The Age-Well Project

Change the way you age

Get our posts direct to your inbox

  • About The Age-Well Project
  • Books
    • Our Books
    • Reviews
    • References
  • Blog
  • Recipes
    • Recipes By Ingredient
    • Breakfast
    • Dessert
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Family
    • On The Go
    • Soups and Salads
    • Treats and Snacks
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Press

OATS, GLORIOUS OATS – AND A RECIPE FOR SUPER-SPEEDY NO-BAKE GRANOLA

November 6, 2014 3 Comments

granola on oak sharper I’ve always longed to be the sort of girl who wafts around making her own granola. Yes, I know making granola is neither arduous nor complicated.  But it often seems a faff – you have to turn the oven on in advance, then you have to hang around while it’s baking, gently prodding and turning. When I wake up feeling like a bowl of granola, I want it in ten minutes not an hour. And that, I guess, is why supermarket shelves are groaning with bags of granola (most full of sugar, I hasten to add).

So imagine my joy at discovering the perfect recipe for no-bake granola.  Not only does it take ten minutes but it’s delicious.  And when I read the October issue of the British Journal of Nutrition (which had an entire supplement devoted to oats), my joy was complete.  Because oats, it would appear, are the answer to many of the things that keep Ms’s Kale & Cocoa awake at night. Here’s a quick summary of the most recent research on the humble oat:

  • Oats are a key ingredient for boosting Bifidobacteria (the gut’s most important probiotic)
  • Oats are a vital weapon in the obesity battle – they’re more filling, calorie-for-calorie, than any processed cereal.  That means you won’t need to snack before lunch…
  • When it comes to cardiovascular health, the power of the oat is so compelling that many government authorities (including the US, Europe and Japan) have issued formal health claims on the ability of oats to reduce cholesterol (by up to 20% when eaten regularly).
  • An oat-rich diet has also been shown to: reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes; control blood pressure; and boost the immune system.  All this is due to a soluble fibre contained in oats called beta-glucan. The only grain with a higher beta-glucan content is barley (sign up now so you don’t miss our upcoming posting on bountiful barley).

Finally (and this could have contributed to my recent feelings of oaty joy), the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that moderately-stressed women (can someone show me a woman who isn’t ‘moderately stressed’?) taking beta-glucan supplements became less stressed, had more energy and fewer infections.  Eat your heart out diamonds, oats are a girl’s New Best Friend!

So now I’m throwing oats into everything ….  a handful into smoothies and crumble toppings,  ground oats into soups, stews, biscuits and cakes.  But most of all, I’m making edited versions of  teen-blogger Izy Hossack’s glorious granola (from her just-published debut cook book Top with Cinnamon).  And my children all have their own versions (a cinnamon-spiked, cranberry-stuffed one for Daughter Number One, a nut-free one for Daughter Number Two, a coconut-y one for The Boy,) … that’s how easy and versatile this stove-top granola is.

IZY HOSSACK’S STOVE GRANOLA (makes 4 generous portions)

  • 2 cups rolled oats (I use jumbo oats)
  • ½ cup chopped almonds (or whatever nuts you like/have)
  • 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds and 1 tbsp desiccated coconut (optional)
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil (or butter if you must)
  • 2 tbps honey, agave or maple syrup (reduce if you’re going easy on sweeteners)

In a large frying pan, dry roast the oats and nuts (and seeds and coconut if using) for five minutes, until just golden.  Move the mixture to the sides of the pan.  Add the oil and sweetener and stir everything together for a further four-five minutes.  Leave to cool (it will crisp up as it cools).  If you want to add dried fruit or cinnamon or chia seeds (anything you like, frankly), do this now.

We like ours with live yoghurt and fresh fruit. It lasts for a good two weeks (but rarely beyond a couple of days in our house). Oh – and did I mention that oats are chock full of biotin and zinc? Perfect fodder for my hair project (more on that later).

Annabel

  • Meal Types: Breakfast, Family, On The Go
  • Conditions: Diabetes, Gut, Heart, Heart disease, High blood pressure, Immunity, Strokes
  • Ingredients: Nuts, Oats
« HEALTHY HALLOWEEN: PUMPKIN AND POMEGRANATE HUMMUS
ANXIETY, MOOD FOOD AND CHINESE ‘SPAG BOG’ »

Comments

  1. Janet says

    January 12, 2019 at 8:37 am

    How does this recipe compare to the the Christmas Granola recipe you posted a while ago? I ‘m still making that regularly adding turmeric but leaving out the cranberries. Wondering if I should swap recipes.
    I really enjoy checking your posts, there is always something interesting and informative in them
    Thank you

    Reply
    • Annabel Abbs says

      January 20, 2019 at 7:40 pm

      Hi Janet, this is the one I always make because I don’t need to wait for the oven to heat up. I can just throw everything into a pan while i’m doing something else in the kitchen. But Susan prefers her recipe! I suspect the oven-baked might be a bit crisper. Why don’t you try both and let us know? Thanks for your kind words too!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Recipe for kale and black sesame rice, seaweed, avocado, pomegranate says:
    January 15, 2015 at 11:13 am

    […] I know that sounds weird. And it won’t happen every day (we still love our porridge pancakes and granola). People all over the world eat vegetables for breakfast – the famous British fry up includes […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Welcome to The Age-Well Project

Welcome to The Age-Well Project!
Here you’ll find easy changes for a longer, happier life. We’ve immersed ourselves in the science of longevity and distilled the research to make it work in our everyday lives. You can change the way you age: here’s how.

Favourite Posts

WHY I’VE THROWN OUT ALL MY BEAUTY PRODUCTS (nearly…)

Why Alzheimer’s Is A Women’s Issue

HOW HAVING A DOG CHANGED MY LIFE

GREEN SPACE IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH

SUGAR, CHOCOLATE, SADNESS AND BRAIN-BOOSTING BISCUITS

WHY ‘INFLAMM-AGEING’ COULD START IN THE GUT AND HARISSA-ROASTED VEGETABLE SALAD

POLYAMINES – THE NEW SECRET WEAPON FOR AGEING WELL & MOROCCAN SPINACH AND CHICKPEAS.

THINNING AGEING HAIR – WARM CHICKEN LIVER SALAD

About The Age Well Project

This site is for anyone who wants to make the second half of their life as healthy, happy and disease-free as possible. Sign up to get the latest research on ageing – and delicious recipes to match – direct to your inbox.

agewellproject

⭐️Change the way you age
📚The Age-Well Project + Age-Well Plan ⭐️Get tips & recipes on our blog - sign up ⬇️

The Age-Well Project blog
We’ve been playing with Pinterest! We’ve upl We’ve been playing with Pinterest! 

We’ve uploaded 10 of our Age-Well recipes to Pinterest, just to test the water. We’ve got so many gorgeous recipes on the blog, and sometimes they’re hard to search. Hopefully being on Pinterest will make them a bit easier to find. 

Are you a…. pinner? Pinster? What’s the correct term? We don’t know! Anyway, if you are, could you let us know if we’ve done it right? Then we can start adding more recipes. 

Link in our bio to our Pinterest page

#pinterest #pinterestrecipes #brainhealth #longevity #womenover50 #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevityblog #healthblog #agewellblog #over50bloggers
We’ve been thinking about this a lot recently: i We’ve been thinking about this a lot recently: if grieving is an inherent part of ageing, how do we do it well? 

As we get older, we must inevitably live with an accumulation of loss, because we’ve had longer to love. Love has a huge impact on our brains: they are literally rewired by our relationships. When someone dies, our brains struggle.  We cannot understand where they are, or why they have gone. We try to locate them in time and in space. 

How we cope with our emotionally overloaded brains in times of grief, and how it shapes us, is the subject of our latest blog post - link in bio. 

#brainhealth #longevity #womenover50 #cognitivehealth #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevity #longevityblog #healthblog #agewellblog #over50bloggers #grief #loss
Annabel is in Tel Aviv this week, finding her way Annabel is in Tel Aviv this week, finding her way around using a proper paper map - which is a fantastic brain work out. Research published a few days ago from McMasters University 🇨🇦 linked orienteering (a team sport which combines map reading with running) to reduced dementia risk. Who’s tried it? We’re keen to give it a go! @britishorienteering #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #aginggracefully #mapreading #orienteering #dementia #dementiaawareness #reducedementiarisk #alzheimers #alzheimersrisk #dementiaprevention #womenover50 #womenagainstalzheimers #agewellblog #longevityblog #healthblog #over50bloggers
Strength training is one of our non-negotiable Age Strength training is one of our non-negotiable Age Well strategies, so we’re always looking for ways to make the best of our work outs! 

5 top tips here - and more on the blog, link in bio. 

What are you top tips for strength training? Let us know

#longevityblog #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #healthblog  #longevity #over50andfit #agewellblog #midlife #midlifewomen #strengthtraining #buildmuscle #womenwholift #fitover50
In recent years we've both, like so many of our ge In recent years we've both, like so many of our generation, faced the consequences of caring for elderly relatives. But we talk so little about caring, and the unexpected burdens and stresses that can bring. 

Caring is an experience that's so difficult to prepare for, but it can help to share experiences. This is what we've done in our latest blog post. Do have a read and let us know your stories too - the link’s in our bio (and the post will also explain why Susan went on a ‘pilgrimage’ to Kentish Town!) 

#longevityblog #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #healthblog  #longevity #over50andfit #agewellblog #hydration #midlife #midlifewomen #caring #carers #daughtersofdementia #dementiacarers
#carersupport #dementiacaregiver #dementiacare
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Contact Us

For any enquiries please email theagewellproject@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2023 The Age-Well Project