Sugar Free Granola

YUMMY

Does anyone remember my very favorite cereal from when I was a kid - CW Post?  It's the first granola cereal of which I have any memories.  There may have been more, but my cereal memories are limited to the ones that my mom bought.  This one was amazing.  And I think my mom honestly thought it was healthy.  She was very strict about sweet cereals.  But, had she read the ingredients (did they have ingredient lists in the 80s?) she probably would have found more fat and sugar than most of the cereals she so cruelly banned.  (Seriously, my brother thought Fruit Loops were against our religion.  True story.)

Anyway, I love granola.  When it's done right it is wholesome and delicious.  The fats are healthier fats, the sugars are natural sugars with lower glycemic indexes and the preservatives are nonexistent.  Here's a good one.

Granola
3 cups uncooked oats
1/2 cup pure, organic maple syrup
Hand full of raw nuts, chopped.  You choose which ones
2 tbsp coconut oil
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Dash of salt

Set oven at 350*.  (I LOVE my toaster oven for things like this.)
Grease a casserole dish.  Then, plop the coconut oil in the pan and put it in the heating oven for just a few minutes.  You just want to barely melt the coconut oil.  Take the pan out and mix everything together in the pan.  Bake at 350* for 30 minutes stirring every 10 minutes.  Let sit and cool - if you can. Enjoy.
I like to eat it plain but I also like to have about a half cup as a natural cereal.

Oh Fudge

I've been trying out this whole sugar free thing for the last several months.  And, really, it's not so bad.  Honestly, I'm not totally sugar free.  There is sugar EVERYWHERE.  Ketchup, barbecue sauce, etc.  But, for the most part, I do all right.  When my friend Charlotte (a clean eating vegan) gave me this recipe, I had my doubts.  But, this is AWESOME.  It got me through the holidays without feeling deprived.  It's rich and delicious and addicting.  And somehow I've lost 2 pounds eating it.  So, maybe it's heavenly, too.:)

Easy, Sugar Free Fudge

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (a glycemic index 26 points lower than sugar)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4 tbsp (ish) evaporated milk (not in the original recipe - I added it to make it a little smoother)
any nuts/berries, etc you choose

Put everything in a blender and blend.  Spread on some parchment paper and freeze a few hours.  Enjoy.  (Keep cold since coconut oil melts at 74*)