Chocolate Cherry Granola
My dear husband Derek and I both have a terrible sweet tooth ( sweet teeth?? ; ). He will polish off a family size bag of sour patches without blinking an eye, and please God keep me away from a bag of gluten free lemon wafers from Glutino. It’s something that we both struggle with so I try to keep healthy snacks in the house to prevent binging.
Battling Blood Sugar
I recently cut back on my sugar consumption and lowered my intake of carbohydrates in an effort to get my blood sugar, and therefore sweet tooth, under control. The results were quite dramatic: Within 2 weeks I no longer had cravings for sweets, my bouts of h-angriness were few and far between, and I’d lost a few inches around my waist. Not too bad!
The Glycemic Index & Gestational Diabetes
Now I’ve had some slip-ups since then because I was in NYC for a weekend, and then camping with my family (hello marshmellows!). I’m making an effort to get back on track this week so I decided to make myself some grainfree, sugar free cacao ‘granola’ from a recipe a friend gave me. It’s sweetened with stevia and I therefore know Derek won’t touch it with a 10ft pole, so I decided to make a version for him as well. It still has oats and honey, but it’s lower glycemic (meaning it won’t spike his blood sugar as fast) because it incorporates a good amount of pecans, shredded coconut and coconut oil. Whenever you combine fat or protein with a carbohydrate, the glycemic index of the food is lowered. That’s why I recommend to my clients to always pair a fruit with some nut butter, or nuts and seeds. It’s a good practice to help prevent or treat gestational diabetes.
So now instead of reaching for sweets in the evening, I’m hoping that we’ll both reach for some granola with yogurt instead! : )
Chocolate Cherry Granola
1 cup Rolled Oats (I used gluten free brand Only Oats)
1 cup Pecans, chopped
½ cup Shredded Coconut
¼ cup Coconut Oil
¼ cup Cacao
½ tsp Vanilla
2 Tbsp Honey
pinch Salt
½ cup Dried Cherries
Preheat oven to 300oF
Combine oats, pecans and shredded coconut in a bowl and set aside.
Heat coconut oil on the stove top. Once melted, whisk in cacao, vanilla, and honey until no lumps remain.
Pour the chocolate mixture over the oat mixture and stir for a few minutes until the oat mixture is well covered with chocolate.
Stir in cranberries.
Spread on to a baking sheet pressing down the granola slightly so clumps will form while baking.
Sprinkle over a pinch of sea salt.
Bake for 10 minutes, give a little stir, and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Let the mixture cool on the baking tray, then break it apart and store in an air tight container.