Berry Vanilla Granola

It's November, again. It should be a happy month for me technically, for it's the birthday month. But somehow, with all the stuff happening around me lately, I'm not sure if there's anything worth a good cheer or so.

Am currently busy with work (rare in the quieter last quarter of the year), and there's this persistent lip rash that has been going on/off for the past few weeks or so (before I went for my Korea trip), and then, there's the health report I just received in the mail...dang. Or should I say - *whoops*.

Oh well, I can only hope that my birthday week fare much better than the first week of November. Tough, cos it's just the coming week. And I'll be pretty busy with an upcoming work event. Ha.

Anyway. Back to the main topic of the post. Granola.

 Berry Vanilla Granola

Japanese-styled Matcha Granola

I spotted a delivery man at the office lobby today. This is a normal sight isn't it? A delivery man, during office hours, at a work place. However, he was a lil different from the usual delivery man. I noticed him primarily because of what he was delivering.

Matcha granola

Cherry Pecan Chia Granola with Earl Grey Poached Apricots

The granola kick continues.

Cherry Pecan Chia Granola

Nutty granola

Been having a bit of a granola/bircher muesli addiction lately.

 Nutty almond butter granola

Brown butter blackberry granola muffins

I had bought some blackberries, thinking to eat them with yogurt and granola for breakfast. However, I had forgotten all about them, and by the time I remembered that they were still in the fridge, they were looking a little too ripe. I needed to use them asap.

My muffins stash had ran out at the same time, thus I thought that I could just use them in a new muffin batch.

Brown butter blackberry granola muffins

Chocolate cherry coconut almond granola

As I mentioned in my last granola post, I like having granola for breakfast. I mean, it's oats, and oats are supposedly good for the body isn't it?

What I have here today, is admittedly, not a healthy granola, but heck, we should all ease up a little bit, enjoy a little treat now and then (okay, almost all the time...) and just hit the gym more often to make up for the sinful stuff we consume...

Anyway, the granola I'm talking about is no other than this chocolate cherry coconut almond granola. Yeps, that's certainly a mouthful to say. You can always refer to it as the chocolate granola, ah then again, who cares what you call it, when everyone is more concerned with other pressing issues - such as fighting for the last bowl of it.

Chocolate cherry coconut almond granola

Homemade granola

I love having granola for breakfast. Since my uni days, I've enjoyed pairing yogurt and granola, and sometimes, with a dollop of fresh berries or passion fruit. I've been making my own granola for quite some time, experimenting with different recipes. I was testing to see whether homemade granola can compare to store bought granola. While I've yet to achieve the exact texture of the store bought granola I enjoy, at least I know what goes into my granola, and I can adjust the flavours and additions according to my personal preferences.

Homemade granola with mixed fruits and nuts

Granola chocolate chip muffins and a healthier lifestyle.

As always, there comes a time when I get sick of my blog layout, and decide to change it. It seems like the design is going from simple to simple-r. Simplistic is the key. From the multi photos collage designs I made from images I found on the web, to a handful of self-shot baking photos, to now, a single image design. Snorts. What next? ;)

Sigh. I'm still on the prowl for a job. Been sending out resumes and awaiting replies. It's getting hard to just sit by while your friends are all getting jobs. I'm happy for them, but at the same time, thinking, when is it going to be my turn? I don't expect alot from a job. Just that it pays reasonably well, has sufficient annual leave days, has a decent working environment, great learning opportunities and that's good enough. I mean, it's pretty realistic rights? I just got offered a job by a local F and B company. I really would like to accept it, but there are just too many cons to the job (mainly the pay and benefits). I'm in a dilemma but ultimately, I doubt I'll accept it. At the same time, I'm also afraid of not accepting it and no better offers come up. Sigh.

Anyway, have recently joined a Muay Thai class with my girlfriend and we've been attending classes several times a week (it's on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights). It's a great way to exercise cos you gotta do cardio, cardio, and more cardio. Burn those calories man. I'm all covered in sweat and the (whatever) muscles I actually have ache like mad after those sessions. I shall think of it as training for the coming 10k Sundown run in May since I havn't had the time to go jogging much, and has neglected exercise till I finished the SL intern.

Talking about a healthier lifestyle, here are some granola and chocolate chip (okay, not so healthy then) muffins I made two months back. I love granola, and what better than to add it into muffins to make it a filling breakfast item?

Granola and chocolate chip muffins

Home made granola