easy

Friends are always asking me for easy, healthy breakfast ideas – and this is one of the easiest. You can even bake 5 sweet potatoes at the start of the week, and enjoy these cold out of the fridge in less than a minute prep time (experiment with the magic sauce to keep it interesting!).

In addition to being super-delicious, sweet potatoes are quite filling due to their high fiber content. Sweet potatoes are a fantastic source of vitamins and minerals including iron, calcium, selenium, B vitamins and vitamin C. They’re also very high in beta-carotene, an antioxidant that converts to vitamin A in the body (1 cup provides 375% your daily value)!

Do you have a favorite sweet potato topping? Please share in the comments below!

This is not a fussy recipe – feel free to experiment and learn what you love the most – it will ALL be good. For example, I used freeze-dried pomegranates in the last batch and they added a great sweetness and an unexpected extra crunch. If you have a favorite nut butter, you can add it instead of – or in addition to – the nuts. Think about seasonal flavors as well!

This is also a great recipe to make with kids – they can use their (clean) hands to mix.

Ridiculously Good/Easy/Healthy Granola Bits

About 4 cups grains; oat flakes, barley flakes, wheat flakes, rye flakes or similar
2 handfuls of seeds; for example, sunflower, hemp, chia, pumpkin.
2 cups nuts; for example, almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc.
½ cup coconut flakes, unsweetened
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 -1/2 cup sweetener: maple syrup, honey, agave, or brown sugar
Optional: 1 cup dried or freeze-dried fruit; for example, cranberries, apple, strawberries, banana, raisins, plums
Optional (but delicious!): handful of cacao nibs
Optional: Spices of your choice: cinnamon, vanilla, etc.

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

Place the nuts, seeds, grains, coconut and dried fruits (if using) into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to break up and mix. (Do not over-process, or you’ll wind up with nut butter!) Move to a large bowl. Mix the melted oil and sweetener (and spices, if using) in a smaller bowl, then add to the big bowl and toss really well with a big wooden spoon – or a couple of kid hands plus your own.

Form into spoonful-sized bits and place onto a large, parchment-lined baking sheet. Tap them down to flatten slightly. Bake for about 40 minutes, but watch carefully for the last 10 minutes or so, and take out when they look lightly browned and feel firm.

Store it in an airtight container for up to three weeks (at least, I think so … it never lasts that long for me).

From Jennifer Silverberg at www.EatYourselfWell.com and facebook.com/eatyourselfwell Please maintain link as you copy and share recipe with others!