30 weeks pregnant | Vicky Kriel

I seriously can't believe that it's been 30 weeks already!

Since my last update, nothing much has changed except that my belly is starting to feel stretched. As baby has been growing I feel like all the loose skin that I had (having been a slightly chubby teen) was just filling out and there hasn't actually been any skin stretching.  I do also, however, have my very first pregnancy stretch mark. It's only about 1/2 cm in total and super thin but the weird thing is that it is a vertical one just right to my belly button. I had always been under the impression that they radiate around your belly with the belly being all round and stuff.

On another note, I feel that I should let everyone know that I'm currently trying to decide between pocket diapers and cover with separate inners. Jacques and myself decided even before getting pregnant that we want to use cloth diapers for many reasons like the environment, baby skin health and the economic strain disposables cause. Since the two options both have a great deal of pros to each side I'm finding myself completely indecisive.

 Does anyone have any advice? 

Pregnancy Granola | Vicky Kriel

People who know me would be aware that my all time favorite breakfast is granola. Recently, since I've gotten pregnant, that has not changed except that I now pour a handful of granola into the bowl with some cooked oats. There is just something to the texture and slight crunch that it adds to the oats.
 Point is granola is great however, it can be hard to get hold of a decent one that isn’t pumped full of nasty refined sugars, flavorings and oils. Like, what on earth is glycerin and why the hell is it in so many brands of granola?!

That’s why I’ve come up with this delicious recipe to make my own, without the nasty stuff. It’s all 100% natural, incredibly easy to make and most importantly tastes amazing. Oh, and it’s really good for you, especially during pregnancy, so dig in.

My recipe includes 3 different types of nuts, seeds and fruit. This is such an amazing way to start your day, providing you with loads of energy.
The beauty of granola is you can mix it up and add whatever you like. The nuts, seeds and fruit I use here are my favorite but you can of course change things up a bit. Like I sometimes add some coconut shards and other times I would add some dried apple and extra cinnamon to get more of an apple pie taste.

Pregnancy Granola | Vicky Kriel

Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups Oats – I prefer to use steel cut oats but any oats will do. And feel free to use gluten free if you don't do to well with gluten.
1/2 cup each of 3 Nuts – Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts
1/4 cup each of Sunflower Seeds and Pumpkin Seeds
1 tbsp Poppy Seeds
1 cup Mixed Dried Fruit – Raisins, Cranberries, Apricots
1/4 cup Desiccated Coconut
1/4 cup Date or Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Raw Virgin Coconut Oil
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger
Tips

• Try to find 100% natural dried fruit with no added sugars, oils or sulphur dioxide (preservative). Did you know natural dried apricots should be brown not orange!

• If you don’t have cup measurements, use a mug instead and make sure you use the same mug to measure all of the ingredients so that the proportions are right.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F).
2. Put the coconut oil and syrup into a baking tray and place in the oven until the oil melts.
3. Roughly chop the almonds, pecans and walnuts (remember to leave 1/2 cup of almonds whole). You can do this with a knife, a food processor, or in a pestle and mortar. Almonds can be quite hard to crush so I used my handy food processor with the milling blade for a few seconds.
4. Place the crushed nuts and the rest of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and combine. note: the fruit can get a bit chewy after being baked so feel free to add the fruit at the very end.
5. The coconut oil and syrup mixture should be nice and melted now, so stir it into the mixing bowl.
6. When combined, pour the mixture into the baking tray and gently compress it down with the back of a wooden spoon.
7. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the top from burning.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about an hour and then keep in an airtight container.

   Pregnancy Granola | Vicky Kriel

 What is your favorite breakfast recipes?

 

28 Weeks