Katie's Granola
The Quick Answer: For a healthy weight, eat more whole foods and fewer refined foods. And start your day with a good breakfast, like Katie’s Granola (below).
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I promised a granola recipe, but first let me comment on a Harvard study just out. The study analyzed dietary patterns for over 200K people, taken over 8-20 years, and found that over the years, some foods add weight while others are linked to weight loss. No surprise, I suppose, but which foods do which?
Weight loss foods—are unprocessed (and low in sugars and starch) and include yogurt (a surprise finding), nuts, fruits, whole grains, and extra helpings of vegetables. The benefit of yogurt is unclear; it may be the probiotics or just the fact that people who eat yogurt do a lot of other healthy things. Exercise and adequate sleep are also important habits.
Weight gain foods—are generally processed and include sugary drinks (most impact, because people drink so much), potatoes (French fries, potato chips and plain old baked potatoes), refined grains, red meats, and processed meats. The farmers in Idaho will defend the baked potato and I’m with them—but I will avoid things deep-fried and try to limit chips to national holidays. Also, smoking cessation, alcohol consumption, too little/too much sleep, and TV watching are all linked to overweight.
We intuitively knew this, but it’s nice of Harvard to confirm. Without saying it outright, the study challenges the common practice of calorie counting. We discussed this in a post, titled The Skinny on Overweight, which stated that eating a variety of whole foods moved us from eating calorie-dense food to eating nutrient-dense foods that had a low glycemic index (G.I.). You don’t need to go hungry to lose weight; nutrient-dense foods are filling, you won’t eat too much. Further, a low G.I. diet of whole foods would lower our insulin level and the propensity of insulin to convert excess glucose into cellular fat. Bottom line: don’t count calories; buy whole foods.
All this follows the longevity survey discussed in a recent post (Last Person Standing). A county-by-county survey of the US found a few counties where longevity was improving even more than the leading nations. (Nations with best longevity include Japan, Sweden and Switzerland.) But it also found that 85% of our counties were falling further behind. It was disturbing that in the greatest democracy, we are not all progressing together.
The Healthy Change of this week is to regularly eat a healthy breakfast. This is important—people who do so have more vigor and are less tempted by sugary snacks. Remember the Breakfast Compote, our effort to make a perfect meal? Two other healthy breakfasts you can make yourself include the Swiss tradition, muesli, and the American invention, granola. They’re both oat-based with nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. The main difference is granola is baked and has oil/fat added to bind it together. Both will keep for a week or two so can be made in advance to save time.
Granola Recipe: The beautiful wife and I have three daughters. When they went off to college, our main requirement (I was going to say “only”, but there were a few other parental dictates) was they work to help pay their way, avoid debt, and pick a major that would lead to a paying job. Reflecting their uniqueness, one is a firefighter, another is a designer, and the last is a photographer. They all share an interest in healthy eating and the picture above comes from Brooke’s blog, Inchmark, which links to the recipe at Katie Did.
I call it Katie’s Granola and it is unique because it’s baked in a cool oven (250 F) but for a longer time (2 hours). Most granola recipes bake at 350F for 15-30 minutes, depending on moisture level. (Brooke adds more nuts, as shown below. You might want to add a little salt.)
Katie’s Granola
10 c old-fashioned rolled oats
2c whole-wheat flour
2c wheat germ
2c coconut, shredded or flaked
2 to 3c total of chopped pecans and sliced almonds
Mix above ingredients in large bowl
4T vanilla
1/2c water
2c honey
1c (or less) healthy oil (try coconut oil)
Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl, then stir into the dry ingredients. Spread in shallow baking pans and bake about 2 hours at 250 F., stirring gently every 15 minutes. Cook until golden brown and nearly dry. Cool and store in airtight containers; refrigerate.
Budget Wisdom: You can save money by making your own granola, and you’ll have the confidence that you know what’s in it. Katie’s recipe is for the frugal—it has fourfold more grains than nuts/seeds/dried fruit. Other recipes balance the grain quantity with the more expensive nuts/seeds/fruit. Another savings: because many love it but don't make it, granola makes a great gift and is simpler than wandering the store aisles looking for something people often don't even need.
Please comment: We’re all moving away from factory-made stuff, towards home-cooked foods that are both healthier and less expensive. You're inventing a new economy: blending healthful food traditions with new, time-saving methods. Examples: home-made granola can last a week or two with the refrigerator, and wheat can be fresh-ground with a home grinder. Please share your creative ideas for healthier living.
Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 5:10AM | by Skip Hellewell | 30 Comments | 10 References | Share Article | Email Article
Reader Comments (30)
We are in Zurich. Anytime Clare wants to come we'd love a personal tour guide. :) I have not been to Wengen but love the Lauterbrunnen area, Gimmelwald is one of my favorites, right next to Wengen.
Quark is soured milk strained that tastes/looks similar to Greek yogurt, low in fat and is easy to use in cooking, unlike yogurts. They use it in tortes and cakes, with very little sugar, if any.
We were not big meat eaters but when we moved here we almost became vegetarians. The price of meat here is outrageous. A Beef Roast is $16 lb, Mignon $40 lb, boneless Chicken $15 pound, and so on. Fast food is almost non-existent here making you learn to cook everything you eat,(a good thing). The big meal of the day here is lunch. Kids walk home from school for lunch and then go back to school. Dinner is usually bread and cheese or something light. For dinner we eat a lot of Beans, Ratatouille , Risottos, Vegetables, wheat pastas, etc. A look at a weeks menu:
Vegetable Egg Plant Lasagne
Homemade wheat pizza & sauce with fresh mozzarella
Vegetable Tahi
Tomatoe, Zucchini, Potato Grattan
Black bean salad
Fish with Crouton tomatoe salad
Homemade wheat tortillas with grilled veggies
PS I just made the granola, yum! Thanks for the recipe.
I love steel cut oats but don't always have time to make them in the morning. So I make a batch at the beginning of the week, refrigerate it, and then eat it all week long. If you microwave it with a little milk, then add blueberries, walnuts, cinnamon, and a little honey it is delicious!
I used to make my own granola until I read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon; she says that granola is very hard for the body to digest because the oats contain a lot of phytates (anti-nutrients that make grains difficult to break down and block absorption of minerals which can lead to mineral deficiencies). Since then I've tried a soaked granola recipe, which is good but not quite the same. I've been trying to soak all my grains and have been making sourdough whole wheat bread and a lot of our digestive issues have been solved. I would love to hear your thoughts on soaking grains.
A recipe I made for dinner last night that my husband and I both thought was fabulous was a cold grain salad. Here is the recipe:
1 c. wheat berries, soaked overnight and then cooked (boil 2 cups water, simmer wheat for 1 hour) and cooled (you could also use quinoa or brown rice)
3 cups chopped vegetables (I used onion, cucumber, tomato, artichoke hearts, broccoli, and red pepper; sprouted beans would also be great)
1 c. cubed cheddar cheese
balsamic dressing to taste (1/2 c. balsamic vinegar, 1 t. salt, 1/2 t. garlic powder, 1 c. olive oil)
Mix together and let sit in the fridge for a few hours. This makes a great picnic dinner or potluck dish. Serves 4 for main dish.
Lindsey, nice to hear from you. Phytic acid (parent of phytate) is the main form of phosphorus in plants, and there have been concerns that it may hinder mineral bioavailability. It plays an antioxidant role, in fact seeds and grains that are high in needed antioxidants are also high in phytic acid. Scientists are still learning about the various roles of phytic acid, but it does inhibit colon cancer, help prevent osteoporosis, and treat excess iron. These are all good functions.
If you have a concern, phytic acid can be reduced in foods by soaking, fermenting, and sprouting. There may be some ancient wisdom in these food processes. Bottom line, scientists don't know enough about how phytic acid and phytates work in different people to make a definitive statement. The best we can say is it's a naturally occurring molecule with various functions and different people may have different tolerance. Trust your instincts. Best to you.
I've been making whole wheat bread for my family for almost two years now. (I've only purchase sandwich bread twice in two years. That amazes me!). I just started making granola bars as a healthy to-go snack. With each batch I keep reducng the sugar and the kids are still gobbling them up (down to 1/4 cup brown sugar in 30 bars). I've been experimenting with homemade frozen chicken nuggets, but the kids aren't going for them, even though I loved the last batch.
We LOVE granola at our house, and I recently stumbled on and have been making this recipe I found on Jora's blog, Domestic Reflections. Easy to make, and so good.
http://domesticreflections.blogspot.com/2011/06/granola-my-way.html
I love my Vita-Mix, and use it to makes smoothies every morning for my family, and delicious veggie soups for dinner. Try adding spinach, kale and carrots to your smoothies, If you add a sweet fruit or peach juice, you can't even taste the veggies. I also add Chia seeds, a super food worth checking out. Thanks for your blog Skip, I really enjoy it and have passed it on to many of my friends.
First, thank you (again) for writing this thoughtful blog. I've gained much from your many posts and your work has definitely helped to focus my efforts here with my family.
I appreciate someone's comment about rice and beans. Even with my love of cooking, the straightforward dish of rice and beans has gotten me through many meals (salsa, european style sour cream, a little healthy cheese with a good amount of frozen mixed veggies mixed in). Also, my kinds can't get enough green smoothies.
Granola and homemade yogurt is a hit here too. When it's made here though, I assemble 4-5 batches in storage containers for later use and only cook one that day. So, I'll have a month's supply ready and only have to throw a pre-assembled batch in the oven when needed. Gratefully, yogurt is easy to do in the background of dinner prep and such.
Finally (sorry, I guess this is getting long), this granola bar is a recent hit at our house: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/06/16/recipe-connection-homemade-granola-and-granola-bars/. The basic recipe can be adjusted any way you want. I just used spelt flour instead of wheat and threw in a bunch of mixed, dried fruit.
Anyway, it's an effort to keep things simple as so much cooking moves into the kitchen as processed food moves out. Thank you for your help with this!
I've been making my own bread and granola for a while and I've found the cost savings to be significant. What I make usually tastes better, too, and I love knowing exactly what's in it.
Something I always used to buy that I recently started making is tortillas. I use whole wheat flour, olive oil and salt, and they come out wonderfully! I love adding new items into my repertoire.
Made the granola and loved it. It's a nice flexible recipe. Posting a link to it on my blog tomorrow so my friends can try it.