I am not a big, elaborate breakfast person, but I do want to feed my family something healthy!
One of our favorite quick and easy breakfasts is this crockpot granola. I’ve been making it for years. It’s the simplest, best, granola recipe I’ve ever tried. It’s absolutely delicious, takes literally minutes to throw into the crockpot, and makes the house smell WONDERFUL too!
I always double it, making part into bars, which make a great portable snack or quick breakfast-on-the-run. I adapted the original recipe I was given years ago to use coconut oil rather than canola/vegetable oil and added nuts. Any nut will work, I generally use walnuts, but have used both pecans and almonds as well. I like to add chocolate chips when I make it into bars.
My kids love to eat this just like regular cold breakfast cereal in a bowl with milk. It’s definitely a staple in our house…you couldn’t ask for a simpler to make, more versatile or delicious recipe.
Combine all ingredients in your crockpot and cook on low for 5 hours or until brown, stirring occasionally. Make sure you keep the cover on the crockpot slightly cracked. The more frequently you stir, the finer the consistency. If you prefer clumpier granola, stir less.
Add raisins, dried fruits, chocolate chips…whatever you desire. This is delicious as a hot or cold cereal, as a snack, a topping for yogurt, or made into granola bars.
To make into bars: combine 2 cups granola w/2 beaten eggs, put in a lightly greased cookie sheet, bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Cut into bars and cool.
This keeps for several weeks in the refrigerator, and I bet it would freeze well too, but ours never lasts long enough for me to find out!
Quick and easy breakfast that my kids love. Fresh peaches sauteed with cinnamon and rapadura provide a sweet treat. Children of all ages will eat this quickly and quiet often.
Soak oatmeal, water, whey (or lemon juice) over night in a nonreactive bowl.
Place in a medium pot with milk, salt and rapadura and cook until tender (5-7 min.).
In a small cast iron pan, add diced peaches, rapadura, and cinnamon.
Cook until sugar starts to melt, then add water.
Continue cooking until peaches are tender and there is a thick syrup (5-7 min.).
Serve over oatmeal with a pat of cultured butter.
This is a wonderful breakfast for anyone but especially Ayurvedic Vata types. It is aromatic, nourishing, and comforting…perfect for easing your way into the day.
Heat water over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add apples and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.
While the apples are cooking, add remaining ingredients to the skillet and stir occasionally, for an additional 5-10 minutes. The liquid that is not soaked up will form a delicious, flavorful syrup. Serve hot.
When our family gave up cold cereals for breakfasts, I made several homemade cold cereals to keep in the pantry for those days when no one wanted to cook breakfast. The idea for the crunchy kasha came to me after reading about traditional kasha porridge made from buckwheat. I decided that if people made granola out of oats (essentially crunchy oatmeal), why couldn’t I make a crunchy version of kasha? My children loved it! This recipe is only lightly sweetened.
Place groats into a 1/2 gallon wide mouthed mason jar or other container with a similar capacity.
Rinse the groats well with filtered water and drain. Add the acidifyer (live whey, lemon juice, or ACV). The acidyfier will help in the process to reduce phytic acid in the buckwheat. [url=”http://phyticacid.org”]Read more about phytic acid reduction.[/url] Then, completely fill the jar with filtered water. Cover and allow the buckwheat to soak on the counter for 8 hours.
Rinse the now swollen goats two or three times, or until no longer foamy. Foam is a normal occurrence when soaking buckwheat.
Mix together honey, vanilla, salt and cinnamon.
For raw kasha: Pour honey mixture onto buckwheat and stir gently to evenly distribute. If the honey is too sticky, just go back and stir the buckwheat after an hour or so after it’s been in the dehydrator. Pour buckwheat onto dehydrator trays and dry at 150 to 170 degrees for 12-24 hours or until completely dry and crunchy. I tend to stir it a couple of times during the drying period.
For a toasted kasha: Pour honey mixture onto buckwheat and stir gently to distribute. Pour buckwheat onto 2 parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 250-300 stirring 3 or 4 times until buckwheat is completely dry and crunchy and lightly golden in color, about 2-3 hours.
Store in a mason jar in the pantry.
Serve topped with raw milk and favorite mix-ins like fresh or dried fruit, crispy nuts or seeds or shredded coconut. It also makes a great crunchy yogurt topping.
and dehydrate at 150 degrees
This quick and healthy breakfast can be modified with any fresh or dried fruit that you have on hand. You can also experiment with different seeds and nuts in this dish to give the couscous a different texture. This recipe is a nice alternative to your regular breakfast oatmeal.
Heat the couscous, milk, honey, cinnamon, and cranberries in a pot over medium heat. Stir frequently.
Remove the pot from the heat when all the milk has been absorbed into the couscous.
Place the couscous in bowls and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds. Serve warm.
Editor’s Note: Couscous should be soaked overnight or at least 8 hours in warm filtered water (enough to cover) along with an acidic medium such as lemon juice, vinegar or whey (approx 1-2 Tbsp). Soaking grains properly before preparation will allow you to absorb nearly double the minerals and vitamins from grains. Learn more about the importance of soaking grains on the Phytic Acid website. After soaking, simply discard soaking liquid, rinse, and proceed with the recipe as above..
Sweet, crunchy and a quick-grab-breakfast; cereal is an excellent invention. The food industry has really done a number on this convenience food with all it’s extrusion, colors, preservatives and other chemicals and processes. I understand fully that still, it is a hard thing to give up. There are so many varying levels of commitment in a real food journey and once “the box” is gone, you have officially turned a corner in my book.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grind two cups of almonds with one cup of kefir in blender until smooth. Pour mixture into large bowl and repeat with two cups almonds and one cup kefir, pour into bowl. Grind one final batch, this time using two cups peanuts and the final cup of kefir, add this to the large bowl as well. Place oil, honey, salt and vanilla in blender to combine well and add to nuts. Stir the entire batter to combine, sprinkle coconut flour on mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour batter into a half sheet pan (9 x13) and bake for 40 minutes. Let cool and then crumble onto baking sheets or dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 150-200 degrees for 12 - 16 hours. Once cooled, store in airtight container in the refrigerator.
This is a nutritious, comforting breakfast for a cold morning! It is also super easy to throw together after soaking overnight, and after starting, you can walk away until ready to eat!
The evening before, soak millet in water and apple cider vinegar. In the morning, turn the burner to high and add remaining ingredients; when it comes to a boil, turn off heat and let sit for about an hour. At the end of that time, you can serve as is, or turn back on to thicken up a bit.
Are you on the GAPS diet and miss cereal? This grain free version is just as good, if not better than it’s grain full counterpart.
Cover almonds and sunflower seeds with water and 1 tbsp salt and let set overnight. Drain.
Heat oven to 200F. Combine nuts and remaining ingredients, mixing well to combine. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper and granola spread evenly. Let bake for several hours, 4-6. Stir occasionally and break up large pieces.
Serve with milk or yogurt. I like to sprinkle a small handful of golden raisins and a tablespoon of ground flaxseed in my cereal.
This recipe is a little difficult, because it has several steps. Refer to the link to my blog for detailed instructions and more picture instructions. It’s very delicious though and well worth the effort! If you don’t want to take the time to soak the nuts and oats, it is easy to convert.
Place oats, water and whey, yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, lemon juice or vinegar in a large bowl. Cover with a dishtowel and let sit from 8-24 hours.
After they have soaked, strain the water off and place on either cookie sheets or dehydrator trays. If using the oven and cookie sheets, set the oven on the lowest setting (150-170°). It will take several hours. You can turn it once or twice to make it go faster. If using the dehydrator set it on the highest setting (around 150°).
Place nuts/seeds in a jar and cover with water and add 1 t. of sea salt to each jar. Soak 7 or more hours. Strain water off and dehydrate in oven on lowest setting or in dehydrator on highest setting. Toasting the nuts slightly after dehydrating is optional, but adds a delicious flavor.
After your nuts/seeds and oats are dried, place oats in a large bowl and chop up into very small chunks.
Next, combine all the nuts/seeds in with the chopped oats. Mix in the other wet and dry ingredients except the raisins until well mixed.
Place granola on cookie sheets for oven method and bake at 350° for 15 minute intervals, turning every 15 minutes to avoid burning. When it is a nice toasty light brown, remove and let cool completely.
If using dehydrator, place wet granola on trays and dehydrate until dry (from a few hours to 24 hours).
When granola is dry, add raisins and mix well. Store in air tight containers.
I love oats… I love oatmeal… here is a new way to enjoy them for breakfast!
24 hours ahead of when you want to serve these, rinse the oat groats, cover them with water, about 2 inches above the oats. Stir in the whey and whole wheat flour. Cover and allow to soak at room temperature.
After 24 hours, drain and carefully rinse. Return the soaked oats to a heavy-bottomed sauce pan.
Add water until it is 1 inch above oats. Bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 30 minutes, covered, tasting a few now and then until they are as tender as you want them to be. Stir frequently.Be sure to keep enough water in the pan to cover them.
When the groats are done, strain out any extra water. Serve with butter, milk, and maple syrup or other natural sweetener.
Creating new versions of oatmeal is a must when your family eats it a couple times a week or more. This recipe is a cinch to make and has very little added sugar. We love the combination of rich, sweet dates and walnuts along with cinnamon.
To Soak:
Combine oatmeal, flour, water mixed with acid of choice and chopped walnuts in a bowl. Cover and leave on the counter for 8 to 24 hours.
To make the oatmeal:
Place the soaked oatmeal mixture and additional 1 1/2 cups of water into a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Bring to a simmer, stirring every minute or so. Once the mixture is pretty thick, remove from heat. Stir in cinnamon, vanilla, maple syrup and dates. Cover and let stand for about 5 minutes.
To serve, top with raw cream and cultured butter!
Move over Puffed Wheat! Here is a healthy and delicious alternative for those who enjoy a cold cereal for breakfast!
Put the oil in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt on stove top over medium heat and add the popcorn. Cover the pan. (Adjust pan size to the number of servings you are making.)
Turn up the heat to medium/high and continually move the pan back and forth quickly over the burner to prevent burning the popcorn. When the popping has nearly stopped, take the pan off the stove.
Pour popped corn into a cereal bowl and top with nice cold raw milk and real maple syrup.
Very very yummy. You can make the popped corn a bit ahead of time, if you like.