Well I usually have one of the healthier options like the yoghurt with fruit and granola with my cup of coffee so I don't feel left out. I really love the crunchy bits too so today I made myself some home-made granola and I thought I'd share the recipe. When I buy store bought yoghurt it's usually one where you tip in the little pot full of fruit or crunchy bits but I wanted to see if I could make it myself without lots of preservatives or additives plus I wanted to work out the calorie values. My version works out way lower than the ones I buy.
Once I made it up I put it into a jar and I store it in the fridge. You might be thinking why the fridge? Well it has low-fat margarine as one of the ingredients so I wasn't sure plus you'd think it would get all wet and soggy but surprisingly it doesn't.
And it couldn't be simpler either but boy am I ever glad I bought that heavy weight non-stick pan a few weeks back. It made everything so much nicer and nothing stuck even a bit!
Home-made Granola
1 cup old fashion oats (the larger ones)
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoons crushed bran flakes
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 tablespoons ground almonds
cinnamon or mixed spice
3 tablespoons honey
30g low-fat margarine
Simply mix the first 7 ingredients together in a bowl then warm the margarine and honey in the microwave just until melted and pour over dry ingredients. Stir thoroughly to mix and spread out onto a non-stick pan. Bake in a 160 oven (or thereabouts) for 15 to 25 minutes stirring halfway through and until just golden. Let cool and jar up.
Calories less than 60 per 15g serving
Add to a 100g serving of Alpro Soya plain yoghurt at less than 50 per serving and some fresh strawberries and you have about 125 - 130 calories of yumminess! The one I have been buying from the grocery store is 272 calories per pot so mine is way lower which just means I can eat it more often or I can have something else besides. And I even tried a bit out of the jar just as it was and it's lovely. I struggle to have things like apple crumble and go for a baked apple instead but I could happily have cooked apple with cinnamon and a scoop of ice cream with some of this sprinkled on top. Altogether it's a much healthier option and since my diet is going to be very much my new lifestyle (it's for life) anything I really enjoy is worth the extra effort.
And finally I remembered to take my camera along with me when we went down to the allotment to water this evening. I just kept forgetting it but I was desperate to capture these flowers - it's the first time we've tried growing them and I'm always admiring everyone else's sunflowers so this year we have our very own. This is Maddy's one and so far she is winning the race. We set the kids a competition this year to see who could grow the tallest sunflower.
This one is Kaleb's and is the next tallest but much smaller over all although I think it has the perfect size head for my liking.
And this one is Zach's - perhaps the prettiest I think but very small and lagging way behind the other two. Still the sun has been out in force and promises more to come so who knows? I for one am enjoying the splash of yellow that greets you as you approach the plot and I'm especially pleased with Maddy & Grandma's flower and herb garden this year too.
We have a big bush of rosemary (just out of shot towards the bottom of picture) plus basil, 2 kinds of oregano, thyme, parsley & chives all mixed in amongst several flowers including lavender, marigolds and even some lupins that will probably come up better next year. We also have big plans to add a further flower garden for the bees and butterflies in the long thin box beyond this one which will give a wonderful splash of colour and variety down the centre of the plot. It's still a work in progress and I'm not really a flower gardener but we're giving it a go.
Hope you all have a fab weekend.
Blessings
Suezie
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