a peek inside the fishbowl

If you had to rate your energy levels on a scale of one to ten (one is barely getting out of bed and ten has energy to spare) how would you rate yourself? And if you could do something small to improve your energy level by a couple points, would you do it? (I’m thinking about tomorrow’s post already.)

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So. I’ve been doing this treadmill thing for a couple of weeks, and, good news, I haven’t quit yet. I don’t want to sound like I’m tooting my own horn here, but I wanted to share a few things that I’ve done to make it a little easier on myself. Who knows. One of these things might help you too.

• My gym clothes are super comfy. Nothing pinchy or tight that I need to struggle to get into. (I’m looking at YOU, SQUEEZY GYM BRA THAT LEAVES A DENT IN MY TORSO.)
• I always leave my treadmill outfit in plain view on the chair in our bedroom, that way, it’s always THERE when I get up in the morning. I roll out of bed and put it on right away. For some reason this helps.
• As per that previous post, I do not check Facebook before treadmill time. This would be akin to eating dessert before dinner. I JUST DON’T DO IT.  I catch up on Facebook while I’m on the treadmill. I haven’t fallen off yet. Yay me!
• Sometimes I eat breakfast beforehand. I’m trying to be better at regular breakfasts. Coffee comes after.
• Treadmill time = twenty minutes. Sometimes it’s hard to do, and I’m itching to get off, but I don’t. I have to think to myself, if I can’t invest twenty measly minutes into my health every day, I am a stupid idiot.
• I’ve recently added my LiteBook to the mix. I will report on that later.
• When my time is up I find myself sufficiently sweaty and out of breath (this is GOOD). I take my shoes off, go upstairs, make a coffee, regroup, and get on with my day.

That’s it! So far it’s working. I’m pretty happy about that.

*Now with recipe costs! Scroll to the end of this post for the breakdown.

I was at the grocery store the other day and I tweeted about my all time favourite granola and received this response:

@missfish clearly you haven’t tried my homemade maple pecan granola! Yummy and way less expensive per serving :)

— Tara Lapointe (@VirtualTara) December 29, 2013

Tara kindly followed up her tweet with a recipe. (Thank you Tara!) Honestly, I didn’t really think making my own granola was going to be this easy. And delicious. I’m never going back to store-bought. What’s the point? Homemade granola is just so incredibly easy and cheap to make.

You will need:

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (I used pumpkin seeds, and I think I used closer to 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup dried fruit (I used cranberries)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Grab a large mixing bowl. LARGE. Combine the oats, pecans, coconut, seeds, maple syrup, oil, and salt. Divide evenly between two baking sheets. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes, stirring once. Let it cool, then add the dried fruit.

That’s it! You’ll wind up with the most beautiful granola you’ve ever seen:

Now that’s a great reason to get up in the mornings!

I made it the other night and it’s going to last for weeks. WEEKS! Yay me!

Edited to add: Someone asked me about the cost breakdown for this recipe. I finally have that info as per the recipe above:

Rolled oats, large flake: $1.39
Pecan pieces, medium: $5.36
Pumpkin seeds, unsalted, hulled: $1.36 (I used 1/2 cup)
Coconut, shredded, unsweetened: $0.66
Maple syrup: $2.50
Dried cranberries, $2.11
I’m not including the cost of the canola oil and salt.

Grand total=$13.38 for a 858g batch, which works out to $15.59/kilo.

The almond/maple/cranberry granola I used to buy costs $5.99 for a 300g bag, which works out to $19.97/kilo.