Granola and "yogurt"

Homemade Granola and "yogurt"

After switching to a completely vegan diet, there are definitely some old standards that I miss...usually around breakfast time. Eggs and yogurt were my regular go-to's in the morning. They were yummy, healthy (in a non-vegan mind) and so easy. Now my breakfast is usually a big green drink and either oatmeal or waffles or a couple of bananas and a handful of nuts (if I'm short on time or feeling lazy). However, recently my husband dropped most dairy from his diet as well, and he is going through the no egg, no yogurt blues....so with the help of some vegan friends, we have a new morning standard in our house! Both the "yogurt" and Granola are so easy it's kind of funny how little effort they take! Make each at the beginning of the week, and have breakfast ready to go each morning!

Owen's yogurt and granola breakfast with stawberries

RECIPES:
the "yogurt" is actually Oh She Glows Pudding recipe found in her book. It's simply chia seeds and homemade almond milk (or whatever non-dairy milk you prefer) mixed with a little sweetener. You just mix up all ingredients and put in fridge over night. YUM. She has an equally yummy chia recipe on her blog found here.
If you have not heard of Oh She Glows yet, pause now and google. Her cookbook is totally worth the $$.

Yogurt:

2 cups almond milk

6 T chia seeds

2 T maple syrup

1t vanilla

whisk together all ingredients in a bowl vigorously for about 1 minute. let sit for 2 minutes. whisk vigorously again for 1 minute. Pour mix into one large mason jar or a few smaller mason jars, screw on lids and place in refrigerator. Check on the jars after 5-10 minutes and if you see the chia seeds have settled to the bottom half of the jar, shake up the jar. this will evenly distribute the chia again for the perfect consistency. Let jars sit in fridge overnight. This batch is about 4-5 servings.

The Granola recipe is from some vegan friends here in Charlottesville that run a blog called VeganScratch.com. There are many great granola recipes out there, but this one is so simple and easy and DELICIOUS!

Granola:

3 cups Oats

1.5 cups chopped nuts (I use walnuts, almonds, pecans and sunflowerseeds)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 t salt

mix all ingredients together in large bowl and spread out on baking sheet. cook in 300* oven for 30min, then turn oven off and let sit in over for another 15min.

NUTRITION INFO:
Chia seeds are one of the best plant sources of Omega 3s plus they contain fiber, antioxidants, and they can be easily digested without being ground up or chewed up!

Granola tastes so great and contains one of my favorite ingredients to start the day: OATS! All that fiber and those great carbs to energize you the right way. Oats are low on the glycemic index, which is a ranking of how carbs affect your blood sugar levels. This means your body digests oats slowly, keeping you filled up with a nice and healthy, mellow energy.

Books worth buying

I love cookbooks. I read them before bed (i'm serious). I could spend a fortune on cookbooks, but I hold back because with all the awesome vegan blogs and online recipes (pinterest!) out there, there's really no need. I enjoy following recipes pretty often because I think it makes me a better cook. The more I get to know different flavor profiles and ingredients, the more successful I am when playing around with my own recipes.

For the most part, I look at recipes using one of these:

ipad stand
(with Hottie Black Eyed Peas from Post Punk Kitchen up. YUM)

This ipad stand was a gift from my husband and I use it daily. If you ask me, it was WAY too expensive (from William Sonoma) but there are other versions out there for under $20. 

Ok, back to the cookbooks pictured above. These are my favorite two cookbooks and I continue to go back to them time and time again. This is why I love each of them:

SUPER NATURAL COOKING 

by Heidi Swanson

There are great recipes in this book, but that's not the reason I love it. She has sections for different types of ingredients like grains, sweeteners, beans, etc. They are the staples she uses in her cooking. But instead of just listing them, each section has an intro that goes into the nutrition and history, and then she explains the flavors of each and how they will affect your recipes. It's awesome. I'm always going back to this one. 

OH SHE GLOWS

by Angela Liddon

Angela is a recipe-tester extraordinaire! She tests and tastes and tests and tastes until she gets the recipe just perfect. Every single recipe I have tried in this book is killer! If I have to make something on short notice for any type of event or even a potluck or whatever, I know that I can choose one of these recipes (even if I'm making it for the first time) and it'll be a sure-fire hit! GREAT recipes!!