I love the news of the arrival of any baby, but this weeks news of a second heir to the British throne is extra fun. It’s a national event, media furore and fuels office tea making chat…what will the name be, which buggy (buggies!) will it have, what will Kate wear throughout her pregnancy, etc etc. While I am sure Mummy Duchess is pleased as punch, her reported severe morning sickness does not fill me with envy. I suffered with mild all day sickness while I was pregnant and it’s horrid. I linked mine to tiredness and blood sugar levels.
When I am tired and in need of a boost, pregnant or not, I feel a bit shaky and want reach for whatever will send my blood sugar levels soaring, which is great…Yay chocolate sandwiches and cake! But no, rapidly rising blood sugar only means one thing, it’s going to fall again (pretty sharpIsh and off the end of a cliff if you eat the chocolate sandwich). So I seek comfort in food that feels substantial, and keeps me feeling satiated and energised, but without the shaky hungry feeling after two hours.
Oats are fantastic for steady blood sugar levels, slow release energy, full of cleansing fibre, and also contain good levels of protein- what’s not to like? Well, for a start I don’t like porridge, but I love this crunchy, clean, low GI granola mixed with full fat organic yogurts (yes full fat!). The coconut oil is incredibly good for you, full of more good fats that are used as proper energy, and not stored as fat, and the lauric acid in coconut oil can kill viruses, bacteria and fungi, so its amazing for your immune system. I use agave nectar here as it’s low GI, and its really runny texture means that it spreads throughout the mixture really evenly, meaning that you need less and get a gentle sweet flavour. You can use honey if you prefer. Both raw organic coconut oil and agave nectar are sold at my local Sainsburys, so no ‘I don’t have time to go to a health food shop’ excuses.
Little mountain of munch
Ingredients – makes 5 hearty breakfast servings
200g oats
150g raw nuts – I use equal amounts of flaked almonds, whole cashews and hazelnuts.
2 tablespoons of seeds – I use sesame, sunflower and flax.
3 tablespoons of desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons of agave nectar
3 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 Tablespoon of avocado oil (just because it’s so good, if you don’t have it, put an additional tablespoon of coconut oil in)
Small pinch of salt (makes the sweetness sweeter)
Method
Preheat your oven to 130 degrees C, and be ready with baking trays or something that you can spread the oat mix on for baking. Dinner plates will do just as well if you run out of tray space.
If you live somewhere cooler, like the UK, you will most likely need to melt the solidified coconut oil, I do this in a coffee mug in the oven as it’s heating up, just takes 2-3 minutes.
in a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Then add the liquid coconut oil, avocado oil if you are using and the agave. Mix really well, I like my granola quite fine, but if you like chunky lumpy bits to munch ch on, then leave some clumps of seeds, nuts and oats, they will harden in the oven.
Spread the mixture thinly on the baking trays, and give them an hour in the oven, taking out at 15 minute intervals to stir about, ensuring it becomes evenly browned. After an hour, remove from the oven, and place near an open door to dry out any remaining moisture.
Keep somewhere airtight, and enjoy with milk, yogurt, as a lunchbox filler or as a guilt free nibble to keep you energised all day.
Family Fork 
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