Banana Nut Granola

When I went sugar-free a couple years ago and discovered a blood sugar imbalance was at the root of some of my health issues, my beloved breakfast tradition of cereal and milk was in serious jeopardy.  There were a handful of sugar-free, whole grain cereals out there that would still work for me, so long as I had a small portion and paired it with a fried egg, but after cutting out gluten and dairy my cereal options essentially dwindled to zero.  Then a light bulb went off and I decided to try making homemade granola sweetened only with bananas.

I was pleasantly surprised with the results.  It definitely doesn't have anywhere near the sweetness of a traditional granola (which I admit I'd still prefer if I was able to have it!) but has just enough sweetness and flavor to keep the oats from being totally bland.  Right now I eat this as a snack, usually over plain yogurt or with unsweetened almond milk, because it doesn't have quite enough protein to suffice as breakfast for me.  But for most it would suit just fine!

If you're looking to cut down on your sugar consumption, breakfast is certainly a tricky area.  Making your own cereal is a great alternative to work around the limited low-sugar options at the store.  But even if you don't need or want something sugar-free, just add some honey or maple syrup to this recipe.  Either way, you still reap the benefits of an unprocessed cereal made with nutritious ingredients and no preservatives or artificial ingredients.

Banana Nut Granola

INGREDIENTS
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup unsalted almonds, chopped
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 large, ripe bananas
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon sea salt

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl combine oats, chopped almonds and shredded coconut.  Use certified gluten-free oats as needed.

In a separate bowl, mash bananas until a puree is formed.  To the bananas add melted coconut oil, water, sea salt, vanilla extract and mix well.  (NOTE:  Melted butter would make a fine substitute for coconut oil.)  Then pour the wet ingredients into the oat mixture and stir until everything is well-coated.

Evenly spread out the granola on a large baking sheet.  Bake for 3 hours at 200 F, stirring every 45 minutes to prevent edges from burning.  If you want a less crunchy granola, you can take it out after an hour or two.

Breakfast Burrito Bowls

Last week I had a hankering for grilled peppers and onions, so I experimented with a slower-cooker fajitas recipe and served it over rice to make it gluten-free.  The meat didn't cook up great so they were a bit of a flop, but when we threw the leftover veggies and rice in the pan with some scrambled eggs, we stumbled upon a new breakfast favorite!

I don't know why I never thought to pair rice with my eggs before, it seems so obvious now.  Since going gluten-free, I've probably eaten my weight in Chipotle burrito bowls that swap out my tortilla for a bed of brown rice.  So why couldn't you do the same with a breakfast burrito?  It gives you a great source of protein paired with a (gluten-free) whole grain, and the flavor combinations abound!  We loved this fajita-inspired burrito bowl this first time around, but I can't wait to try adding in pinto beans, black beans, fresh pico, cilantro or even avocado.  And you certainly don't have to be strictly gluten-free to enjoy your breakfast burrito this way - my husband really loves this!

It's also been a long-time goal of mine to figure out how to eat more vegetables at breakfast - mission accomplished!  Plus, you can cook up a big batch at the beginning of the week and reheat single servings each morning.  That way if you're in a hurry or, like me, have a history of falling into heart-racing, hands-shaking panic mode when you don't get breakfast in your body pronto upon waking, you're all set and ready to go.

Fajita-Inspired Breakfast Burrito Bowl  
Yield: 6-8 servings
Total Time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 dozen eggs
1 onion, sliced thin
4 peppers of various colors, sliced thin
2 cups (uncooked) brown rice
salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Start cooking your rice first so it's ready when everything else is done.  In my rice cooker this takes about 30 minutes, however I've seen many sites say brown rice can take up to 45 minutes.

Drizzle a couple tablespoons of oil into a large frying pan, add the sliced onions and peppers, sprinkle with a generous amount of sea salt, and saute for about 15 minutes on medium-high heat.  When I'm planning to reheat this for breakfast each morning, I will slightly under cook the peppers so they don't get over-done during reheating.

When the veggies are done, remove them from the pan and turn the heat down to medium or lower.  In a large bowl, whisk together all 12 eggs until blended well, then pour them into the hot frying pan to scramble.  Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.  Like with the veggies, I also take these off the heat just before they are done if I'm planning to reheat in the morning.

When each component is cooked and ready, toss everything together and serve immediately or store in a large container in the fridge.

NOTE
I like a balance of about 1/2 cup of rice and a little less than 2 scrambled eggs per serving, so this is about what the ingredient list should work out to.

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette (and saving money on real food!)

I just recently started experimenting with homemade dressing and this is the first one that's a keeper for us.  I like that I can tweak the flavor to my own preference and use all-natural ingredients that are really good for you, like extra virgin olive oil and raw apple cider vinegar.

My old favorite dressing was loaded with GMOs, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and food coloring.  While in part I believe that it's better to get down a lot of salad greens even if it means a little bad stuff going in with it, it still didn't sit well with me.  So, over the past couple years, I've tried my way through nearly every dressing variety on the shelves of Whole Foods in search of a healthier alternative.  I never found one I liked.  The more than double price hike over my old standby wasn't leaving a great taste in my mouth either.  I almost gave up completely until I went the homemade route.

In making my own, I spend about $3.15 for 16 ounces of dressing, and the best deal on an all-natural, organic bottle of the same quantity from Whole Foods costs just around $4.00, leaving me with roughly $.85 in savings.  That isn't nearly as much as I thought it would be based on all the talk I've heard about how much cheaper it is to make your own salad dressing, but it's more savings than any coupon I've found for a 100% natural dressing.  

However, that still means my homemade higher quality version is quite a bit pricier than the cheapest conventional dressing you can find.  I think it's well worth it though.  I really do think that cheap food comes at a high price for someone somewhere, even if it isn't you (or isn't you yet).  I just get frustrated that good, real food that hasn't been genetically engineered or synthetically designed in a lab is so inaccessible to so many people at this point in time because of how much it costs.  We personally may not have cable or iPhones in order to be able to spend more on good quality food, but we still have an abundance that allows us that choice.  So for now we do our best to take care of our bodies and support the farmers that are going to nourish us all best in the very long term.

So, if you too are looking to make some changes to reduce your intake of all the potentially harmful substances in our food, but you still need to be as cost-conscious as you can while doing that, try making your own salad dressing!      

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Largely adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Yield: 8 ounces
Time: 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Combine ingredients in a glass jar, cover tightly with a lid, and shake until well-blended.  If desired, transfer to a glass cruet to avoid drips during use.  Store in the fridge.