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Love Crunch Granola (COPYCAT RECIPE)

Copycat recipe for LOVE CRUNCH GRANOLA ❤️ Dark Chocolate & Red Berries. ❤️ 

Trust me guys, if you haven’t tried this granola, then you haven’t lived. It’s chocolatey, it’s the perfect balance of sweet to salty, and it also makes the best cereal-milk. YUM.

They used to sell this Nature’s Path Love Crunch “Dark Chocolate & Red Berries” granola at Costco, but I haven’t seen it there for a while. I’m so glad I’ve got this recipe up my sleeve when I can’t find any at the store.

COPYCAT LOVE CRUNCH GRANOLA

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup oat flour
  • 3/4 cup coconut flakes
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup melted coconut oil
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup honey (or agave)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (or bar, roughly chopped)
  • 1 cup chopped freeze-dried strawberries

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. ALRIGHT, so first you’re gonna want to preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit (not any hotter than this, please).
  2. Combine dry stuff in a large bowl (oats, oat flour, coconut flakes, cocoa, flaxseed meal, cinnamon, salt).
  3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together wet stuff (coconut oil, maple syrup, honey, vanilla).
  4. Pour wet stuff over dry stuff and stir real nice. DO NOT add chocolate chips & freeze-dried strawberries at this point (or you may end up eating charcoal).
  5. Spread granola evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 40-50 minutes, and PLEASE stir every 10 minutes, as you want it to bake evenly and slowly (especially for those of us who don’t have fancy-pants convection ovens).
  6. Remove from oven and let cool for one whole hour in the same baking sheet (yes, you heard me right). This helps create those joyous little clusters!
  7. Stir in chopped freeze-dried strawberries and dark chocolate chips.
  8. Store in an air-tight container.
  9. EAT, obviously. There will be no problem there, I promise.
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Creamy Strawberry Protein Smoothie

After not being able to even look at fruits and vegetables for months (thank you morning sickness during pregnancy), I can finally get back to making smoothies and smoothie bowls! It only took until the 3rd trimester!

I have been overly excited to share my favorite smoothie concoctions with you! (More to come!)

My absolute go-tos when making smoothies include: adding yogurt to make it creamy and frothy, and adding lemon juice (or any other citrus) to balance the sweetness.

Creamy Strawberry Protein Smoothie

  • 2 cups frozen strawberries
  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 scoops vanilla protein powder (optional)
  • 3 cups liquid (milk or water) + add more if needed

Directions:

  1. Pour all ingredients into a blender. Process until smooth.
  2. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.
  3. If you’re feeling adventurous, pour your smoothie into a bowl and swirl with fresh fruits and superfood powders.
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Delicate Arch Smoothie Bowl

Delicate Arch Smoothie Bowl.

This #EdibleLandscapeBowl is in Moab, Utah (located in Arches National Park). If you haven’t been, you’re missing out on some breathtaking views!

We were there in 2018 for Spring Break. I was 4 months pregnant with my first kid (see photos below), and had intense morning sickness and fatigue. We’d hike half the day, then come back to the motel, and I would sleep for the last part of the day. Haha. Oh my goodness…good times.

Now it’s 2021 and I’m pregnant with my second kid. We’re debating if we should travel to an area like this in Southern Utah for Spring Break again. Although this time, I’ll be 8 months pregnant…so a little more intense (and scary)! I just REALLY don’t want to go into labor while we are hiking. I asked my husband if he was comfortable delivering our baby…he didn’t seem too intimidated by it! However, I’d prefer to give birth in a hospital, rather than in a hot desert.

Decisions, decisions.

Meanwhile, let me tell you about this bowl!

This bowl is made with a base of cooked oats, Silk almondmilk yogurt, and colored with superfood powders: blue spirulina, beet, goji berry, orange dunaliella, and cocoa.

Here’s how to make a superfood smoothie bowl…

Superfood Smoothie Bowl

  • 1 cup cooked Quaker oats (rolled or steel-cut)
  • 1 cup Silk almondmilk yogurt (or any type of yogurt)
  • Superfood Powders to create your design (any type will do)
  1. In a bowl, add in your cooked oats (feel free to season with salt and sweeten as needed).
  2. Next, cover your cooked oats with yogurt.
  3. Now it’s time to design and swirl!
  4. Beforehand, have an idea of how you want your bowl to look. You can keep it simple with just a few superfood powders. Use a very small spoon to carefully sprinkle your powders on top of the yogurt. Use a toothpick to swirl the powder into the yogurt. Keep repeating with different colors.
  5. Alternatively, you can separate your superfood colors into individual bowls of yogurt (just a spoonful of yogurt will do). Then use those yogurt-superfood colors to design your bowl. This strategy makes designing a little easier and more predictable.

Happy creating!

XOXO, Sarah