Going Granola - Literally
By Shannon Overton, Manager, Organizational Communications
Until recently I was a self-proclaimed, processed-food, refined-sugar, refined-flour, diet-soda junkie! I always thought I ate relatively healthy – rarely getting fast food and always opting for low fat snacks – but my pantry was full of processed cereals, crackers, and nutrition bars, and my fridge was full of diet soda.
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Instead of tortillas out of a package, I started making my own tortillas with whole wheat flour – they’re not as pretty and round as the store-bought kind, but they sure taste good!
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I stopped buying quick-cooking rice. I never thought about it before, but rice does not come out of the field ready to cook in 5 minutes; it is processed so that consumers can cook it in 5 minutes.
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Instead of processed cereals, nutrition bars, crackers, and pretzels for breakfast and snacks, I quickly learned how to make granola for our morning cereal, and granola bars, a homemade version of Lara bars, and muffins for our snacks.
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Fruits and vegetables also became a “convenient” snack because I no longer had the option of pulling crackers out of a box.
Believe me when I say this process was not easy for me or my family. My husband almost cracked a tooth on my first batch of homemade granola cereal, I had some serious diet soda withdrawals, and my four-year old threatened to go live with a family who had pretzels.
Fortunately, we made it past those initial hurdles, and the health benefits are paying off in a big way! I have not been sick, I have so much more energy and I no longer crave the sugary snacks I used to love. In fact, when I recently decided to give myself a break and indulge in some candy it backfired, and I felt dreadful for hours afterwards. I never thought I would ever be able to say that candy made me feel sick!
