Do you need a boost of healthy energy in the morning?

A way to get your day going with a super healthy start? This is what I've been having for breakfast every day and I am loving it. 

This is my quick and easy recipe for a homemade superfood breakfast cereal. 

I was buying some pre-made superfood cereals, until I read the ingredients and realized it was all things I had in my pantry and I could throw it together myself for a LOT less than I was paying to buy it already made for me. 

As with most of what I make and share - this "recipe" is more of a guideline. This will give you a basic framework for a healthy cereal to get your morning off to a great start. 

You are basically just combining rolled oats with a variety of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits.

For mine I try to shop at Trader Joe's - they have a great selection of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits, and they have a good rice on organic oats. You could also grab your ingredients from the bulk foods section of your grocery store or natural market. 

Ingredients:

• Rolled oats: NOT steel cut, and not quick cooking. Just old fashioned rolled oats. 1 regular size container - probably about a pound. 

• Nuts: I like a combination of sliced almonds and chopped walnuts. Use any kind you like, just make sure they are in bite sized pieces.

• Seeds: Sunflower seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds (or ground flax).

• Dried fruits: raisins, blueberries, cherries...

A few notes about the ingredients:

Nuts: Don't buy salted ones. They are going to be way too salty for this kind of recipe. I personally prefer to buy roasted nuts, I find that I digest them better. But if you like raw then go for raw nuts. I like to buy the nuts that are already sliced or chopped. That makes it super easy to throw this together.

Seeds: I buy roasted unsalted sunflower seeds - again, my system handles the roasted ones better. But many folks prefer raw. In addition to the sunflower seeds, add whatever combination of other seeds you can get your hands on - chia, hemp, flax - there's no limit!

Fruits: Trader Joe's has a great bag of mixed dried fruit, so that's what I've been using. It's got raisins, cranberries, blueberries, and cherries - so it's everything I need and it's easy. 

Feel free to add other stuff - ground flax is great, wheat germ if you're into that.

Quantities:

My personal preference is to have the mix be about half oats and half other stuff. Of the half "other stuff", I tend to go for about equal parts of fruit, nuts, and seeds - slightly more fruit & nuts vs. seeds. 

The container I'm using is about 8 cups. So that breaks down to about:

• 4 cups rolled oats

• 1 1/2 cups dried fruits

• 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts

• 1 cup mixed seeds

Instructions:

Literally - dump it all in and mix together. 

Store in an airtight container.

Serving:

My container comes with a 1 cup measuring scoop, so I use 1 cup as the serving. Add enough of your favorite milk to cover, and let sit for a few minutes to let the oats & fruit soften a bit. I use almond milk, but you can use any kind you like. 

I top it with whatever fresh fruit I've got around - blueberries, strawberries, etc.