Fit & Lean Breakfast Cereal
Out of frustration with trying to find a healthy and less expensive breakfast cereal, I decided the only way that was going to happen was to create my own recipe. Even the supposed healthy cereals are full of sugar. I ran across a recipe for Clean Eating Granola and loved it. So I made some changes by adding more walnuts & almonds, a little vanilla and eliminating most of the added sweetener and “Fit & Lean” was born. This recipe makes quite a lot so you’ll want to try it on all sorts of goodies– yogurt, dessert toppings or as a healthy and nutritious snack for work or school. Enjoy! …gale
Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw walnuts, chopped
3/4 cup raw almonds, sliced
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla
1/4 cup raw honey (optional)
Not a fan of nuts? Try adding instead 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds and 1/4 cup sesame seeds instead of the nuts. You might even like to add 1/2 cup fresh edamame in place of nuts. These all offer loads of protein and nutritional value. See below for information on drying your own fruit in the oven.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix applesauce, honey and vanilla in a medium bowl. Combine dry ingredients with applesauce mix. Make sure all dry ingredients are thoroughly coated with wet mixture. Spread mixture on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake approximately 35-45 minutes or until cereal is dry and golden in color. Stir every 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely and store in an air tight container. Add raisins, dried fruit or a sliced banana before pouring in low fat milk.
Tip: This breakfast cereal is inexpensive to make, delicious, healthy, can also be used as a snack for school or work and is a perfect topping on yogurt and other desserts.
Tip: Do not store dry fruit with this cereal as the moisture might cause it to lose its crispness.
Tip: Try adding dried dates, raisins, apricots, Bing cherries, unsweetened coconut…just be sure to read the label as a lot of dried fruit contains some form of sugar. Why not dry your own fruit and save money? Here are two sites that do a good job explaining how to dry fruit in the oven: The Kitchn and WikiHow.
Gale Compton
Fit Fabulous Forever
