Apple and Cranberry Granola Cereal

I've been on a quest to start eating fewer sugars and carbs in my diet. Diabetes runs in my family, and sugars and carbs (which become sugar when you body digests them) are probably not good for me to be eating in high quantities. I don't feel like we eat terribly. We rarely eat out. All of our meals (or dinners, at least) are homemade. But I feel like there are some changes that can be made. Of course, trying to make these changes and still stick to a gluten-free diet for my husband is going to be difficult. I can't use whole-wheat flour, and even if there is a whole-wheat gluten-free flour, it's not going to be the same as regular whole-wheat flour. If someone could publish a low-carb, low-sugar, gluten-free cookbook, that would be fabulous. THANKS!

Until then, I checked out a Rocco Dispirito cookbook from the library: Now Eat This! Diet. It's filled with low-calorie, low-sugar, and low-carb meals that still allow you to eat some of your favorite foods (cheeseburgers, anyone?) but in a healthier way. Everything in this book is under 450 calories. There is also a diet plan that goes along with it, if you want to do that.

My biggest problem is breakfast. Usually I eat sugary cereals with milk. I eat at 5:30 a.m., and by 9:30 a.m. my stomach is growling. So I really need something that is healthy and filling.

One of the breakfasts in the Now Eat This! Diet cookbook is for Apple and Cranberry Granola Cereal, and I'm pleased to say that it can also be gluten-free with no changes. For copyright reasons, I can't post the recipe here, but I will tell you what to be aware of for gluten-free purposes. The recipe calls for puffed Arrowhead Mills kamut. My grocery store didn't carry kamut, but it did carry Arrowhead Mills puffed brown rice, and we all know that brown rice is better for you than white rice. There is no added salt or sugar, and it is wheat-free, so even my husband could eat it.

Other ingredients include apple juice concentrate, agave nectar (which I actually left out...), vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, unsweetened dried apples (make sure to check the packaging for gluten-free), dried cranberries (make sure to check the packaging for gluten-free), and sliced almonds (make sure to check the packaging for gluten-free).

You can serve this on top of Greek yogurt, which I plan to do, or use it as a cereal with skim milk. I chose unsweetened original almond milk, which only has 1 carb gram and 1 sugar gram unlike regular milk.

I've made a Low-Carb, Low-Sugar Pinterest board, so head on over to check out some recipes, including some cross-posted from Rocco Dispirito's Pinterest.

Do you have any healthy new recipes or cookbook recommendations to share? Let me know in the comments!