Kick off your morning with granola!

Today is the healthy link-up with Elizabeth Ann of Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box, Allison of Cupcake Diaries and Whitney of Harvest Home!
It is January and with January comes many resolutions to eat better, exercise more, live a healthier lifestyle. I prefer not to use the word, "diet" because then that means to me a temporary change in your eating patterns. By saying lifestyle then it is changing the way you view what foods you eat, how often you exercise, do you park the car close to the front of the store, or do you park it a bit further away to walk a bit more. There are tons of little changes you can do that do add up. 

I will admit that I didn't always exercise on a regular basis. My running started senior year of high school getting up early in the morning and running alongside my dad. I definitely learned about a healthy and active lifestyle from my parents. My mom always goes for a morning walk, my dad enjoys any type of exercise or physical activity he can get, biking, tennis, running, etc. Then in college, I was somewhat running but not as regularly the first few years. Senior year I trained for a full marathon so definitely put in a lot of miles then. Since college ended, I still run at least 5 days a week and always in the morning. I guess some habits are hard to break. What I'm trying to say is exercise has been a regular part of my daily life and I try to eat right on most days, minus an occasional cheeseburger and some ice cream. 

I have liked granola for breakfast for a while and in general it may seem healthy but the store boxes can be saturated with sugar. This granola recipe has only natural sugar, pure maple syrup. Just four ingredients in this simple, maple pecan granola, just four ingredients. If you can't get healthy with four ingredients, then we need to talk.

For today's healthy link-up, I am sharing this maple pecan granola that Sean and I like to mix with yogurt and fresh berries for our breakfast.

For this recipe, gather together your ingredients. 3 cups rolled oats, 1 cup chopped pecans, 6 tablespoons vegetable oil, 6 tablespoon maple syrup (not the pancake, fake syrup).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place some parchment paper on your baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats and pecans.

 In another bowl, pour the maple syrup and oil and then stir and mix until the two liquids are combined. 

Pour the maple syrup/oil mixture over the rolled oats and pecans and then stir until all the rolled oats are covered in the liquids. 

Spread the rolled oats on the parchment paper in an even layer then bake for 25 minutes. 

At the 20 minute mark, take the granola out of the oven and with a spatula flip the granola over for even baking. After the granola is completely baked, remove it from the oven then let cool. 

After the granola is cooled, break the larger pieces apart then serve with milk or yogurt and enjoy!
What makes this granola different than the store bought granola, first, it is has only one form of sugar, maple syrup and it is a natural sugar. Second, this recipe is vegetarian and vegan free for those out there. Also dairy free, soy free, egg free, etc, etc. So enjoy to your heart's content!

recipe found here