Happy Monday! We had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed our first Sunday Football of the season. I can’t stand to sit around all day and watch football but this weekend we got it right: spent all day Saturday out exploring and adventuring then Sunday we worked on the house in between games, heading out to the park in the late afternoon and returning home for the evening game.
Climbing trees and playing by the river…aren’t those pretty much the best things in childhood? I have handfuls of memories of my own childhood – climbing the tree in my grandparent’s driveway, trying to catch crawdads in the river, climbing the trees along the creek and eating the plums we’d find – seeing my kids playing like this, it is something extra special. I’m just happy that technology hasn’t taken this away from us.
How do you remember your childhood? Does have kids give you a chance to relive those memories?
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Pumpkin Flax Granola
This is my favorite granola. I thought I had a favorite but it has been dethroned and a new king reigns.
Let me introduce you: Pumpkin Flax Granola by Nature’s Path.
I saw this granola at Walmart of all places and was immediately drawn in by that cute little pumpkin on the packaging. It was still mid-summer and I got really excited that anything pumpkin was already on the shelves. As it so happens, this is pumpkin-y goodness you can enjoy year round!
The box says “We’re so happy our paths have crossed.” And let me tell you, so am I! I love this stuff. Literally cannot get enough of it. I buy a few boxes at a time, keep one or two at home and take one or two to my office. I pack milk in a mason jar and keep a bowl at the office so I can have a bowl of the good stuff any time I want 
Oh and I also pack a baggy of dry granola to munch in the car just in case I can’t wait the whole commute to have some. It’s that good.
It is not really pumpkin-flavored as I thought it might be. It has pumpkin seeds and flax seeds along with rolled oat and brown rice flour puffs (sort of like rice crispies). I love the flavor and I love that the texture is a a bit “softer” than other granolas. There are clusters of crunch but the rice flour thingies add a nice variation to the texture. Often times, I’ll skip granola because it is too crunchy and hurts my teeth…not a problem here. And yet, I don’t want to give you the impression that it is soggy – far from it my friends!
Okay so great, I really like the granola. Who cares? Well for one, this granola is incredibly healthy; made up of rolled oats, brown rice flour, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, molasses, sea salt and cinnamon. Not a darn thing in there that doesn’t make me happy.
Pumpkin seeds are high in zinc which will help your body maintain bone density and also fight off a cold. Lots of magnesium in there as well which will help use calcium (again with the osteoporosis scare). They also help lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation, maintain healthy pH (an unbalanced pH can cause UTIs and other unpleasantries), and improve your mood. Woo! Those little seeds are kind of a big deal.
And flax? Besides just getting stuck in your teeth, flax is great for getting in your Omega 3s and necessary fiber. Oh, and antioxidants! Don’t forget about those.
I was already head over heels in love with this granola and then low and behold I saw an article in Natural Home & Garden which turned me from tickled pink to tickled neon.
The magazine had done a featurette on “14 Food Companies You Can Trust” and there it was
Nature’s Path Organic. Makers of the wonderful Pumpkin Flax Granola I have been crushing on. I was excited to read that they are a “fiercely independent family company” whose founding belief is “always leave the soil better than you found it” and read further about their promise to provide healthy foods with quality ingredients, that their headquarters is a near-zero-waste facility, that as a company they provide employees education grants, wellness programs and sponsor urban gardening projects.
Good granola, good company, good people.
And looking at their website I see lots of other things I want to try.
Coconut Chia Granola. Love Crunch Aloha. Cranberry Ginger Hot Oatmeal. Oh my goodness I want them all.
Nope – didn’t even come close to getting paid to write this. Didn’t get a free box or a coupon – nothing. Just straight up, unadulterated love of granola coming at ya.
