Breakfast is hands down my favorite meal of the day. Sure, pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, cereal (one food that kept me alive during my college years)…they are all worth getting out of bed for, but I’m talking specifically about the meal that’s eaten to start your day regardless of what exactly you’re eating (meaning eating a bowl of jjajangmyun is perfectly acceptable). There’s just something about that first meal that gets my endorphins running.
As I may have mentioned before, I am totally a morning person and have succeeded in establishing an internal alarm clock that goes off at around 4:30 every morning. No worries! It’s a personal choice ;). I leave my house anytime between 6:30-7:30, depending on my rotation, so that 2 hour window of alone time is very.very precious to me. Thus, I’m quite possessive of it. It is EXTREMELY rare, but in the event that the Hungryman gets up at this time, I try to force him back to sleep even if he doesn’t utter a word. I thrive off of that complete solitude, and it sets the tone for the rest of my day. May he NEVER become a morning person (insert evil laughter).
Being the creature of habit that I am, here’s a glimpse into one of my typical mornings… Upon waking, I let Kona out into the backyard, and I gulp down a HUGE glass of water (If Kona’s lucky, I remember to let him back inside the house). I do my quiet time (reading Psalms and Colossians at the moment), work on blog stuff, catch up on emails, pack lunches for the both of us, and of course eat breakfast. Oh yea, and make myself pretty. Duh. 😉
I seem to go through phases when it comes to breakfast choices, meaning I eat the same thing for several days before moving onto something else. You may find this boring, but I find a lot of comfort in having this predictability day in and day out. It’s not because I get sick of a certain option that I choose to move on (I could eat pb+banana toast everyday for the rest of my life!). Rather, I have to consciously remind myself that variety is good and necessary.
Granola delivers that variety while not deviating too much from the norm – I could eat it everyday as long as I switch up the components. That counts for variety, right? 😉
I’m no stranger to convenience items, but no matter how crazy my life may be with every second accounted for, I dare not consider purchasing sugar-laden, wayy over-priced prepackaged granola. In the time it’d take me to get dressed and head to the store and back for a bag, I would’ve been able to whip up a batch of wholesome, homemade granola to put in the oven. Not to mention the heavenly aroma that would fill the entire house. If someone would turn this into a candle scent, I would love you forever.
There are a couple of major lessons I’ve learned from my granola-cooking experiences:
1) Keep a watchful eye during the last few minutes of cooking. Every oven is different so be sure to take a peek at the progress. Once the color turns golden brown, remove immediately. I’ve burned many batches just going by the clock. Words cannot describe my disappointment when this happens.
2) Pay attention to the color not the softness/hardness of the texture. Granola should be soft (and not completely brown in color) when it comes out of the oven and will crisp as it cools. That’s why it’s super important to allow for it to cool completely. I used to bake my granola until it was completely crunchy…learn from my mistakes.
3) Have a well-stocked pantry so you can make a batch at the spur of the moment. While you can play around with all kinds of flavors, the basic ingredients should include: rolled oats, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and spices. I keep my various nuts and seeds (usually sunflower and pumpkin) in the freezer.
This time, poking around in my pantry led to the creation of this strawberry coconut granola. I almost always end up adding some kind of dried fruit, but this was def a nice change of pace. It’s the perfect snack and a wonderful accompaniment to yogurt and, of course, milk (hot or cold). As you may have guessed, I’ve been mixing in this crunchy, sweet (but not overly sweet), nutty granola to Greek yogurt for the past several days. I actually like to mix it in and wait..and wait some more until the granola softens and the yogurt thickens a bit. When I insisted the Hungryman try it my way, he said, “I’m a little bit scared.” But with each bite, he seemed to appreciate the no-bake cheesecake-like consistency and flavor.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week. I just hope I have enough to last me that long…
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup ground flaxseed
- ¾ cup shredded sweetened coconut
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup honey
- 2 Tbs butter
- 1 Tbs vanilla extract
- 1 Tbs orange zest
- ½ cup strawberry puree (5-6 large strawberries)
- Preheat oven to 325 F.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, flaxseed, coconut, almonds, salt, and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Add strawberries to a food processor and blend until pureed. Set aside. Melt butter and add vanilla and orange zest.
- Add honey to oat mixture and combine well. Stir in strawberry and butter + vanilla mixture, and mix until well combined. (I find that working with my hands gets the job done the best.)
- Spread mixture evenly onto a baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring halfway. Watch it carefully the last few minutes and remove once the color turns golden brown.
- Allow to cool completely at room temperature. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Adapted from How Sweet It Is
Perfect timing with this yummy granola, as “make granola” is on my LONG list of things to do this week 🙂 I noticed no coffee (or caffeine) in your morning routine…coffee is pretty much the only thing that would get me up at 4:30, but I can totally appreciate the quiet/me time you crave in the morning 🙂 Super yummy bowl of granola!!
Yup, no coffee for me. I’m too afraid to make it a part of my morning routine as I don’t want to become addicted to caffeine. So far so good ;). Ooh! please do let me know what kind of granola you end up whipping up!
I’ve been on a huge granola kick and I may actually make this tonight using raspberries since that’s what I have lurking in the fridge! YUM!
Raspberries sound like a delicious alternative!
I have never considered adding strawberry puree to granola, but it seems like it makes sense to me now that I see how you did it. I love the morning too. So much. It is my favorite time of day. It is purely optimistic. Before kids, I used to sit at the counter in our kitchen and read Cooks Illustrated cover to cover with coffee until my husband got up. Now my morning routine is much different but I still love that time of day. PS I love that you pack Tim’s lunch. I totally pack Jason’s too 🙂
Your routine before kids sounds lovely, but as a woman who longs to be a mom, I can’t help but be a bit jealous of your new and different routine. Did I speak too soon ;). Don’t you just love packing lunches for your loved ones? Does Jason like it? Tim appreciates it 90% of the time. There are days when Tim comes home telling me how jealous he was of his coworkers who went out to eat hamburgers, burritos, Chinese food…I just walk away.
Breakfast is totally my favorite meal of the day too – and granola is my jam! I love how it can be adapted in hundreds of different ways. I never thought of trying it with fruit puree – that sounds delicious!
Granola IS your jam! I love all your recipes, and I def have my eyes on that chocolate raspberry granola!
This is so much better than anything you could buy 🙂 I love the sound of your morning routine and relate to being a morning person with a partner who is not – and loving it 😉 I’m not quite as big an early bird as you (I get up 5.30am/6am) but those early hours are important to me.
Right? the early mornings are just so glorious!
This looks delicious! I would love for you share it on my Tasty Tuesday recipe link up here! Everything gets pinned and I would love to have you!
Hi Stephanie! Thank you so much for the invite! I will def join the party ;).
I do the same thing in the mornings! I wake up at 6 and if the.boy even speaks of getting up that early as well, I shoot him down. It’s just so peaceful!
Love the tropical infusion to this granola! I’d be pouring it down my throat by the bowlful!
Haha! Glad to know I’m not alone. My friends think I’m crazy and that I’m no fun. Au contraire!
It truly is a peaceful time, isn’t it? I just wish it didn’t go by so quickly! Sounds like you may need to double or triple the recipe if you’re going to take that route! 😉
I love that first shot, the strawberries look like a star! And you are awesome for being a morning person. I so am not. I’m actually quite a night owl. (I blogged the other day about falling asleep easily, but mostly because I’m sleep deprived from staying up too late, ha!) You are probably a much more productive and healthy human being than me 🙂 Love this granola!
Thank you so much, Karen! Now that you mention it, it does resemble a star! Sometimes I wish I was a night owl so I can spend some time with my husband..sometimes hehe. I bet you’re really productive during the night so we are even ;).
I’m loving this granola, and especially how you mixed a bit of extra fruit into it. I’ll have to give that a try. I’m featuring this recipe on Share Your Stuff Tuesdays this week, and I’d love it if you also stopped by and shared with us on Five Friday Finds (open until midnight Wednesday EST)! 🙂
Thank you so much for the invite, CJ! I look forward to joining the party 😉
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day too, and I’ve been known to mix up a batch of granola in the evening just because I NEED to wake up to a bowl of homemade granola the next morning! In fact, my husband thinks I’m a bit crazy right now because I’ve been creating new granola recipes like crazy the past few weeks. Taste-testing batch after batch… it’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it! 🙂