How to Make a Basic Homemade Granola

This is a simple granola recipe that I learned to make at the beginning of my weight loss journey. Its a good recipe to use especially if you are just beginning your journey and just starting to experiment more in the kitchen.
I will share a lighter version of this recipe pretty soon.  Until then, Enjoy!

Homeade Granola

1 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 cup of chopped almonds or preferred nut

1 cup of raisins or cranberries

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of honey

coconut oil

~Preheat oven at 350. Make sure your hands are CLEAN. They should always be clean when cooking, but this recipe calls for using your hands. 

~Grease the cookie sheet or pan with coconut oil.

~Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix them very well, making sure to coat all oats with honey.  If you must, add a little more honey at your discretion.

~Then, flatten the mixture onto  the pan and bake for anywhere between 15-20 minutes. 

~Allow to cool. Then, cut into bars or crunch up for cereal or to use as a topping.

I crumbled all of the granola up for a quick handy snack.

Also makes a great cold cereal. Just add milk.

****If you like for the granola to be a little more crunchy, do the whole 20 minutes. More chewy, do the 15 minutes.****

Fit Honey

How to Make Overnight Oatmeal- Apple Peanut Butter Oats

I honestly didn't know for sure if I would enjoy these oats. I like oatmeal, so I figured it would taste ok. But I am really lovin these oats and if my husband doesn't get home quick and eat his, I may have them for lunch too.

They are super easy to make. I don't think you can mess this one up and you can probably make it today with what you have at home. On top of all this, they are convenient. Make it at night in a portable container and walk out the door with breakfast. I don't have to leave out, but its still super convenient for me. And this recipe tastes almost like dessert. I'm anxious to try other recipes too.

Here is the recipe I tried last night.

Apple Peanut Butter Oats

1 cup oatmeal (I used Old Fashioned Whole Grain Oats)
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (You can use other milk or water)
1/4 cup Peanut Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Honey (You can add more to taste)
chopped apples and pecans (optional toppings)
1 Jar or container with lid

Peanut Butter, Cinnamon, Milk/Vanilla, Oatmeal

Mix the milk, Vanilla Extract and the Cinnamon in the jar.
Next, mix in the Oatmeal and the honey.
Lastly, mix in the peanut butter. Mix it in really well.

Then close the jar and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, stir and add optional toppings. I added chopped apple and pecans.

Oats right out of the fridge

And Tada!!! Thats it!

Wake up and Enjoy! I did!

Have you tried Overnight Oats??

Overnight Oats with Apples and Pecans

Going Raw- Raw Food Diet

I am running a 3 Day Raw Food Challenge on my Facebook page starting tomorrow Feb 2nd. As excited as I am to start this plan tomorrow, I have an even bigger challenge at hand.  I've decided to become completely focused on my health and fitness goals for the next 100 days. Documenting everything- weigh ins, food, family meal, exercise, and more.

3 Day Facebook Challenge

Here's the crazy part, My husband is in training mode too and he challenged me on top of my current challenge. He challenged me to 12 weeks of Raw Food. I froze in silence first. But of course, I wouldn't be me without a negotiation. 

So here's the Final Deal, 2 Weeks Raw and 1 Week off, 2 Weeks Raw and 1 week off.... Starting February 2nd.  Now the off week, doesn't mean, "Go crazy." It just means, I will eat animal products like eggs, seafood, cheese, steaks, poultry, etc. I enjoy eating those foods, so I didn't want to cut them out of my life completely for 12 weeks.

Going 12 weeks will also force me to try more foods and experiment with other recipes. I can handle 3 days of eating the same thing everyday but 3 months, Nah.

So.....

What is The Raw Food Diet?

In its most basic form its eating uncooked foods. It means loading up on uncooked and unprocessed....

Fruits

Veggies

Sprouted Grains

Seeds

Nuts

Beans

The idea behind this is that when we cook our foods, we kill a lot of the nutrients they contain. I am going raw until dinner because I enjoy warm food. There are actually some perks to cooking your foods but I will get into that later. For Raw foods, you can use blenders, food processors or dehydrators to prepare food as long as you don't cook it over 118 degrees.

When I look at my current diet, I realized that I do eat about 45-60% raw somedays. But, that is mainly because I prefer fruit for breakfast during the week and a shake at lunch. Snacks and dinner are another story so I know that I will have to get my skills up in the kitchen. I will be saving my meals and posting them this week.

This is all new to me but its a challenge that I've accepted! Tomorrow marks DAY 1!

Find me on Facebook!

Would love your support