Peanut Butter Granola and Training my Brain Not to Scroll

+ other things I am loving this week

I forgot how good homemade granola is.

Last weekend I had a craving for peanut butter granola and ran with it. James really loved helping me mix! mix! mix! so if you have little ones at home this is a great one for them to help with! I realized afterwards I should have omitted the peanuts because I am scared to give him whole nuts (choking), but I did not sooo more granola for me.

Peanut Butter Granola Recipe

• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

• 2 tbsp avocado oil (any neutral tasting oil)

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 2 cups rolled oats

• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds

• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts

• 1 tsp kosher salt (use half if your peanut butter is salted)

• Optional: 2oz chopped dark chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk 1/4 cup peanut butter, 2 tbsp avocado oil, and 1/4 cup maple syrup in a large mixing bowl until smooth.

2. Add 2 cups rolled oats, 2 tbsp ground flax, and 1/2 cup chopped peanuts to the mixing bowl. Fold dry ingredients into wet with a flat spatula.

3. Spread onto the baking sheet in an even layer that is about 1/2” thick - I like to keep it all touching so when its done baking I can break it into big clusters.

4. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on the top and edges.

5. If you want to add chocolate, sprinkle the 2oz chopped chocolate over the granola while warm so that it melts in.

6. Allow the granola to cool completely before breaking into clusters.

For maximum freshness store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Breaking up with scrolling on social media is proving to be my hardest breakup yet.

I can’t be the only one who’s currently finding social media icky. I’m sure this is pretty hilarious coming from someone who frequently gets called an influencer (to be clear thats a title I never use for myself).

When you have tech billionaires in the front row at an inaguration it starts to make you question if its worth it to keep giving these men your time, attention and emotion. Emotion being the big one for me. Social media is making me downright panicky lately.

I panic about the news and about how my posts perform. I look at other food bloggers and think “gosh if only I had more time I could also do that.” Nursing sessions with Davis turned into a never ending doom scroll that ended with me feeling disheartened and uninspired about life and my job. WOW that sounds dark when I actually write it out.

The Monday of the inauguration was a wake up call for me. If I was going to stay level headed for the next four years (and at least the remainder of my nursing journey) I needed to figure out a way to STOP THE SCROLL.

So far I have had great days and bad days, but an overall trend towards less social media time. Here are the things I am doing instead: