Natural Chow

Homemade Granola Cereal

January 26, 2014 by Margaret Anne 4 Comments

Cereal is almost everyone’s go-to breakfast, and for good reason. Being able to pour breakfast into a bowl, add milk, and eat it in a matter of a minutes is something that can’t be passed up. Clean up is even a snap! I understand the convenience of cereal, but what I know about the ingredients and it’s high-sugar content deters me from them.

So instead of buying cereal or even granola cereal (Kashi), I make my own. It’s so easy, and I honestly don’t understand why more people don’t make it themselves. It usually takes me less than half an hour to whip out a batch of granola and then it takes 10 minutes for the granola to cool and be put away. It’s a simple process: (1) Mix together all dry ingredients (2) Pour the honey and oil mixture over the granola and stir (3) Put granola on pan and bake then cool.

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Menu Plan // February 2014

January 24, 2014 by Margaret Anne Leave a Comment

I recently found a post via Pinterest that was about shopping before planning. So, of course I was confused. Shopping before planning? That can’t be right. How can someone shop and then plan?

It didn’t make any sense to me, so I commented on the pin asking the publisher how this could be effective. Because, honestly, how? If you don’t have a plan before you go shopping you could overspend and also not have everything you need for meals during the week.

But Andrea explained that if you are going to shop ahead of planning, the you are totally free to explore the various bargains that might be found within the sales ads for that week. When you plan first, the circulars are generally reactive rather than proactive. But you see, my dear friends, you can more likely than not view the circulars on the stores website. It’s simple and can save you a headache later.

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Overnight Chia Oatmeal

January 22, 2014 by Margaret Anne Leave a Comment

Wouldn’t be so easy to just pull oatmeal out the refrigerator? Not have to sit over the stove, stirring endlessly? Count me in. And there’s even chia seeds in it? Get out. This easy make-ahead breakfast is absolutely delicious and saves a lot of time. Everyone has busy mornings where the kids are taking forever to get ready for school, your pet left you a big surprise in the corner of the living room, you’re having to look for your son’s black science binder, and you’ve got about 8 minutes to get out of the house.

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30 Recipes to Revamp Your Breakfast {The Real Food Way}

January 20, 2014 by Margaret Anne 1 Comment

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? So, why not treat it as such? It’s not like it’s complicated to make a delicious and quick real food breakfast that everyone can enjoy. Anyone can do it, as long as they aspire to make breakfast something special. In case you haven’t noticed, breakfast is not only the most important meal of the day to me, but it’s definitely my favorite. I don’t mind waking up at 5 o’ clock in the morning to make an delicious and healthy breakfast that I know will be super amazing! Nor do I mind starting something a day or two ahead of time. In fact, I’d rather do both of those things if it meant my family wouldn’t be eating Captain Crunch or Poptarts.

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Probiotic Drink Review: GT’s Kombucha and Kevita

January 16, 2014 by Margaret Anne 3 Comments

I always hear people talking about all these great probiotic drinks and how everyone should try them. And then I hear people saying that kombucha tastes absolutely awful and talking about how they couldn’t even get it down. So I just assumed that it all depends on which kind you drink. Well, last night I was at Whole Foods Market and decided that it would be the day I tried kombucha and kefir for the first time.

I am unsure if the water kefir I tried was actually kefir. I mean, nowhere on the bottle did it say kefir. All I know is that it’s a probiotic drink, and that’s good.

Probiotics help maintain a strong immune system, preventing you from getting sick and having to take antibiotics. Probiotics can also prevent inflammation of intestines. You can make your own probiotics or get a wide variety of probiotic drinks at your local health food store.

When it comes to consuming probiotic foods or beverages like water kefir, ensuring food safety is crucial. While probiotics offer numerous health benefits, it’s essential to be mindful of the quality and safety of the products we consume. To verify the safety of homemade or store-bought probiotic preparations, utilizing salmonella test kit can provide valuable insights. These kits allow individuals to assess the microbial content and detect any potentially harmful pathogens that may be present in their food or beverages. By conducting regular food safety tests, we can have peace of mind knowing that the probiotic products we consume are safe and free from harmful bacteria. Incorporating this extra step in our probiotic consumption routine adds an additional layer of precaution, safeguarding our health and well-being in the process.

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