Homemade Granola

I have always wanted to make my own granola, but was too intimidated.  Now I can happily report that it is not very difficult and the results are quite tasty.  I used a recipe from the Flat Belly Diet Family Cookbook although I simplified a bit.  Below the recipe I have included some nutritional information concerning the health-benefits of resistant starch.

Homemade Granola  (5 PointsPlus)
Ingredients:
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon almost extract
Optional additions (not included in PointsPlus total):
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried tart cherries

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.  Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray-- or, if you're lazy like me, first line baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up and then coat with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl combine the oats, almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Separately, combine the honey, oil, and almost extract.  
3. Pour honey mixture over the oat mixture and stir well.  Spread evenly on baking sheet.
4. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes, for 38 - 40 minutes.
5. If you are adding the dried fruit, add now.  Either way, cool and store in an airtight container.

Serving Size and PointsPlus Total:

This makes 12 servings.  Each serving is 1/2 cup and 5 PointsPlus.  To make this a meal, I chopped up kiwi, a few strawberries, and tossed some berries into 8oz of non-fat plain Greek yogurt (3 PointsPlus), drizzled a teaspoon of honey to make it sweet (1 PointsPlus), and topped with a serving of granola.  It was truly enjoyable and filling (total: 9 PointsPlus). 

Some notes on the nutritional value

Generally, we know that we're supposed to eat whole grains and avoid starchy foods, but, if you're like me, you may not fully grasp the science behind this rule.  I have been doing some research in order to better understand the health-value of certain foods.  I will not give you the science teacher explanation, go do your own research if you want the technical stuff, but here's what I learned.

• Resistant starches are digested more slowly and are much better for our bodies.  They do not rapidly turn into sugar, give us a sugar high, and then make us crash.
• Resistant starches also make use feel full for longer stretches of time.
• They are called resistant starch because they resist digestion.  Unlike most of the starch in our diet, they do not begin to breakdown in our small intestine, instead they resist digestion until they reach the colon.  This is beneficial for the colon and due to their slower digestion rate actually help you lose weight. (Information based on  ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine by John La Puma M.D.).

What foods are considered resistant starches? Well, first of all, old-fashioned oats are a resistant starch-- hence, I'm bringing this up with the granola recipe.  Please note, instant oatmeal is NOT a resistant starch, so spend the extra few minutes and use the old-fashioned variety.  Other resistant starches include: lentils, brown rice, barley, whole wheat, quinoa [see the Berry Quinoa Breakfast post], steel-cut oats, buckwheat, kidney beans, navy beans, bananas, and many others.

Berry Delicious Quinoa Breakfast

I LOVE this breakfast.  I make it almost every other morning in fresh berry season.  It's filling, delicious, and sweet.  Oh, and it's also quite healthy.  In fact the recipe comes from this interesting book ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine by John La Puma M.D.

I vary ever so slightly from Dr. La Puma's original recipe, so I'll outline the 7 point breakfast and the 8 point breakfast.

Berry Delicious Quinoa Breakfast  (7 PointsPlus)
Ingredients:
1 cup rinsed quinoa
1 cup skim milk
1 cup water
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons agave nectar (honey may be used as a substitute, see recipe below)

Steps:

1. Combine quinoa, milk, and water in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
2. Add the cinnamon, agave, and the berries.

Seriously, what could be easier than this?!

Serving Size and PointsPlus Value:

This makes 4 servings.  Each serving is worth 7 PointsPlus.

Here's the 8 point version:

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast  (8 PointsPlus)

Ingredients:

1 cup rinsed quinoa

1 cup 1% milk

1 cup water

1 cup fresh blackberries

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 oz chopped, toasted pecans (about 16 pecans if you don't have a scale)

4 teaspoons honey

Steps:

1. Combine quinoa, milk, and water in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
2. Meanwhile, toast the pecans in a dry frying pan or in the toaster for 3 - 5 minutes.  Toss them frequently to avoid burning.  Allow to cool slightly, then coarsely chop.
3. Add the cinnamon, honey, pecans, and berries.

Serving Size and PointsPlus Value:

This makes 4 servings.  Each serving is worth 8 PointsPlus.

Tomato-Spinach Frittata

I have always been a breakfast person and it remains my favorite meal (besides ice cream, but really, let's be serious). However, I hate to eat too many calories / points before the day has really begun, yet I am unwilling to sacrifice a delicious breakfast for a crunchy, tasteless, low-fat cereal doused in that watery-milk substance we call skim. Thus, the frittata.

The idea of a frittata is not original. Basic frittata recipes abound, and I'm sure you can find one for a spinach-tomato version similar to this one. Knowing the basics of a frittata (and knowing that I prefer them over the dried-out omelette breakfast) I surveyed my kitchen. There was leftover baby spinach that hadn't quite made it into last night's pasta, half a container of grape tomatoes, half an onion, and, of course, garlic. Voila! You can amend this recipe to include whatever scraps you have in your kitchen-- I think bell peppers and zucchini might work nicely or a variation on the cheese.

Tomato-Spinach Frittata  (4 points)

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved (give or take-- there is a lot of flexibility in this recipe)

2 cups baby spinach (like above, you can be flexible-- use what you have)
4 eggs

2 egg whites

3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Steps:

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Heat oil in 10-inch oven proof pan (I used a cast iron skillet) over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and semi-transparent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and spinach. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables begin to wilt, about 3 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, Parmesan (or other cheese of your choice), salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
5. Pour egg mixture over tomato and spinach mixture, stirring gently to combine. Reduce heat to medium and cook until eggs set, about 7-8 minutes.
6. Place frittata in broiler and broil for 2 minutes.
7. Done! It will be hot, let it cool for at least 2 minutes.

Serving Size and PointsPlus Value:

The frittata makes 4 servings. Each serving is worth 4 PointsPlus. Due to wonky Weight Watchers math, 1 & 1/2 servings is actually 5 PointsPlus, so if you are still hungry, definitely help yourself to another half portion.