Granola

Six days. Six days! That was it! I was feeling tip top shape after my lung infection for only six days before catching a cold. Itty bitty is already improving. Me, not so much. I couldn't sleep last night with a nose that was draining like a faucet, fever, and a hacking cough. Finally fell asleep sometime after 11 p.m.

Woke up in the morning at 4:30 feeling like I couldn't breath. My chest was so heavy. I dragged myself out of bed and made a large hot cup of tea with cinnamon honey. Thankfully that opened my airway a bit and soothed my raw throat.

With not feeling well I have let the household chores go by the wayside a bit. Mr. Sideline Chef is sitting at the airport waiting to come home and after surveying the site I can tell you I need to get my ass in gear and make it look somewhat presentable. Itty bitty sure makes a lot of messes in a day. Thankfully I have six hours to accomplish the task at hand. I've already had to stop and take some hot tea breaks. I'm determined to get this done and then I'll let Mr. Sideline Chef pamper me while he's home until I feel better.

I've had no appetite this morning but needing to feed itty bitty I decided on a simple recipe out of the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook. Granola is an easy enough breakfast. The original recipe leaves room for adjustments. You can customize it to your tastes but you shouldn't leave the MUFA out if you are following the Flat Belly Diet.

I had to leave out the unprocessed bran and crystallized ginger since the local market didn't carry it. I wasn't about to go hunting down those ingredients. Maybe another day when I'm feeling up to it. The granola didn't seem like it was lacking taste without those ingredients. Then again my tasters are off from this cold. Then again itty bitty helped himself to quite a bit of the granola.

While I think this granola is tasty I still think my Apple Cinnamon Granola tops this.

Granola

Flat Belly Diet Cookbook

Makes 10 Servings (Serving size = 3/4 cup)

Stars of the Show:

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup unprocessed bran
• 1/3 cup ground flaxseed - I used whole golden flaxseed.
• 1/3 cup apple juice
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp minced crystallized ginger
• 1 cup chopped dried apples - I used organic apple cinnamon chips. Just apples and cinnamon! Love that there was no added sugar.
• 1/3 cup dried sweetened cranberries

And Action:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine the oats, bran, and flaxseed in a large bowl.

Combine the apple juice, syrup, and ginger in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture simmers. Pour over the oat mixture and stir to coat.

Spread onto the baking sheet. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until lightly browned. Mine took the full 35 minutes. Make sure to stir twice. Place the granola in a bowl and stir in the apples and cranberries.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

MUFA: Walnuts (Or other nut or seed of choice)

Calories: 294

Protein: 7 g

Carbohydrates: 43 g

Fat: 12 g

Saturated Fat: 1 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 112 mg

Fiber: 8 g