Breakfast Time

I am a breakfast person.  I can get up and go for a run or exercise without it but I definitely won't consider walking out the door without having eaten it, nor will I let the kids leave the house with no brekky in their bellies.  Sebastian actually likes to have at least two breakfasts before we leave, I think his record is five.

I don't muck around with breakfast either, wholegrains and dairy are the things that are going to fill those bellies the best too.  Here are a few things that are being served up to the table each morning at our house.

With the chilly winter mornings fruit toast is the kids bread of choice, even better if I've bought them some fruity sourdough.  We'll be heading to dough in the market for some today.

Be Natural breakfast cereals are new firm favourites of mine, Sebastian's and Jasmine's.  The boy likes the pink lady apple one best, the nutty one is my favourite.

Cinnamon and cranberry porridge from Goodies and Grains in the Central Market.  I don't know what it is about this porridge but it is amazing.  The girls in the store told me it has quite a cult following across Adelaide.  I love diving into the big tub of it every week for a big bagful to bring home.  I top my porridge with a little drizzle of golden syrup and a spoonful of the high protein cereal sprinkle that I also get from goodies and grains.

On the weekend I my fancy schmancy bacon and eggs is my absolute favourite.  It regularly shows up for brunch on a Saturday or Sunday after I've put in the hard yards in the gym or out running.

I down a smoothie at least three mornings a week, usually on my work mornings and often between exercise on the weekend.  I don't get time to sit and chew on week mornings.  Right now my smoothies are 1 cup low fat milk, 1/3 cup low fat natural yoghurt, 1/3 cup frozen blueberries, 1 Tbs unprocessed bran and a banana.  I often mix everything except the banana and bran in a container and pop it in the fridge the night before with Tbs chia seeds and it saves mucking around too much in the morning.  I double the recipe and share with my big girls often too.

This morning I tried something new and it was delicious.  If you have Jamie Oliver's Return of The Naked Chef then you have the recipe for Pukkolla.  I tried this when I first got the book many many years ago and it really wasn't my thing but prompted by discussion with Lauren last night I threw a batch together and I couldn't wait to get up and eat my breakfast this morning!  If you google pukkolla you'll find the recipe all over the place but here's how I my made mine:

Dry Ingredients

10 cups rolled oats

1 cup dried apricots, chopped

1 cup dates, chopped

1/2 cup flaked almonds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup walnuts, chopped.

Mix all of that together in a gigantic bowl.  I dished it out into four x four cup portions and stashed them in the pantry in zip lock backs.

Tip 1 of the four cup portions into a bowl.  Grate 2 apples and mix through with 2 Tbs chia seeds (I also had 3 passionfruit starting to go dodgy in the fruit bowl so I added them too).  Just cover with milk (I used 3 cups), cover and pop into the fridge overnight.

To serve in the morning dish out about 2/3 cup into a bowl and top with 1/4 cup frozen berries.  I zapped it in the microwave for about 30 seconds because I didn't want it fridge cold.  Finish with a dollop of yoghurt and maybe a drizzle of honey.  I also added about a Tbs of my high protein cereal sprinkle.

After all these years of not eating it because I didn't like it I think it will become a new breakfast staple.  My tastes must be maturing as I'm getting older!

What's on your breakfast menu right now?  I'd love to hear your homemade brekky recipes!

Tatum xx