Pecan Pie Granola Cereal

Have you seen the price tag on clean granola cereal? It's not cheap and you can't control how it's sweetened. 

However, the good news is, you can make your own at home for a fraction of the cost! This recipe is so simple a child can make it! My daughter helped me make our first batch but she will be making it on her own next time.

Pecan Pie Granola Cereal

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Old Fashioned oats
• 3 Tbps Coconut Sugar
• 3/4-1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup raw pecans (no oils added), chopped
• 1/3 cup honey (local is best choice) or use Pure Maple Syrup
• 1-2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup organic unrefined coconut oil, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees 

1) Add the top 5 ingredients to a large bowl and mix well.

2) Add honey, vanilla and coconut oil to a small bowl and mix well.

3) Add the wet to the dry and mix (we used our hands) until evenly coated.

4) Spread evenly on a baking pan. Bake for about 20-30 min, stirring every 10 min. 

NOTE: It will harden as it cools. Eat it dry or pour some UNSWEETENED coconut milk or almond milk on it. It's delicious!

Enjoy. 

2014 {a year in review} : Take a Risk.

Happy New Year!

Every year I make time to sit down and write a year in review.  A lot can change in 12 months!  I'll bet when I read this in January 2016 a lot more has changed in my life. I suggest you do the same and reflect back each year.

I have always heard this saying (below) and I bet you have too!

But, did I ever truly take the risks I felt I should be taking? Four years ago I went all into EATING CLEAN and the rewards were GREAT, so GREAT! I am still living, breathing and experiencing those rewards. But, there was one thing I always wanted to do that I never did (never ever did): move to warmer weather and leave Indiana. I let fear, the unknown and the "what ifs" keep me on the "shore" (or should I say, in the "cornfields"). Not to mention all the "work" to relocate. 

 I have ALWAYS hated the Indiana winters. The seasonal depression. The limitations Indiana winters bring. The mood and funk it puts me in. The complaining and crankiness it brings out in people around you. The shoveling snow. The painfully cold temps. The lack of sunshine.

Well, after a record snowfall for the season 2013-2014 (Dec-Jan-Feb) of 51.6" of SNOW, we had enough. I think a part of me died that winter. Seriously. 

We, as a family, decided (in July) it was time to risk it all. Select a place to live we hoped to be happier living in with more sunshine! Closer to a beach, closer to mountains and let's get to the important things...close to a Costco and Super Target! With that decision came loads and loads of research. After we landed on an area (near Charlotte), my husband began the (what seemed impossible) job search. 

I did have hope, it was dim at times, but I had it. I had faith in God that he would lead me to where we should be if it was his will. Without my faith in God, I wouldn't be where I am today. We experienced so many emotions to get where I am today: Lake Wylie, SC. , but it was worth it.  It's currently 30 degrees warmer than Indiana. Enough said. 

I have had that breakthrough at almost 40 years of age. It's NEVER too late to take a risk to be happier.

I challenge you to look at your life and evaluate your happiness level. You deserve to be happy. Risk something. Risk people judging you for your new wacky food choices....risk your family being upset with you that you will no longer be nearby....risk going into a new challenge without knowing how it will change you....risk letting go of the comfortable ....risk moving away from your rock, your best friend....simply risk something!, because without doing so you may not experience some of the greatest rewards life has to offer.

Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.

~Paulo Coelho

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.

~John F. Kennedy

If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories.

~Richard M. Nixon

A ship is always safe at the shore - but that is NOT what it is built for.

~ Albert Einstein

If you ever wondered it weather impacts your mood, it does. I am so much happier here. My kids are happier. They love their new school. They have met new friends. I have met new friends. I hear birds chirping in January! We have been enjoying the sunshine (and even the rain compared to snow). I will blog more down the road on the differences I have experienced moving from IN to SC. 

As I reflect back on my 2014 I am grateful for my health. My husband and my kid's health too. I am grateful I am alive and well. I am grateful our families stayed positive during this HUGE decision to relocate. This is a big change for them as well and even though they would prefer us closer, they want us happy! We all take different paths in life and they don't always lead us to the same physical destination.

I am STILL grateful for making the change in 2010 to completely overhaul my life and my family's life. I have told you many times I think I was living in a processed food "fog" for years. Eating Clean gives me clarity and perhaps more courage. 

Taking a risk in your life may just be what you need, read Why Taking Risks Comes Great Rewards 

Don't let a world of processed food weigh you down from being the best you that you can be. Eat clean. You deserve to feel awesome.

Have a splendid 2015. I'm going to try to!

I look forward to sharing all my new adventures with you all! xo Angie