Stuck in A Breakfast Rut? Try this Gorgeous Granola to Go!

I've been finding myself in a bit of a breakfast rut lately and knew something had to change. There never seems enough time in the morning to get the kids all organised for school: up, dressed, breakfasted, lunch boxes prepared and out the door for their bus at 720 am AND for me to have breakfast at the same time. Reluctant to get up any earlier than 615 am, I tend to just grab that coffee and do the school run with the youngest at 830am, then head back to the office. Then mid-morning, that's when the rumbling kicks in, I find myself all irritable and realise I skipped breakfast again...

Fed up of toast (- you can only eat so much toast) but dreaming of fresh French croissant, or a chunk of proper crisp fresh French baguette, to chomp on... Fed up with the usual sliced bread we all have in our cupboards, and fed up of cereal, it doesn't look good. What else is there? I have never been one to hoover up food fast either, I need the time to chew or something! So I tend to just have my Nespresso coffee treat, then kind of wait until later... However that later often doesn't come but the food RAGE does, so that's not good either.

Then I discovered granola. Now I always thought this was aimed at those wanting to do a kind of "uber-breakfast", mega-healthy, with natural yoghurt and I just thought I'd had to have done an early morning run or major workout to qualify for this. So I just ruled it out thinking this is not for me.  That is, until it was given to me in a dish and I had no option but to try it...



I was at the Good Housekeeping Institute again and found myself lingering in the kitchens there, mingling with the journalists, eating breakfast!

I just love the crunch (I'm always wanting a crunch in my food) from the oats and rice crispies, then the sweetness of the maple syrup and the runny honey, mixed in with dates, dried cranberries, and dried apricots. With a dollop of natural yoghurt then sprinkled with goji berries and some other ground goodies from Linwoods, it really makes for a refreshing change!

I sampled the breakfast and no sooner was I back on the train heading home, I opened up the recipe book to find out exactly how to make this granola.
To make a batch, it is simple and it keeps in an airtight container or a Kilner jar - the glass jars with the rubber seal. You simply mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, then meanwhile heat the runny honey together with the maple syrup. I did not let it boil but waited until it had all become the same runny consistency.
Then I poured the runny warmed mixture over the dry ingredients and stirred the mixture until each and every oat, each rice crispie was coated. Then spooned the mixture onto a baking tray and baked in the oven at 160C for 15-17 minutes.
Allow to cool and then pop in an airtight container.



So now my breakfast consists of just a couple of spoons of granola with natural yoghurt on top with my mug of coffee. And I keep the Kilner jar next to the coffee machine for easy access!


I have tried flavoured yoghurts on top of the granola, but they are just too sweet. The natural yoghurt is perfect for my palette in the morning, but go with what your tastes dictate.

So there you have it, I think I've come across the perfect breakfast on the go recipe. You can buy containers that separate the granola from the yoghurt, so if you are preparing this for when on the run, pop into a Breakfast to go, then when you are ready to eat them, maybe on the train, or in the office, mix the two together.

D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S!



I am so pleased I rushed home and made it, as I feel so much better for having those healthy spoonfuls to kick start my day.
I made my first batch without the dates as I had none in the cupboard, so I just made the batch with what I had at home : dried cranberries, dried apricots. I am sure you can pop in whatever dried fruit you like.

The Gorgeous Granola recipe is from the Linwoods recipe book but you can adapt it to your own tastes:

Just to recap on the ingredients you will need:

150ml clear honey
100ml maple syrup
400g rolled oats
100g puffed rice
50g dried and chopped cranberries
50g dried and chopped cherries
50g dried and chopped dates
50g dried and chopped apricots
2 dessertspoons of Linwoods Milled Flaxseed, Cocoa and Berries

All the ingredients can be found in large supermarkets or good health food shops.

Let me know if you try it, or if there are other ingredients you pop in it!

The Lunchbox Lady x

This is an entry into the Breakfast Club blog hop hosted by Fuss Free Helen and Utterly Scrummy.
I'm so glad to have tried this recipe and was lucky to have sampled the finished results of the recipe before I made it!
And I just realised it fits both the Breakfast to Go theme AND the whole grains theme as it uses oats! So it keeps you fuller for longer!










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