Over the past month and a half, Keeley and I have spent an incredible amount of time in New Seasons Markets and Market of Choices doing demos!  Sometime we sample for almost 6 hours, so we each take breaks to grab a bite to eat.  During my break, I love to look at all of the fun products on the shelves and these crackers in particular have caught my eye.  Today while we were sampling at a Market of Choice, I decided it was time to stop looking at them and buy them!

There are two different kinds, savory and rosemary.  I choose the savory and what a good choice that was!  They were absolutely delicious!  Because I am gluten intolerant, I don’t eat a lot of packaged crackers, cereals or chips, because most mainstream snack products have gluten (the protein found in wheat, barley and rye) in them.  But the main reason I don’t buy a lot of pre-packaged gluten free items, is because they are expensive, for example, these were $4.99 for a box!

Despite how expensive they were, I was okay spending the extra money because they were full of good, wholesome organic ingredients.  The first ingredient is sprouted flax seed which I love because when a seed or legume is sprouted it is more easily digestible and it is easier for our bodies to absorb the proteins, essential fatty acids, fibers, complex carbohydrates etc.  The other ingredients include apple cider vinegar, non GMO soybeans, garlic, onion, and other various spices.

I ate them with some lentil soup, but I imagine they would be good hummus, salsa or any other yummy dip!

That’s all for now!

Keeley and I both have a history of being involved in many extra curricular activities.  Ever since we were young, both of our families have emphasized the importance of dedicating time to give back to the community.  Since Wild Squirrel started back in January, all of our extra time and energy has been devoted to the business and a lot of the things we used to do “pre-peanut butter” have gone out the window.  This being said, we both recently discussed how we have felt our lives have been incomplete lately because we have been so wrapped up with our Wild Squirrel endeavors.  We decided something as important as volunteering within our community is worth making time in our lives for.  Although our days are always busy and it sometimes doesn’t seem possible to fit anything else in, they will be busy forever!   There is always time for the thing most important things in life.

Since we both love working with kids, we decided that an organization like the Boys and Girls Club would be a perfect fit!  We had a meeting with the director for the location in Eugene and the next week we were with the kids!  We wanted to do an activity that was interesting, interactive and stimulating.  Keeley and I being the foodies that we are, naturally thought food would be a great way to connect with the kids because what kid doesn’t love food!  We decided on a simple yet tasty recipe, granola!

In this picture Keeley is working alongside the kids to prepare the granola for the oven!  We used a very simple recipe that we found online.  We all had a great time in the kitchen and let the kids do most of the work!  They measured out the ingredients, poured them on the baking sheets and then mixed in the wet ingredients!  Their favorite part was drizzling the honey and coconut oil on top.

HONEY COCONUT GRANOLA

• 5 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup mixed nut
• 1/4 cup flax seed (optional)
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened preferred ingredient ) (optional)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dried fruit (optional)