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2010-04-17

Healthy Yummy Breakfast Recipe

I am realizing now that I've been concocting this recipe for years, improving the ingredients over time, and I finally have something I absurdly like and that is actually pretty good for me - and I have never shared. Here's the deal - it's so good that I sometimes fancy it up and serve it as a dessert for dinner guests (hint at the end).

It all starts with what I like for breakfast: something crunchy, sweet, plentiful, but not weighing down; something with good balance of nutrients, with lots of proteins, healthy carbohydrates, fiber, and a good amount of water; and of course something that can be made quickly and without fuss. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup mixed berries (thawed if frozen)
  • 1/2 cup cereal of your choice
  • 2 tbsp fat-free whipped topping
  • Stevia powder to taste
Preparation:
  1. Stir yogurt, topping, and Stevia until blended
  2. Add cereal and berries and fold as desired
  3. Done
Takes about 2 minutes total, 3 if you have to thaw the berries. It requires one bowl and one spoon (two bowls if you thaw the berries). It really couldn't be easier.

Greek yogurt has very little sugar, which is really important, since pretty much all the other types come loaded. If you look at the labels, you will notice that some of the yogurts have three or four times the , amount of sugar that they have of protein - not healthy at all. On the other hand, Greek yogurt tends to be quite hard - which is why I add the whipped topping, which adds a trivial amount of calories (and a hint of vanilla).

The berries are full of nutrients - anti-oxidants mainly, that make you feel good about them even if they weren't so darn good by themselves. Additionally, some berries have really great amounts of fiber, which adds to the goodness. The downside: sugars, masked by acidity.

The cereal adds he crunch and the fiber. Because of that, I use cereals that have lots of crunch and fiber, and not a lot of sugar. For the crunch, you can't beat Kashi GoLean! Crunch (in any of the different varieties). I wish it had less sugar. Trader Joe's (which has killer ingredients for this breakfast in general, except for the topping) has a really good reduced sugar cereal with plenty fiber.

The recipe above, depending on the exact ingredients you use, should range somewhere between 300 and 350 calories. For that, you get a big bowl of yum that is full of proteins, fiber, anti-oxidants, and low in fat and sugars. Or you could always choose two toaster waffles with no topping, or 2/3 of a Starbucks scone. Takes more time to get these two than to do the Healthy Yummy Breakfast. Think about it!

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