Grain Free Granola and Fruit Salad – A “Parfait” Combination!

One of the aspects of my healthy lifestyle that I don’t really ever talk much about is how I keep fit and active.

Oh! not that it isn’t a very important part of my life. In fact, I work out 6 days out of the week.

RELIGIOUSLY!

I don’t do, miss workouts. Not unless I have a VERY good reason.

I guess if I don’t talk about it much, it’s because I’m not quite as passionate about it as I am about food.

Alright, I’ll be honest. I hate working out.

Still, I know that it’s good for me, and I always feel so much better after I’m done. Plus, working out allows me to eat that much more! 😉

Seriously, the fact that I don’t care much for exercise forces me to constantly find new things to do, because I get bored very easily.

A few years ago, I had picked up running and even ran a half marathon that summer. Oh, I was fairly proud of that one, and fully intended to repeat the experience! I even wanted to run a full marathon for my 40th birthday.

But you see, the thing is I HATE running. I find it way too slow, and long, and boring, and, well, let’s face it, hard! As in NON-STOP hard.

So last year, I didn’t run. I spent the entire summer training in my basement, doing P90X and sweating bullets going crazy at HIIT on my elliptical.

I really missed being out there, though, taking advantage of the beautiful days of summer, so this year, I decided that I needed to find something I could do OUTSIDE!

I think I found the PERFECT thing! Guys, please meet Vince, my new training partner!

Now HE can really take me places! WOW! Talk about speed!

In the 2 little hours that we got to spend together today, we devoured over 50km of road! Now THAT’S interesting.

To think that I had not ridden a bike in well over 20 years, up until just a few weeks ago.

I was really afraid to get “behind the handles” again, but I got the hang of it real fast. It IS true what they say: once you’ve learned how to ride a bike, you just never forget it.

I get the feeling that Vince and I are going to have a BLAST this summer. Let’s just hope that Sally doesn’t get jealous…

You know what though? I think that the best thing about bike rides is the post-ride breakfast!

And can you think of anything better than this beautiful Fruit Salad and Granola Parfait? It certainly satisfied me after my ride. I don’t remember ever having a harder time not digging in until the shoot was over, though. Boy did I badly want a bite of that yummy looking breakfast. Staring at it and taking pictures from all possible angles for what seemed like an eternity felt like pure torture!

I’ve always been a HUGE fan of granola, but sadly enough, most of the boxed stuff that’s available in stores is so sugar laden and high in fat that I tend to just steer clear.

Making my own is pretty much the only way to go for me now. Especially since I’ve been trying to avoid grains, you know. Ever seen grain free granola in a store, you? I know I haven’t…

To tell you the truth, I wasn’t convinced that grain free granola was even gonna work out. But I had such a craving for the stuff, I had to give it a try. And I’m real glad I did! I think it was a huge success.

The resulting cereal is super tasty, super crunchy and super satisfying. You’ve got tons of flavors and textures going on all at once, it’s like this mega party is happening in your mouth with every single bite.

And it goes absolutely deliciously well with home made fruit salad, which, conveniently I had just made a huge batch of and had a truckload of in the fridge…

Add a little bit of vanilla “custard” to the equation and you’ve got yourself this parfait breakfast…

Oh! bliss… we finally get to the point where I can dig in!!! Thank goodness, cuz I was just loosing it!

I am telling you, this foodie almost died with every single bite! Or came… not sure which! 😉

All I can say is it wasn’t long until this is all that was left on the dining room table…

Post-workout meals are just the best!!!

Exercising makes food tastes so much better, doesn’t it?

Or is it just me?

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Grain Free Granola

Servings: 16 ±8 cups

Ingredients

Dry

• 1½ cup quinoa flakes
• 1 cup buckwheat groats
• ½ cup kasha
• ½ cup amaranth
• ½ cup quinoa

Wet

• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ¼ cup unpasteurized liquid honey
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt

Add-ins

• 1-2 tbsp unpasteurized honey
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ cup hemp seeds
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds
• ½ cup unsweetened coconut shavings
• ¼ cup goji berries
• ½ cup toasted almonds, chopped
• ½ cup dried apricots, chopped

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325F
• Heat a large pot over high heat.
• When pot is really nice and hot, add amaranth, 2 tbsp at a time, cover with lid and quickly move pot from side to side and back and forth until amaranth starts to pop, which should happen fairly quickly.
• When all seeds have popped, transfer to large mixing bowl and repeat with the process with the rest of the amaranth. Don't do more than 2 tbsp at a time, else your seeds will only end up burning and will never pop. The bottom of your pot should not be completely covered and the seeds should all be in one layer.
• When all your amaranth is popped, repeat the same process with quinoa, again, popping no more than 2 tablespoons at a time.
• Add quinoa flakes, buckwheat groats and kasha to your popped amaranth and quinoa.
• In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together and wisk until well combined.
• Pour that into dry ingredients and blend with a wooden spoon or spatula until well incorporated.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spread your cereal evenly.
• Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, tossing the cereal around from time to time.
• Remove from oven, drizzle honey and sprinkle cinnamon all over the cereal and mix it in real good.
• Add fruits, seeds and nuts and mix until well incorporated.
• Allow cereal to cool and dry completely in the pan, preferably overnight, before to store in an airtight container.

Author: Sonia! The Healthy Foodie

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