Do you think of granola as a healthy breakfast option? How about granola bars? Are they your to-go healthy snack?
Hate to break it to you, but you may be doing it wrong.
I love granola, so when I began reading the labels on these boxes a few years back and I realized the amount of crap (yes, CRAP) that goes into them, I was bummed. (Sneak peek: Look out for my “How I Read Nutrition Labels” post next week.).
Most of the granola you and I have (hopefully had) been buying is possibly l.o.a.d.e.d with sugar and ingredients your body doesn’t need (corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, to name a couple). Yes, some of us have been living a lie, thinking “granola is so healthy” when in reality it should be eaten in moderation because for the most part, it is loaded with calories.
So, what’s better than store-bought granola? The homemade kind, of course.
Thankfully for you and I, it is very (and I mean very) easy to make, and it is super versatile. Make a basic kind, using only oats and nuts, or add dried fruit. Throw all kinds of ingredients in there you may have laying around in your kitchen (think coconut flakes, dark chocolate bits, seeds, nuts, dried fruit here – we’re keeping it healthy). Make it chewy or crunchy. Put it in yogurt, in a smoothie, or munch on it as a snack. Make cookies, or pie crust, or apple crumble. The possibilities are endless.
