Coconut Honey Granola
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Happy Monday, friends! This past weekend was one for the books. My husband was on spring break from medical school, which means that we got to go on errands together, cook together, sleep in, snuggle (practically all day, oops) - and this past Saturday he decided to plan a surprise date day for me - full of fun activities and delicious foods. When school is in session, Alex's studies take up almost all of his time. So our quality time together during this stage of life looks different than other married couples, but I found the key is to not compare our relationship to others, but rather to do what is right for our own relationship. One of which, includes taking advantage of time off! That means, making sure I have the weekend off to spend more uninterrupted, no responsibility time with my husband. It means, unplugging from social media to give one another our full attention, and going on mundane activities together simply because that means more time together. So on our date day, we began the day at Glam Doll Donuts, discussing our upcoming travels and what language we wanted to work on learning - and we picked Italian! We want to do our Italian last name justice ;) We spent the rest of the day asking each other questions, continually learn more about one another - a fun activity that I highly recommend for any couple! We toured the Mill City Museum, learning the rich history of Minneapolis, visited the zoo to see Chloe the sloth (sloths are my spirit animal, for numerous reasons), made a fort at home, and watched Manchester by the Sea - have you seen it? Talk about a depressing movie.
With spring right around the corner, I have been trading in my warm meals for more smoothies and yogurt parfaits - which means GRANOLA. I am a granola hog, so it's a good thing that my husband doesn't like granola because, more for me! I typically opt for making my own granola instead of buying a sugar packed granola from the store. Although I will say that when my roommate and I lived in Hawaii we hand sampled every single kind of granola available at Whole Foods! So here is one of my granola recipes. It's flavor is based on healthy, natural ingredients like coconut oil and honey. This granola is extremely easy to make and tastes delicious!
COCONUT HONEY GRANOLA
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine:
4 cups oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
1/3 cup flax seeds
3. In a small sized bowl, combine:
1/2 cup coconut oil, liquid form
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mix until evenly coated.
5. Spread the granola onto your pre-lined baking sheet, making it uniform in height to ensure even baking.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, moving the granola around with a spatula every 10 minutes. Remove from oven once the granola is golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container.
