An Apple a Day...

We've all heard the old saying, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." I do believe that to be true. I also know that cold cereal is just not sufficient for my girls. They could eat an entire box in one sitting, with fruit and toast, and still be hungry an hour later. This is why I make hot cereal, granola, pancakes, or scrambled tofu burritos on a regular basis. I also love quinoa for breakfast. Not only is it extremely delicious all spiced up and tossed with dried cranberries and toasted walnuts, but it's full of protein too!

About 3 weeks ago, I added a new dish to our breakfast repertoire. MckMama would probably refer to it as "woodland creature food at its finest!"

I call it Fruit and Nut Cereal. This is one of those recipes I saw somewhere once, and it has taken on a life of it's own through adaptations and adjustments. This is how I made it today:

2 pink lady apples (unpeeled), cored and chopped into small, relatively thin pieces

2 large bananas, slices cut into little half moons

1/2-1 cup dried fruit of choice (today I used raisins, but dried cranberries are lovely too)

a couple of handfuls of unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup of nuts, un-toasted, chopped into bits in a mini food processor (today I used raw almonds and cashews) You will want the nuts to be in very small pieces, but not necessarily powdery, if that makes sense.

1-2 tbs ground flax seed

1-2 tbs pure (or homemade) maple syrup

Drizzle of lemon juice or orange juice to prevent the fruit from browning and add Vit. C for increased iron absorption

(Wheat germ, toasted or un-toasted, would be really good too, but I'm currently out.)

Mix everything together, serve in a cereal bowl topped with milk of choice.

The girls adore this cereal. It's delicious, nutritious, and keeps them satisfied for hours! This amount easily filled up the four of us, with a little leftover. It's amazing how one bowl of something like this will satisfy their tummies far better than, say, four bowls of Cheerios or Puffins!