live | brain food: nut granola

Anybody out there still struggling with exams? I still have another one to go, and so has Emily.

What I most dislike about this time of the year is the 'same-ness' of each day.  Get up, revise, eat lunch, take a break and watch some YouTube, maybe do some yoga, do some more revision, eat dinner, read a book, go to sleep.  Repeat.

So Emily and I have tried to mix things up a bit by finding the fun in whatever it is that we happen to get to do each day!

For example, Mum is at the moment really excited about doing up the garden.  We are having a party in late June so she wants it to look nice.  Until the weather gets beautiful, neither I nor Emily bear that much attention to the state of the garden.  Of course, once the sun comes out all you want to do is be out there planting things and reveling in the state of nature.  (I am reading DH Lawrence at the moment, don't mind me!)

But Mum's enthusiasm for growing has led to numerous trips to the garden centre.  Seeing as Emily doesn't have a car, and we are half an hour away from all forms of public transport (well, twenty minutes at least!) we can't get out all that easily so if Mum's going anywhere, we're going, and we're going to find the fun in the Morrison's food shop or the trip to the garden centre to pick up (another!) 4 bags of compost.  (They are on offer.  And you know we are suckers for a good offer).

So on the last trip to the garden centre, Emily and I set our eyes on the cactus section.  Being the avid Pinners that we are (Pinterest is amazing - go and try it while you're taking a break over your cup of tea!) we had seen this growing trend of cactus house plants and we were really loving it.  Also, my friend Chloe had bought one from the very same garden centre and it just looked so nice!

So - I present - my latest acquisition for my bedroom...

Ta Dah! Isn't it so cute!?

Anyway, in terms of the recipe I'm adding today - this is a great snack for in between revision when you feel the four-thirty slump.  Packed full of nutrition but also really yummy too.  Nuts are a great source of the essential fats you need for your brain to work properly.  And we all know we want our brains working properly at this time of the year, right!

So - I basically had a look online at lots of different granola recipes and then went downstairs to check out what I had in the store cupboard.  Then I decided I would make my own nut granola!

Here's what I used...

But you can basically use whatever nuts and dried fruit you have in the same proportions.  

What you do, is mix all the ingredients listed above in a medium sized bowl, and chuck in only some of the cranberries - I put in about a quarter of that which is already in your cup. Make sure the liquid ingredients are fully incorporated into all of the ingredients when you stir it all up. Then you just plonk it all on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet, spreading it out so you have it relatively even - just so every nut and seed is baked to perfection! Bake your granola mix for 15-20 minutes or until your desired level of crunchiness at 240 C. When it's done, just leave it to cool for 10 minutes before tossing in the rest of your cranberries - the combination of baked and non-baked cranberries I find adds the right amount of bite and sweetness. 

And that's it! 

What do you think? Looks yummy right? Enjoy today!! 

- rosinaviolets    x