Oh friends.
And friends and friends.
I went. I went on retreat. It was lovely.
Sometimes I’ll be somewhere and I’ll realize: this is exactly right. I’m exactly myself, exactly where I need to be. Marytown (the retreat center) is one of those places.
Thank you for your prayers while I was away.
AND NOW I’M BACK.
Here’s some carrot cake granola, made up using the internet and my kitchen experience and (most importantly) my love for my people.
It needs to be shared that sometime in the last year I apparently became a hippie. No Christmas cookies this year for anyone–only granola. Sorry, not sorry. 🙂 And, it was well-received. I think that people feel good about sprinkling healthy decisions in with the decadent.
Today is a snow day here, too, so I thought the timing was good for posting. Heat up the oven on cold days, right?
To start, I have no “gather your ingredients” photo. Only all of the “dry” ingredients in a Polish bowl.
This will be like I-Spy. Can you spy with your little eye: three cups of oats, two shredded carrots, two tablespoons of hemp seeds (ha! another win for my inner-hippie!), two tablespoons of uncooked quinoa, one cup of coconut, one cup of slivered almonds?
Yes? Good work!
Also in there: one cup of roasted sunflower seeds.
I don’t know why I never tried roasted sunflower seeds before. They are slightly magical in everything: try some in spinach salad…ay yi yi levels of yum!
A few weeks ago Lauren left me a voicemail saying, “What can you tell me about coconut oil?”
But, I could tell her nothing because I had no experience in the matter.
But the voicemail prompted me to get my natural-game on, so I did but some. And I added it to this recipe. Two tablespoons, melted slowly in an heirloom pot over an outdoor fire comprised of birch (important, only birch will work) wood the microwave.
Three more things and you’re done!
1. The white of an egg, beaten until there are bubbles (this is called “frothy”)
2. A few shakes of salt
3. One teaspoon of spice. I used pumpkin pie spice since it’s probably my best friend. But, you could also use plain cinnamon. Tried and true.
Once everything is nicely stirred, spread it out on a baking sheet (parchment paper is nice!) and bake at 300 for 45-60 min.
Stir it about around the 30 min mark, just to make sure everything bakes well/ nothing burns.
And, when you’re done, you can add raisins and butterscotch chips, like me, or you can eat it as-is!
Om nom nom. 🙂
I packed these in sweet little bags…and took zero photos. So, use the cute side of your brain to imagine them.
But, you can use your taste buds to taste if you make some for yourself (or to share!) today.
| Carrot cake granola | |
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| Ingredients | Serves 6-8 |
| 3 cups of oats (I used gluten-free) 2 carrots, shredded 2 tablespoons of hemp seeds (optional) 2 tablespoons of uncooked quinoa (also optional. Be free!) 1 cup of coconut 1 cup of slivered almonds 1 cup of sunflower seeds (I recommend roasted) |
1/4 cup agave syrup (if you sub honey, I need a full report) 1/4 cup molasses (iron!) 1/4 cup real maple syrup 2 tablespoons of coconut oil 1 egg white, beaten until frothy 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice 1 teaspoon of salt Love for your friends |
| Instructions: | |
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