Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Granola

I am very particular with breakfast with no rushing and relaxing conversation with the family to start a new day. Cereal, oat porridge, bread, pancake, milk or coffee are in our daily menu. I don't wish to rush in the morning for preparing breakfast so normally will prepare everything in advance. I usually attached each measuring cups with the container of cereal, oat, my premix pancake, crepes, milk just to fix the portion when cooking so that I don't need to do measurement in the morning. Nowadays, there are more options as I've been doing some research of healthy bread recipes. Lately, I found a cereal recipe named Granola. You could get a package from supermarket actually. But this time, I really like to do it myself because I can add in different or more ingredients to this recipe and then put into a container just in case I feel bored with bread or craving at anytime. I made a big jar for mum as a mother's day gift. We have the same craving habit, so I guess this could really help her.
This recipe from one of my idol chef Ellie Krieger, she is a celebrity nutritionist. You won't feel guilty when using her recipe but of course portion is also very important.
I used 3 cups rolled oats, 1/2 cups chopped walnut, 1/2 cups chopped almond and 1/2 cups chopped pecans and 1/2 cups raisin. You could add more oats or other nuts or seeds like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds or dried cranberries etc. I found walnut and almond is quite good in omega-3 fatty acid so I followed her recipe. I mixed these ingredients with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, you can add more if you like and 1/4 tsp salt which is quite optional. After mixing all the dried ingredients, add 1/2 cup pure maple syrup and mix until everything is coated. Bake in the oven 30 minutes at 160'C or until golden brown. Serving size should be 1/2 cups perserving. It could be served with milk or yogurt or even desserts.
The naughty of me would always grasp some whenever I pass by the kitchen.