Is it cereal? Is it granola? Is it oatmeal?
Well, it's really whatever you want it to be! Little Lady has been asking for oatmeal lately. I guess she is tiring of the egg or paleo pancake breakfasts. Of course, oatmeal isn't really a paleo food, so I set out to find an alternative. A friend had mentioned Steve's Original, which is basically a paleo cereal you can order online, but I wanted something I could make at home. I'm cheap crafty like that. After looking at several different options, I settled on this recipe. Putting it together is also a super kid friendly activity.
You'll Need
Honey
Vanilla Extract
Coconut Oil
Almond Meal
Pumpkin Seeds
Sunflower Seeds
Flax Seeds (I added this for fun)
Shredded Coconut
Chopped or slivered almonds
Please go through the link above to get the quantities. Also feel free to add whatever else you want or to change some of them up. Add more nuts, omit certain seeds, add some dehydrated fruits - I think this will work well with any of those alterations. I just did the basic recipe to start out with to make sure it went over well.
Gather all your ingredients and a ready and willing child. You can still try it without the child, but you might finish much faster and with lower blood pressure than expected.
Preheat your oven to 350.
Combine the first three ingredients in a small bowl.
Remember to melt your coconut oil when measuring it.
Talk about the different measurements and count them out with your child.
"One teaspoon."
"TWO teaspoons."
Allow the tiny hands to whisk it, and then take you're turn and get it all whisked together.
Take a not-so-quick break to change and strap on the under-the-weather Little Man that just woke up from his nap.
Measure out the other ingredients and let the kiddo helper dump them together in a large bowl. My measurements for the flax seeds were two kid size hand fulls.
Point out all the neat layers to your child, then mix them all together. They are going to want to help with this too.
Take another break to move the sick baby to the front, since they keep crying on your back.
Take the bowl with your first three ingredients, whisk it up again, and add it to your dry ingredients. Mix it all up well.
Spread the mixture on a cookie sheet and stick in the oven for 10 minutes.
Toss it around a bit and then cook for about 8 minutes more.
Take it out and let it cool. It hardens up as it cools.
Get a little sample ready for your helper. Per my friends suggestion, I made it into oatmeal by simply adding almond milk and microwaving it for a couple seconds. You can enjoy it as cereal by eating it with cold milk or as granola by eating it on it's own.
Allow your kiddo to taste test it.
She approved!
Just store it in an airtight container.
Pretty easy, huh? Next time I think I'll add some dehydrated apples or bananas.
For a delicious non paleo granola idea that is fun to do with the kids, check out this recipe from Delia Creates. Both of these would make a great gift too, just wrap it up in a pretty bag!
