I’m baaaack!!! It’s been a 2-year hiatus from blogging, but here I am ready to share all my favorite healthy eating tips (especially aiming for that anti-inflammatory lifestyle!) and travel eats along the way.
We kicked off the New Year in Colombia (more details on that coming soon), but as soon as we returned, we started our anti-inflammatory diet (read: lifestyle). And then, I messed up my new lifestyle the morning of day 2! Here I am all “New Year, New Me” getting ready for a morning yoga class. I sit down to eat my Siggi’s yogurt with Trader Joe’s Ancient Grain Granola feeling all excited for the day and my new lifestyle. Then it hits me… was that granola an anti-inflammatory food? With sugar listed as a top ingredient, it’s probably something I should have avoided.
But, we live and learn! So I took to create my own granola recipe. It turned out so delicious, I’ve  caught my boyfriend digging in the cupboard to steal the granola straight from the jar, ha!
There are two specialty items I included in this recipe that I highly recommend, but you should be able to find similar replacements at any health food store or online. The first is Trader Joe’s Super Seed & Ancient Grain Blend. It contains nothing but the seeds and grains + it has more than 16% of daily fiber! The mix is so good I often use this to top off yogurt and smoothie bowls. The other is Patience Fruit & Co organic dried cranberries. Unlike most dried fruits that contain sugars and food preservatives, this little bag only contains organic cranberries, organic apple juice concentrate and less than 1% of organic sunflower oil. It was by far the best dried fruit I could find. It really adds a little fun to granola but can be easily omitted!
Using exactly this recipe with the dried cranberries above, the granola should remain good for about two weeks – but I highly doubt it will last that long in your household!
Gluten-Free + Anti-Inflammatory Granola
Ingredients
- 1/2 c whole grain gluten free rolled oats
- 3/4 c mixed nuts (I found a mix at Sprouts Market with cashews, Brazil nuts, pecans, macadamia + pistachio)
- 1/4 c raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 c raw sunflower seeds
- 1/3 c Trader Joe’s super seed and ancient grain blend
- 1/4 c organic coconut oil
- 1/3 c organic raw honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2/3 c organic dried cranberries
Instructions
- Set oven to 300.
- Use blender to lightly chop nuts.
- Heat coconut oil, honey, cinnamon and sea salt in pan over medium low heat for 3 mins, continuously stirring.
- Once a blended liquid, turn off heat and add nuts, oats, seed blend and vanilla to pan. Ensure it is mixed well. Fold liquid over nuts and seeds as needed.
- Lay flat on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 300 for 30 mins, breaking up and stirring half way through.
- Remove to cool, add dried cranberries and toss!