simplicity.

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While I am still sick, that doesn’t mean I am going to drown myself in saltine crackers for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Although depending on what kind of “under the weather” feeling you have, a diet of saltine crackers + ginger ale might be the only thing you can eat.

This bowl of oats was the best [by far] this week.  I could just dive in + swim around. 

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banana –> perfect ripeness

pnut butter –> creamy + melted

coconut butter –> pillowy + sweet

cacao bliss –> chocolate + coconut creaminess

homemade granola –> crunCH!

steel cut oats –> thick.creamy.fabulous.

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Please. JUMP in my mouth. Now.

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I love food.  It surprises me ALL of the time.  I love when something so simple + basic can just blow you away.  Simplicity is often taken for granted in the food world.  Sometimes, the most amazing thing is staring right at you…in it’s purest, simplest form…just waiting for you to see it and gobble it up.

Enter –> sweet potato

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I have never had a sweet potato quite like this.  Recently, Kath posted on the “low + slow” method for cooking sweet potatoes.  She read about it in a Cook’s magazine.  If you aren’t familiar with Cook’s magazine [long time subscriber!! love it!] it can be summed up like this:

  1. Each issue highlights a handful of recipes that they test + re-test and perfect.  It is usually a well known recipe that everyone has tried to make at one time or another. 
  2. Product reviews.  They rate + test identical products from different companies and let you know where each one falls with the reasoning behind it.
  3. Pages of handy kitchen tips, ie: how to store certain foods, how to best cut certain foods, etc.  Super helpful!

This method of cooking, is definitely what I would call Simple Perfection.

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Here is what I did:

  1. Preheat oven to 350*
  2. Slice sweet potatoes ~1/2” thick
  3. Lightly coat with olive oil + a sprinkling of salt
  4. Bake for 20min [turning once]
  5. Turn heat to 400*
  6. Bake for ~15-20min more [turning once]

You won’t even believe what you have just done.  As you puncture through the slightly crunchy browned skin, the center oozes with creaminess.  It is like you puree’d sweet potatoes and infused them back into the potato.  The flavor is equally as amazing.  No extra salt was needed.  No cinnamon.  No maple syrup.  They were sweet + caramelized + delicious.

You really must try this out. 

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Can’t get much better.  Can’t get much simpler.

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2 farm fresh eggs + kale chips + 1 sweet potato –> lunchtime perfection

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My how my lunches have changed SO much in just ONE year! :)

…

I worked up the nutritional info for my protein packed Make You Go CRUNCH Granola!    

Yields appx. 3c –> 1/2c serving size

cals: 230

fat: 11g

sugars: 9g

sodium: 102mg

fiber: 4g

protein: 6.5g

So what do you think?  I was pretty happy with this.  While it does seem calorie dense, I’m not eating this as cereal.  Although 1c would be about equal to my morning bowl of oats and probably packed with more protein.  I love that the sugar content is SO low.  Calories from sugar add up to 41.  Not too shabby.  I was really excited about the protein + fiber being so high and this REALLY was tasty.  If you are looking for a super low calorie granola, it will be hard to fill it with protein + fiber, unless you’re just adding protein powder [but not sure how that would taste].  If you don’t remember, I used unsweetened applesauce in place of most of the oil, taking the oil down to only 1/2T.  I’m not sure I would do anything different next time.  If you are looking for a sweeter granola I would suggest adding more applesauce or adding pureed banana like I did with the Banana Coconut granola. 

If you are looking for some granola crunch, but just don’t want all those calories, I would suggest JUST using oats + applesauce + a tiny bit of oil + maple syrup or honey.

…

Time to watch a movie with the huz.  I am getting cabin fever in the house…must get out tomorrow!!

~Ashley