Hey everybody!

I recently caused much excitement/jealousy at work when I arrived with a fancy new breakfast container:

I love how excited we all got about it. You wish you could be as cool as us.

I got mine from Asda but they don’t appear to be selling them anymore. I did however find them on the Dunelm Mill website so you may still be able to get your hands on one.

The lid essentially unscrews and has it’s own separating lid that means the top part can be used for one thing and the bottom half for something else. It’s dishwasher proof including the spoon.

The great thing about it is that you don’t just have to use it like I do for yoghurt and granola. You can use it for things like porridge with toppings in the separate compartment instead as the silicone grip protects your hand from anything hot that you put in it.

Now that I’m commuting an hour and a half to work everyday I needed something that would keep my breakfast safe without me needing to hold it. Particularly since I really love my Ralph Lauren handbag and would rather not have to try and clean yoghurt out of it! I usually add frozen strawberries to the top of my yoghurt which melt on the way and keep the yoghurt nice and cool. The cup slots nicely into the holder in my car next to my tea until I can get to work.

Once I had my fancy cup I needed some fancy granola. I could have spent a fortune on an organic one from the supermarket but I thought I’d rather make my own!

I found this recipe by Zainab at blahnikbaker.com which I’ve then tweaked to get the recipe below. The key difference is that I used honey rather than maple syrup and had to improvise on the unsweetened apple sauce!

Ingredients:

3½ cups rolled oats
½ cup pumpkin seeds
¼ cup almonds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 apple to create 3/4 of a cup of apple purée (any will do, I used a Braeburn)
¼ cup organic honey (local if you can get it!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup dried apples

Special Equipment:

You will need a blender to create apple purée from your apple. If you don’t have one, it’s worth having a look in the baby food section of large supermarkets to see if you can find unsweetened apple purée. I could not find this ingredient anywhere but my choice was quite limited by the size of supermarket I was in at the time.

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C or Gas mark 4.
2. Peel and core your apple and use your blender to create apple purée, measure out 3/4 cup and put to one side.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the oats, pumpkin seeds, almonds and spices together.
4. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, warm the apple purée, maple syrup and vanilla extract.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until well combined.
6. Spread the granola evenly onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown (I had to do this in two batches to get an even layer).
7. Remove from oven and toss in dried apples.
8. Allow to cool before storing in an airtight container.

Enjoy with fruit and greek yoghurt for a tasty filling breakfast!