This post serves as an entry to win an 8-day trip to Greece, courtesy of Fage Total and the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program. The team invited featured publishers to create blog posts illustrating the Greek concept of “good living”, combining good food and fine taste for a positive, healthy life.

Good Living Part I: Setting the Table

Good Living Part II: Guiltless Gluttony

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With chilly winter weather and the holiday season comes comfort food… creamy this, sugary that. I, too, crave foods that warm me up from the inside out during this time of year. When I think of comfort food, I think of my mom’s spiced pear crisp. I can see my 15-year-old self sitting in front of our woodstove – with our yellow Labrador by my side and heavy rain outside – savoring a bowl of warm pears and crispy oats on a stormy school night.

My mother instilled the value of good food and fine taste into me at a young age, to which I’ve held onto tight and incorporated in my own positive, healthy life.

With my mother’s inspiration, I created a nutty and nostalgic pear {and apple} crumble, with a few healthy twists of my own.

Almond Ginger Pear Crumble {gluten-free}

• ~6 small organic pears*

• 2 small organic Granny Smith apples

• 1 1/4 c. rolled oats

• 6 T raw sugar

• 6 T unsalted butter

• 1/4 c. raw almonds

• 1/4 c. crystallized ginger, chopped

• 1 T ground flax

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 325F. In a food processor, combine oats, sugar, butter, almonds, ginger, flax, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pulse until crumbly. Place pears and apples into a shallow baking dish (I used a 9-inch cake pan). Cover fruit with oat mixture. Bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling. Let cool slightly before serving.

*I used frozen pears I had chopped and stored in the freezer from my aunt’s tree; I only had approximately 3-4 cups, so I added a couple small apples to add more volume, approx. 5 cups total.

I recommend eating it warm. I, personally, enjoy it as is and think it’s totally acceptable to eat for breakfast with a dollop of Fage Total Greek yogurt. Fiber-rich fruit, heart-healthy oats and almonds, and protein-packed yogurt – it’s a nutritious meal if you ask me. To make it more of a decadent treat, serve with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Wishing you comfort and health this season from my cozy kitchen to yours,

Hillary

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As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You, too, can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway.