A Breakfast for Baby-Makin'!

Image: Julie Daniluk In my last post I provided some rules for eating for fertility. Adjusting your diet is one way to combat the detrimental effects of stress, and make your body ripe (pardon the pun) for conception.

This granola recipe from my friend and colleague Julie Daniluk fulfils on pretty much all of my rules, AND - as a special back-to-school added bonus - it's a quick-and-easy make-ahead meal for busy fall mornings.

And did I mention it's DELICIOUS?

 

Gluten-Free Quinoa Goji Berry Granola

Ingredients

  • ½ cup organic unsweetened apple sauce
  • 2 tbsp. tahini (sesame butter — substitute another nut butter if unavailable)
  • 1/2 tsp. organic vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp. pure honey
  • 2 cups rolled quinoa
  • 3/4 cup hazelnuts, sliced
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. cardamom
  • 1 tbsp. ground flax seed
  • 1/2 cup apple juice sweetened dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup goji berries

Directions

Preheat oven to 275 F.

Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl.

Add all the dry ingredients, except for the flax seeds, cranberries and goji berries, into the wet mixture. Stir it all together and spread onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Break up large clumps to ensure even cooking.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or longer if you have a cool oven. Stir every 15 minutes to ensure even browning, until the granola is starting to crisp up and the nuts are getting toasty.

Remove the granola from the oven and stir in the flax seeds and dried berries. Allow granola to cool completely on the pan before transferring to an airtight container. It will get crunchy as it cools. Makes 6-7 servings.