Healthy Loves It is our weekly column where we tell you about the things we cannot live without. See our previous recommendations Here!
It wasn’t until I moved in with my current husband that I discovered that he loved cereal. My twice-weekly bowl was quickly dwarfed by its twice-daily (at least) enjoyment. Suddenly we were walking through gallons of milk and boxes of fibrous flakes faster than you can say cinnamon toast crunch.
Of course, our son Sammy inherited my husband’s obsession. As soon as he could eat solids, we ordered corn flakes, kix, and cheerios in bulk. But as Sammy got more into granola, I got more into the nutrition labels, which all seemed loaded with processed ingredients. Occasionally I would bring home a “healthy” option to try, but they all tasted like cardboard.
Then one day last fall, I discovered Seven Sundays, a Certified B Corporationthat automatically put it on top of my pile. Husband and wife from Minneapolis Hannah and Brady Barnstable started selling granola in 2011 but recently launched a grain-free, flower-shaped cereal in three flavors: cocoa, cinnamon and berry. Could it please this family of connoisseurs? I was ready to find out.
There are only a handful of ingredients on seven Sundays (and you will definitely have heard of them all) that got me another tick. What intrigued me the most was sunflower protein. It turns out, Hannah explained, that farmers who grow sunflowers to extract sunflower oil have left behind a solid by-product that is high in protein and fiber but goes to waste. So she worked with a local sunflower farmer in Minnesota to do additional grinding and sifting to turn the by-product into a high-quality, food-grade flour that the grain is made from.
The result is a wonderfully crunchy, slightly springy muesli that doesn’t get damp quickly. My favorite flavor is that cocoais so dark and rich that you end up with a sipping bowl of chocolate milk. The cinnamon– what is done with real business instead of “cinnamon flavor” – is barely a second. And the berrySammy’s favorite is made from freeze-dried blueberries and strawberries from a farm in Illinois. The only sweeteners used are either maple syrup or dates and coconut sugar. Each variety contains 5 or 6 grams of sugar per serving, compared to at least 12 grams for most supermarket brands.
By now you must be wondering what the grain guru (my husband) is thinking? Well, at least one of his two daily bowls is now seven Sundays, and believe me, that’s the highest praise any meal can get from him.
