Low Calorie PCP Granola

Hi everyone! I apologize for my lengthy delay from posting, but this summer has been extremely busy. But not to worry! I will be posting once or twice each week from here on out.

This last Monday I began my Dietetic Internship. It is going to be an intense ride, but eating well and maintaining my health will be essential to getting through this internship and helping my patients as much as possible. It is important for me to practice what I preach and my blog is my outlet to show just this.

Although I already have a homemade granola recipe, I decided I wanted to try something new. This recipe has ZERO added sugar. The sole sources of sugar come from the chopped prunes, dried cherries, and dried pomegranate. I love to add granola to my yogurt and eat it as cereal, but yogurt and milk already contain enough sugar themselves. Sure enough - this granola is still DELICIOUS!!!! This recipe is low in saturated fat, sodium, has zero cholesterol and the almonds are an excellent source of good fat. Feel free to be creative with this recipe and add additional ingredients such as dried coconut, raisins, golden raisins, chopped walnuts!

Servings: 32 (heaping 1/4 cup)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

4 1/2 cups Old-Fashioned Oatmeal, uncooked (not instant)
1/3 cup almonds, chopped
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 cup sugar free maple syrup
1 tbsp vegetable oil
5 oz. Dried Pomegranate 
5 oz. Dried Cherry Raisins
10 prunes, cut into raisin sized pieces
(optional – you can substitute any of these for raisins, golden raisins, dried coconut, walnuts, etc.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Stir together oatmeal, almonds, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk syrup and vegetable oil; pour over oatmeal mixture and stir to coat thoroughly.
3. Spray a 12x15-inch baking pan with Pam and place the mixture in an even layer on the pan. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes during baking time.
4. While the granola is baking, chop prunes into small, "raisin-sized" pieces. Lightly coat the chopped prunes with flour to prevent them from sticking together. 
5. Cool mixture in the pan for 5 minutes before adding dried cherries, pomegranate, and chopped prunes then place on parchment paper to continue cooling. Store granola in an airtight container. 

To serve: Pour 1 cup milk over a heaping ½ cup of granola (top with fresh berries, if desired) OR mix 1 cup low-fat yogurt with 1/4 cup granola (top with fresh berries or sliced bananas, if desired)

Using a measuring tool helps maintain portion-control. I always use a measuring scoop when I eat granola.

I store these in my freezer!

Nutritional Information:
1 serving (heaping 1/4 cup)
Calories: 90 
Fat (g): 1.7
Carbohydrate (g): 17.6
Protein (g): 2.1
Fiber (g): 1.6 
Sodium (mg): 20 mg