My Chouchoux: Coconut Pumpkin Granola 椰香南瓜Granola

When I first went to the supermarkets here, I was surprised to find all these American cereal/granola boxes on the shelves (since I thought bread and jam was more of the traditional breakfast in Quebec)! It didn't matter if it was in the regular supermarkets or in health food stores, I was able to find all those familiar brands and packages that I used to see in NY. That tells me how many people rely on box cereals/granola for their breakfast!

A lot of people are under the impression that granola is healthy because it has a lot of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits, which isn't totally incorrect, but if you read the back of the package, very often you'll see cane sugar or other sweeteners within the first few ingredients. I have a huge problem with breakfast that is sweet like a dessert. There should be a distinct difference between one and the other! Further, a lot of packages advertise that they're very high in vitamin B and other vitamins, but if you take a closer look, you'll find that they have added micro-nutrients, which isn't natural; it is kind of like adding vitamin pills to your food.

So I hope I've said enough to convince you to try and make your own homemade granola. It really isn't difficult. I know most pumpkin recipes use typical pumpkin spices, but I decided to make an exception and not put much spice in this one, in order to let the coconut flavor come out. It is truly delicious! Have you ever seen this delectable flavour on the supermarket shelves before? Well, you can now have it on your pantry shelf, plus it's a healthier choice and it'll help you to save some bucks, too!

Coconut Pumpkin Granola (makes 8 Cups)

A: 3 C oats

1 1/2 C rye flakes (I use some rye flakes here because they contain more

fiber than oats. If you can't find them, just substitute with more oats)

1/2 C quinoa

1 C shredded or shaved coconut (unsweetened!)

1/2 C roughly chopped pecans

1/2 C pumpkin seeds

1 t ground cinnamon

a pinch of nutmeg

a pinch of sea salt

1/2 C maple syrup

1 C pumpkin puree (to make your homemade pumpkin puree, please

click here)

3 T melted coconut oil (you can use extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed

oil)

1 t vanilla extract

B: 3/4 C dried cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Place all the ingredients A in a large bowl and mix them well.

2. Transfer A onto a baking sheet and spread the mixture evenly (without pressing it down). Place it in the oven.

3. Bake 15 minutes, then take it out of the oven and stir the granola around. Return it to the oven and check after every 10 minutes until the mixture starts drying out and gets slighty crispy. *I baked it for about a total of 40 minutes, but with different ovens, the temperature may vary. Be sure to check it and stir it frequently since the nuts and seeds do burn very easily.

4. After taking it out of the oven, let it sit and cool for 20-30 minutes. *As the granola cools down, it will get crunchier.

5. Pour the granola into a large bowl and add ingredients B. Mix well and transfer it into airtight containers. It should last for 3 weeks.

- Yvonne

當我剛搬來這裡去超市買菜時，我很驚訝的發現店裡架子上擺滿了各式各樣的美國cereal與granola (因為他們傳統的早餐通常是麵包加果醬啊)！不管是在一般的超市或有機食品店內，都可以找到之前在紐約常看到的熟悉品牌與包裝。這告訴了我，現代人不管在哪裡，早餐似乎都是依賴那一盒一盒的cereal跟granola比較多。

很多人認為吃granola是健康的選擇，這想法不算是錯誤的，因為它的確含有許多的堅果、種子、果乾等健康食材，但是外面買來的不一定都健康。你如果留意包裝的背面，會發現蔗糖、蜂蜜或楓糖通常被列為前幾項的食材之一！我個人很不能接受早餐吃的那麼甜，那不是跟甜點沒什麼差別了嗎？除此之外，很多商人在包裝上大做廣告，說什麼有很豐富的vitamin B之類的，但是大家仔細看食材的部分就知道，原來都是一些人工vitamin，並不是來自於食物本身。

希望講了這麼多，可以說服大家還是自製的granola最好，而且真的很容易。雖然大部分的南瓜granola食譜，通常會添加南瓜香料-pumpkin spice(是以幾種的辛香料做成的)在裡面，我在這食譜裡面只加一點點的辛香料，原因是想讓那椰香味出來(若是您想加一些pumpkin spice也ok(^-^)。自己製作的好處就是既健康，又可以隨意放自己喜愛以及商店買不到的特別口味！