and the mixture starts turning into more of a sauce. 

4. Continue cooking for about 10-15 more minutes or until cranberries are at their desired taste and texture.

*Mixture will not be complete smooth and sauce-like. It will still have chunks of cranberries in it, which is just how I like it :) 

I hope you enjoy these recipes!

What are some of your favorite holiday recipes?

Next Thursday, the 12th I will be hosting a Holiday Recipe Link-up. Be sure to come by and link-up your favorite holiday recipe! 

Linking-up to: 

All Things Thursday

Recipe Round-up

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Easy Paleo Oatmeal Recipe

As most of you know, I try to eat paleo most of the time. 

This means no grains, no dairy, no soy, no corn, and the minimal amount of sugar (usually just from honey or stevia) 

Many of you don't know that my husband, Brogan is not on the paleo boat. 

He actually may love pizza more than he loves me. 

Well, on Sunday, a 6-week paleo challenge started at our gym so we are of course participating full-force. You have to keep track of meals, workouts, ect. with points and there are rewards for points :) 

It's a lot of fun. 

I have become pretty good at eating paleo for myself and I have convinced my taste buds to like just about anything these days.

However, it is a little bit different with Brogan. 

I have made several paleo dishes that he has hated- and he isn't afraid to tell me. That's love right!? 

And I've had a few thumbs up... but I'm trying to get some more of those.

Breakfast is a challenge. Brogan loves bacon and I love bacon too... 

but in November of 2012 I almost burnt our apartment down while attempting to make some. Seriously. No exaggerations.

So you can see why I try to stay clear of that now. 

Thus, this paleo oatmeal was born. 

Ingredients: 

3 TBSP Pecans 

3 TBSP Almonds 

3 TBSP Flaxseeds 

2 TBSP all natural (no sugar added) Coconut Flakes 

a dash of Cinnamon 

a dash of Nutmeg 

a dash of Ginger 

1 egg 

1/8 c. Coconut milk 

3-4 TBSP Almond Butter 

1. Mix in food processor: pecans, almonds, flaxseeds, coconut flakes, and spices. 

2. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg and coconut milk. 

3. Add liquid mixture to food processor and mix. 

3. Add 3-4 TBSP of almond butter. 

4. If you'd like your oatmeal to be thicker/chunkier, you can add in some more nuts. 

I like mine to be really thick so I just threw in a few more handfuls of pecans, almonds, flaxseeds, and coconut flakes. When I pulsed it again, I just used the chop button rather than the grind button, so they it would be thicker. 

5. pour the oatmeal into a bowl and put into the microwave for 1-2 minutes!

Drizzle some honey over the top and add some fruit like shown in the picture! 

This was super yummy and even Brogan loved it- which is saying a lot. 

In the future I think I might try mix in some cooked apples or berries into the oatmeal. 

There are so many possibilities with this recipe:) 

I hope you enjoy this oatmeal as much as we did! 

* I had a question on instagram about if this could be made ahead of time. 

Absolutely! 

1. You can mix all the dry ingredients together and keep it in a container and when the time comes to make oatmeal, just make the liquid mixture and add it. 

2. You could make a large batch of oatmeal at the beginning of the week and keep it in the fridge to microwave when needed. (Although I am not entirely sure how long this would really last.) 

Want to see more of my daily paleo creations and recipes?

Be sure to follow me on instagram!

@jess_walt 

xo Jessica 

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