Fruit And Nut Breakfast BowlAn Easy Back To School Breakfast

Healthy breakfast bowl takes advantage of late summer fruit.

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My New Favorite Breakfast
The end of the summer brings us so much wonderful fruit. Sweat peaches are their peak ripeness, the pears are ripening, strawberries are still around, and so much more. A big bowl of fruit may be delicious but it's certainly not filling.This breakfast bowl adds nuts and seeds, cereal, and some probiotic packed, home-made soy yogurt. This provides the protein and healthy fats that will keep you satisfied until lunch time.

I Can't Believe School is Starting!
Although my children are grown, I still get those feelings of disbelief when kids start getting ready to start school in what seems like the middle of the summer. Getting kids fed and ready to leave for school, or even summer day camp for that matter, is one of the hardest thing a parent has to do. Perhaps feeding them this yummy breakfast bowl will get them to eat up without prompting them through ever bite! It's so easy, they can even help you make it.

Feel free to change up the ingredients. Basically you need 3 fruits, 3 nuts/seeds, some healthy cereal for more crunch, and your favorite yogurt. The ingredients below are for two servings but it' easy to double to make it for four.

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Fruit and Nut Breakfast Bowl
Vegan and Dairy Free (if using vegan yogurt) 
Gluten Free (if using GF cereal)
[makes 2 servings]

Ingredients
1 large peach, diced with skin
1 large pear, diced with or without skin
6 large strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup cereal (such as puffed rice or granola)
1 tablespoon raw sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon chopped raw walnuts 
1 tablespoon chopped or sliced almonds
1/2 cup yogurt

Directions
Divide the chopped fruit between two bowls.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cereal over each bowl. I like to use a mixture of puffed rice and puffed kamut because it has a nice crunch and very few calories. Granola would be very yummy and hearty in this recipe too but adds more calories and sugar.

Puffed brown rice and gamut

Divide the nuts and seeds among the two bowls.

Sunflower seeds, almonds and walnuts

Gently stir each bowl to mix the ingredients. Top with your favorite yogurt and serve immediately.

Roasted Asparagus On Romaine Topped With Corn, Radishes, Avocado & Sunflower Seeds

Roasted asparagus topped with chopped veggies and seeds.

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Asparagus for Lunch?

Doug and I ate an entire bunch of asparagus yesterday for lunch. Once those tender roasted spears came out of the oven, we decided to make a meal out of them. Besides, you can't just let these jewels sit around since they are more perishable than most other vegetables.

Feed your Microbes Too!

I'm sure you all know how very important microbes are for our health. Well these little guys have to eat too. They depend on "prebiotics" which are supplied by the compound "inulin." This carbohydrate makes it all the way through to our large intestine where it becomes an important food source for our intestinal bacteria such as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. Asparagus is a very good source of inulin. 

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Roasted Asparagus Salad

Vegan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free

[makes 4 servings]

Ingredients

1 pound asparagus, washed

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 ear of corn, cleaned, kernels removed

4 small radishes, diced

1 green onion, cleaned and thinly sliced

1/2 avocado, diced

1/2 lemon

1 head Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped

2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds (or hemp seeds)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Trim off the bottoms of the asparagus with a knife or bend the bottoms until they snap off. Place in a large, shallow baking pan and arrange in a single layer. 

Drizzle the olive oil over the asparagus and sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. If you have a Silpat sheet, you can reduce the olive oil to 2 teaspoons. Shake the pan back and forth until the spears are well coated.

Place the pan in the oven and roast for 12 to 15 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through, until the asparagus spears are lightly browned and fork-tender but still crisp. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Place the corn kernels, radishes, green onion, and avocado in a small bowl. Toss with the juice of 1/2 a lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 

To build the salad, place the chopped Romaine lettuce on a platter or divide among four individual plates. (Doug and I divided it onto two big plates and made an entire meal out of it.)

Place the warm asparagus on top of the lettuce and then top the asparagus with the corn mixture. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and serve immediately.

Nutrition

Per serving: 168 calories, 10 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 249 mg omega-3 and 2,006 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 6 g protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 8 g dietary fiber, 20 mg sodium (plus salt to taste).

For a better omega-3 to omega-6 balance, use hemp seeds instead of sunflower seeds.