Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Why? Because it ‘breaks’ the overnight ‘fast’, hence the name ‘break-fast’. For a nutritious meal to start your day, you should aim to include whole grains, protein and healthy fats in your breakfast.
(Photo by Mela www.rgbstock.com)
While on holiday in Greece last week, I was looking for a good cereal to get. Only one of the big supermarkets had anything resembling muesli. NOTE: Granola is totally different to Muesli i.e. has tonnes more sugar. — Ever wondered why granola sticks together in little chunks of oats, etc? That’s honey or sugar binding it together, so essentially, little bits of flapjack.
The cereal I found was simple but really tasty. It had oats, rye flakes, a few corn flakes, raisins and banana chips. It made me think of making my own muesli, with more of exactly what I like to include for a tasty and nourishing bowl of goodness. Why don’t you try the same?
Muesli is generally a mix of grains (oats, wheat flakes, corn flakes), nuts, seeds and dried fruit (for a natural sweetener). It is an ideal breakfast for yourself and the little ones. Why? Because:
- it’s high in fibre, helps with digestion and can therefore aid weight loss
- the addition of nuts provides protein, as well as Omega-3 fatty acids (look up various nuts to find out their varying nutritional content)
- adding dried apricots and dried figs give a boost in iron
Holland and Barrett often do sales and offers so compare and contrast where to get your ingredients from. Supermarket basics are great for the lots of it e.g. oats, sultanas, raisins. Places like CostCo also do bargain price bags of nuts so take advantage if you have one of those nearby. Oats don’t always agree with me so I now use rye flakes and barley flakes. I’ve used quinoa flakes in the past also. See what works for you!
Yes, dried fruit is a natural sweetener therefore better than the processed white stuff but watch out for over doing it. My favourites to add are dried cranberries, sultanas and chopped dried fig. If you leave your cereal to soak overnight in milk/filtered water, all of these delicious fruits swell up and turn into juicy explosions of flavour. If you’re not keen on dried fruit, slicing a banana or grating an apple of pear on top is delicious.
Do share how you get on and the combinations you enjoy in the comments below or on my Facebook page!
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My fave combination is oats, linseed, sunflower seed, pumpkin seed, toasted (puffed) quinoa, goji berries and a sprinkling of honey. I usually have fat free Greek yoghurt instead of milk and sometimes add some fresh berries. Filling & tasty!