Tag Archives: Granola

Product Review: Purely Elizabeth Probiotic Granola

Good morning! Up and at em’ let’s kick it off with a product review of Purely Elizabeth’s Maple Walnut Probiotic Granola.

The flavor was great! The texture was great! Ohhh and the crunch was great too! Sweet but not too sweet, salty but not too salty, oaty… well you get the point. Everything I look for in granola I found! It was tasty just munching straight out of the bag, or getting a bit crazy like I did and throwing a serving on top with my Rice Krispy cereal, banana and Silk coconut milk this morning. MmmmmMmmm!

So why did I order THIS specific granola? I’m always on the hunt for healthy choices and this little granola claimed to foot the bill. It’s incredibly hard to find products that truly are healthier choices and not just claiming to be. You can pronounce and recognize basically all of the ingredients, again how rare is that?

For instance, instead of typical organic cane sugar, Purely Elizabeth contains organic coconut palm sugar, a considerably healthier sugar, as well as coconut oil too. I felt like the ingredients spoke volumes….take a look for yourself!

“Organic Gluten Free Oats, Organic Coconut Palm Sugar, Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Walnuts, Organic Maple Syrup, Sunflower Seeds, Organic Puffed Amaranth, Organic Chia Seeds, Organic Quinoa Flakes, Organic Millet Flakes, Natural Flavor, Cinnamon, Sea Salt, Probiotic Cultures (Organic Inulin, Palm Oil, Bacillus ans GBI-30 6086).”

Since becoming pregnant I’m really mindful of what I’m putting into my body because I know what I’m ingesting essentially our bumblebee is too. Also, before moving to Korea, I had some serious stomach issues. All sorts of foods irritated my stomach to include some forms of dairy. I was pretty much plagued with an ongoing nightly upset stomach, sometimes even getting physically ill. Most of my issues have since gone, occasionally I do have an issue, however I really feel it was a change in my food and lifestyle. Korean food culture staples are fermented foods. Kimchi and other fermented foods have probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB), the good little gut fighters! So it wasn’t even a question adding a little extra help to my daily routine with my morning granola. Bring on those healthy probiotics!!

Oh…wait…did you catch that last statement? Probiotics! YES! This granola made with GanedenBC30. The site says, “It’s a Non-GMO, vegan strain of probiotics.” Why all the fuss? Well, “GanedenBC30 a strain of probiotic that survives the baking process, due to its protective spore. Once the probiotics hit your gut, where the moisture level and temperature are just right, the probiotics work their magic!” How awesome is that?!

Not keen on maple? Don’t worry! Other flavor options with probiotics are CHOCOLATE SEA SALT. I’m not really a chocolate person, (GASP), so I didn’t order. However, If you are not looking for probiotics, but just a great granola, they also have the following options available:

::GRAIN-FREE::
BANANA NUT BUTTER
ORIGINAL

::ANCIENT GRAIN GRANOLA::
ORIGINAL ANCIENT GRAIN
BLUEBERRY HEMP
PUMPKIN FIG
CRANBERRY PECAN

There were two downsides to the granola and Purely Elizabeth. One is the serving size. The bag list 1/3 cup at 130 calories as the recommended serving size. After topping off my breakfast bowl and realizing just how delicious the granola was, I wanted moreeeee! Hahaha! What can I say? Mommas gotta eat!!

The other downside was dealing direct with the company Purely Elizabeth. Typically we’re big fans of Amazon Prime because of our location, however the specific probiotic granola I was after wasn’t being sold via Amazon, just other Purely Elizabeth varieties. So I had to place an order from the company direct. I ended up having a hard time ordering because it listed my shipping state as an option initially, only to reject the order at the end. I had to send an email, as well as three follow-up emails to rectify and place the order. I’ll be fair and will mention that once I did finally get a response back and assistance to place the order, it was easy. However…I almost gave up. (Better step up your game Purely Elizabeth!)

Would I order the granola again? While I’m not sure if go directly to the company website and deal with that again…. I’d absolutely go the Amazon route! I’m thinking blueberry hemp and possibly the banana one are calling my name next.

Did you hear that noise in your kitchen? That’s the sound of your breakfast spoon clinking against your soon to be tasty breakfast bowl after you place your order on Amazon Purely Elizabeth Ancient Grain Granola Variety 3 Pack Original + Cranberry Pecan + Blueberry Hemp
, or take a gamble and deal with the site directly here. Stateside folks also can pop into a local Whole Foods store, or select Target and grab some up too (lucky ducks).

What are your favorite granola brands? Do you have any crazy concoctions you’d like to share with us?

Backpackbees

What’s cooking?

Welcome back to our kitchen! Pull up a chair at our kitchen island and get comfy. Outside of our mini Mardi Gras feast and unbeetable Valentine cake, we’re sharing the recap of what we whipped up in our kitchen over the past week. We’ve got some exciting nostalgic dishes we’ve made a bit more modern to share with you!

Drumroll please..we tested out four more family recipes from Mr. B’s grandparents handwritten cookbook that dates back to 1949! It’s so special thinking about and picturing Howard and Rose cooking these very recipes together back then in their kitchen, perhaps doing the same exact things were doing in the present day.

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This super crunchy coconut granola! It’s been perking up our morning Greek yogurt and fruit routine. Try it! Next time I’m thinking I’ll use coconut extract instead of vanilla.

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Chicken Marsala with homemade garlic bread and garden salads.

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Seared tuna, a fairly regular staple at our table, was served as the main dish alongside of diced oven roasted rutabaga.

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The first family recipe tested was parsley curried corn. Originally we prepared as directed straight from the recipe, but in the end slightly altered it to more of our taste. SPICE! Yeah, we had to kick it up a notch and make it a bit more modern with the addition of hot madras curry powder. This dish was absolutely delicious and is a new favorite for sure.

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The second B family recipe tested was, pork tenderloin in cream sauce. Again, after preparing as originally directed, we modernized and altered by seasoning to our taste, it just didn’t have the pizazz we were after. We ended up adding green peppercorns and chopped onions.

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We paired the pork tenderloin with garden sweet peas, sautéed mushrooms in a pepper sauce and puréed sweet potatoes seasoned with maple, butter, pepper. D-licious!

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Oven roasted eggplant halves stuffed with zucchini, yellow squash, spicy Italian sausage, onion, and gorgonzola cheese. Like spaghetti, these were even better served as leftover for lunch, the flavors just popped even more!

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The stuffed eggplants were served with a side of roasted garlic butter mushrooms sprinkled liberally with salt and cracked black pepper. These little guys were like a vegetarian alternative to Escargot! The mushrooms gave the texture and the butter, garlic, salt and cracked black pepper brought the taste. Plus who doesn’t like the fact that the caps hold in all that buttery goodness? It’s all about those vehicles for butter 😉

The third family recipe tested was “Boston Baked Beans” and “BBQed Chicken”.

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The Boston baked beans used dried beans and minimal ingredients which consisted of molasses, sugar, salt and a bit of pepper and home cured bacon. The Flavor was fantastic!

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The BBQed chicken was a chicken quartered and the sauce was from scratch. The sauce simmered away for quite a bit of time on the stove, then it covered the chicken and was baked. This recipe was delicious with a delightful blend we were not accustomed to. Oh! the chicken came out super moist too!

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Then there was a quick last-minute dessert created. Inspired by our recent trip to Manimal in Itaewon, Mr. B halved bananas and drizzled them with homemade caramel and then topped it all off with fresh vanilla whipped cream. Boom! Front runner to the Bananimal!

Alright folks, we will meet you back in our kitchen again soon!

Backpackbees

Crunch, crunch, crunch

Greetings from my kitchen, again!

Do you ever start the weekend thinking that you are going to accomplish all sorts of things? Only to realize that you have no motivation, or inkling in your body to get out and do it. Well, that was me. It’s now Sunday and I’m a bit ashamed to report I only left my cave this weekend once, recycling. Hey, at least I’m keeping it green! Haha!

Anywho, I guess I shouldn’t shortchange myself. This weekend wasn’t completely a flop. I did clean up and move around Mr. B’s office space, make Dak Dori Tang, and this yummy granola. Mmm gosh was it yummy! …You know I’ll share with all of you.

Ingredients:

5 cups Oats (I used steel-cut oats)
5 cups Cereal (I used heritage flakes)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup mixed nuts
1 1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk powder
1/2 cup oil (I used coconut oil)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix all of your ingredients up. Spread ingredients on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes

Stir after the granola is slightly cooled. Seal up the mixture in an airtight container.

Enjoy with your morning milk, on top of Greek yogurt, or handfuls at a time afternoon snack….not that any of us here know anything about that…crunch, crunch, crunch.

I can’t describe the amazing aromas wafting through our home this afternoon!

What are you waiting for? Get mixing! Don’t forget to share your wealth, and recipe too!