Many of you have heard me refer to my “Bird Seed” and have asked for the recipe, so I thought I would share it here.

Initially, this started out as primarily just pumpkin and sunflower seeds, which is where my little nickname came from. I was trying an elimination diet to see if I had any food allergies that were causing a skin rash. On this elimination diet (which was pretty brutal I might add) there wasn’t much that I could have. No nuts, corn, soy, gluten, dairy, citrus fruits, nightshade vegetables, coffee, chocolate, wine, etc… This “Bird Seed” was “legal”, so I pretty much became addicted to it, and still am. In fact, I’m having some right now! 😀

I didn’t really see any pattern related to what I was eating and the rash, so I started adding things back (Hallelujah!) and adapted the original recipe to include a little more goodness. This is still gluten and dairy free as those are two things I won’t be adding back to my diet. I haven’t had dairy in years and years because I discovered it triggered migraines, and gluten is just bad, bad, bad!

I typically enjoy mine for breakfast with mixed berries and coconut yogurt, but it’s also delicious with vanilla coconut milk as a cereal, or just to eat plain!

So, here’s how to make some delicious, gluten free, dairy free, low sugar Bird Seed! **It’s best to buy organic ingredients when you can!**

Bird Seed Granola

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 Cups Raw Sunflower Seeds
• 1 Cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds
• 1 Cup Walnuts (or other nuts of your choosing)
• 1/2 Cup Coconut Flakes
• 1/2 Cup Gluten Free Oats
• 3 T Chia Seeds
• 1 heaping tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ginger
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 to 1/3 Cup Raw Honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Oil (melted)

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Preheat oven to 300.
• Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Combine all ingredients into a food processor fitted with an “S” blade. *
• Turn on to medium/high speed and let it run until you have a coarse mixture.
• Transfer to cookie sheet and spread it out evenly.
• Bake for 30-60 minutes – stirring every 15 minutes. **
• Once your Bird Seed is golden brown, turn off the oven and leave it inside until the oven is cool.
• Remove from oven and enjoy! 🙂

*If you have a smaller food processor, chop the ingredients in batches, and place each batch into a large bowl. Once all ingredients have been chopped, then stir well before spreading it onto the cookie sheet.

**Oven temps vary, therefore; you may have to bake shorter or longer depending on yours. It’s important to check every 15 minutes and stir it around as it has a tendency to burn if you don’t. 😉