Tuesday 23 April 2013

My Pregnancy Parfait (with Homemade Granola Cereal Recipe)

parfait

What is this treat, you ask? Why, it's my pregnancy parfait. Organic full fat yogurt, a delicious rhubarb that Seth whipped up a while back, and homemade cereal.  I eat one nearly every afternoon for a snack. (I'm a total creature of habit when it comes to food, really.) Usually I dump everything into a bowl and stir it up but today I made it all pretty just for you guys. My thought was that a bowl of mush wouldn't photograph so well.

Not only do I use our homemade cereal for my afternoon snacks, but I eat it basically every morning with almond milk too. (Creature. Habit. Bam.) The original recipe can be found here and you might try making that one first. I've tweaked mine a bit to add in some more things that are good for this little creature hanging out in my womb (like adding blackstrap molasses for iron, and walnuts for the omega-3 fats). It results in a slightly heavier taste, but it's still really good. Like I said, I devour it twice a day. 

Don't plan on pouring yourself a big ole' cereal bowl full of this cereal! Or if you do, don't plan on finishing it. Going from store bought cereal to something so full of whole grains, nuts, and seeds will put you in your place. You don't need nearly as much to fill you up. It took Seth a few days to remember this and by the end of his bowl he was always complaining about how full he was and how he couldn't eat anymore. I'm usually full for a few hours after 1/2 to 3/4 cup of this in the morning. 

And if you want to make the parfait, don't cry and wail about not having access to Seth's rhubarb sauce. I have no idea how he makes it, but we're almost out and I plan on following it with a simple homemade jam or some pumpkin butter that needs to be used up. Or maybe just mushed up frozen berries. 

Easy Homemade Cereal 
(adapted from 100 Days of Real Food)

3 1/2 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 cup almonds, roughly chopped
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup raw hulled sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
6 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted 
3/8 cup honey
1/8 cup blackstrap molasses
2 tsp vanilla 
1/2 tsp salt

Heat the oven to 250F. Stir dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Combine coconut oil or melted butter, honey, molasses, and vanilla in a small bowl or measuring cup. Pour over dry ingredients and stir to combine. Spread out of a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 75 minutes. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks. 

A few extra thoughts: for those who know me well, you might be all like "What? Yogurt? You don't eat dairy!" I know. 'Tis true. But I'll admit that little way into my first trimester I suddenly got grossed out by the Earth Balance in our fridge and just stopped eating it. Then at the store a couple weeks later I saw the Kerrygold butter (from grassfed cows) and about fell all over myself trying to get it in my cart. I eat a little bit of the Kerrygold cheese (again, grassfed) every day too. Organic whole fat plain yogurt and organic whole fat cream cheese have also made it into my diet. I'm trying to stick as closely to real foods (whole, not processed) as possible during my pregnancy and whole fat is what I'm going with. If you're wondering, I'm actually putting on weight rather slow (a healthy slow, not a scary slow) so the added fat hasn't caused me to blow up and gain weight like crazy. I'm also exercising 2-4 times a week so far throughout the pregnancy (with approval from my doctor) so I feel like it balances out. 

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