The last few weeks I have been really mindful of what I am eating, and really proud of myself for jumping back into a healthier routine (after a long hiatus since moving overseas) Sometimes you fall off, and then you just finally feel ready to take back control over your health and treat yourself well. This is usually the case for me.

I have to admit, I find it sad that at 28 years old, in the midst of raising two small children, I forget, and even refuse to make time to take care of myself. It’s not infrequent that my husband has to tell me that I need to relax, come to bed, and take a little time for myself. I have a tendency to pile too much on to my plate, and so I really love when I find or create a recipe that is undeniably simple, can be made in one bowl, and I know will make life and figuring out “what we are going to eat” easier. And it feels so good when your kids really love something that you make. This is one of those recipes.

Even in our last year with our new baby, in a new country, our idea of “not eating optimally” is probably still pretty darn good. It’s always been important for me to not buy processed foods for my kids. Like with most things in life, we find ourself never being “too extreme”, so processed foods are not totally off limits. Yet, despite my daughter’s constant request that I order “American goldfish”, from amazon, or put the really awful terrible sugar filled cereal in our shopping cart, I stand my ground and say no. We have already successfully made so many of our favorite familiar foods from the US healthier, and homemade in here Tunisia. This includes real cheddar goldfish crackers, and this morning we made our own healthy crunch cereal to bring along the the beach. 🙂

Quinoa puffs are the perfect base for homemade cereal. I have been really craving maple cinnamon flavors, and that is what I used to coat them with. I have seen chocolate and peanut butter used (hellooo healthy cocoa and peanut butter puffs!) to give them some flavor, and thought it was pure genius. We used Kapok Naturals Organic Quinoa Pop to make this cereal. Quinoa puffs have no taste at all by themselves, so you have to get creative. *Immediately buys more to make a spicy chili spice blend for myself*

We used pure organic maple syrup in this recipe, however you could swap it for Lakanto Maple Flavored Syrup, which is made from monk fruit, and only has 1 net carb per serving. This + cinnamon + quinoa puffs = 2 net carbs per serving if you’re low carb.

We also used Simply Organic Ground Ceylon Cinnamon. If you do not have Ceylon cinnamon in your spice rack, you have to make the switch. Ceylon cinnamon is known as “real cinnamon”, has a distinct (better) taste, and is loaded with antioxidants. This is not necessarily true of conventional cinnamon you may buy at the store. Check for Ceylon 😉

This homemade cereal is refined sugar free, full of antioxidants, plant based, paleo compliant, and most importantly (the only part the kids will care about) it is truly delicious and addictive. Mom wins !