In a healthy diet, the vital things your body needs are proteins, carbs, and fats. This week’s recipe includes all of these components and tastes delicious. Granola has a healthy balance of protein, carbs, and fats, and it is super easy to make. It can be eaten for breakfast, as a snack, and even as a healthy dessert! On top of Greek yogurt and drizzled with honey, granola is a balanced breakfast that will keep you energized throughout the day. Since you can store it for up to two weeks, it’s good for those hectic mornings when you need to grab breakfast and go.

This recipe has a lot of healthy ingredients that make your body feel happy and refreshed. Coconut oil is a new super food that is sweeping the nation this year. It helps prevent heart disease, increase your energy, burn fat, and kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi because of its acid content. If you don’t have coconut oil, olive oil is a great substitute because it has just as much healthy unsaturated fat and it gives you energy.

Nuts, a main component of this snack, are one of the best foods you can eat. They have tons of protein and unsaturated fats. It has been proven that eating nuts every day can add years to your life! But too many nuts can lead to sluggishness and weight gain, so be sure to eat the proper serving size. For the granola, I used some of my favorite kinds: ½ cups of almonds, pecans, and pistachios. There are so many other kinds to try, like walnuts, macadamia nuts, and cashews.

I like that this recipe uses agave syrup, which has many more additional features than the maple syrup used in other recipes. Agave syrup has immune system-boosting properties, helps lower cholesterol, and can reduce the risk of certain cancers. If you don’t have agave syrup, honey is a good substitute. They both taste sweet, but agave is a little bit healthier than honey.

I made a couple of changes to this recipe. I didn’t use sesame seeds because I don’t enjoy the taste of them. They would make a great addition to the recipe otherwise because they are good sources of calcium, magnesium, iron, and other nutrients. Because cinnamon is one of my favorite spices, I used a whole teaspoon instead of a half, and I only used one teaspoon of salt instead of 1 1/2 to balance it out. For the dried fruit, I used 1/2 cup of dried cranberries and 1/2 cup of golden raisins. This recipe was super easy to make, it tasted great, and it was really healthy! Enjoy!

Homemade Granola

Ingredients:

• 1 large beaten egg white
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (any kind you like)
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut shavings
• 1/2 cup agave syrup
• 1/4 cup warmed coconut oil
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup dried fruit (any kind you like)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300˚ F.
2. Mix the egg white, oats, chopped nuts, coconut shavings, agave syrup, coconut oil, sesame seeds, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Toss to combine.
3. Spread out the granola onto a baking sheet with a rim. Bake the granola for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes while it is in the oven.
4. Let the mixture cool on the sheet. Add the dried fruit and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Yield: 12 servings