A Big, Crunchy, Better Breakfast Cereal Recipe
This is going to make your mornings better. Dump entire boxes of healthy cereal into your biggest bowl, add extra oats, oat bran, ground flax seeds, and freeze-dried berries. Now you have lots of breakfasts ready to go.
I'm going to share with you a bigger, better, crunchier breakfast cereal. Some of you aren't going to be interested in this concept at all, and that's cool (I think a taco recipe is up next). For some of you, this is going to be a game changer. I've been making my own dry cereal breakfast blends in recent months. But, here's where things got interesting. I started making it in increasingly larger, and larger batches. Now I cherry-pick boxes of favorite cereals, dump entire boxes into the most massive bowl I can find, and add quick oats, oat bran, ground flax, and freeze dried fruit. Give everything a really good toss, and transfer to two XXXL glass Weck jars. The big-batch thing is the magic. Especially if you're at all lazy, but still want a great breakfast. I'm including the recipe for what I think of as my "master" cereal recipe, but use it as a jumping off point, and don't get hung up on whether you can track down the exact cereals I use.
So much to say about this. My cereals of choice are oat flakes, shredded wheat, and some sort of dense nugget cereal - but a mix of sugar-free / whole grain / high-fiber cereals is what you're going for. Said another way, a mix of textures, and nutrient diversity. Because the components are dry, it means weeks of quick breakfasts, and you can easily scoop some into baggies for simple travel breakfasts.
This is the berry version. There are times I do a "tropical" version, swapping out the berries for freeze-dried bananas, pineapple, and apples. You can also add fresh fruit when you add the milk, and anything else you have on hand.
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A Big, Crunchy, Better Breakfast Cereal
HS: Just a heads up, this isn't a sponsored post, I'm calling out name brands to illustrate the exact blend I use, but you can substitute using the same general concept!
1 box Kashi wheat biscuits (16 ounce)
1 box Nature's Path Multi-grain Oat Flake Cereal
1 box Kashi 7-grain nuggets, or Ezekiels
2 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups oat bran
4 cups freeze-dried berries (mix of raspberries, blue berries, strawberries)
1/2 cup ground flax seedsto serve: fresh berries fruit or sliced banana, chia, hemp seeds & your milk of choice (I prefer almond milk here or a blend of cashew and almond milk)
Combine everything in your largest bowl, toss well, and transfer to air-tight containers (two Weck 2.5 L glass jars are perfect).
Makes cereal for a week or more.
Prep time: 5 minutes
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Comments
This recipe is so useful for me considering my mornings are probably one of the hardest parts of my day and this breakfast which provides everything I could really need is definitely a game changer in terms of how my breakfasts go.
Great idea and looks fabulous. I'm thinking that on cold mornings I'd add hot milk or chai...warm & yummy. Thanks, Heidi!
Can I sub regular oats for the quick-cooking kind?
HS: Hi Loring, you can!
I love this idea and have being doing it for a while. The only thing I do different is to store my mixed dried fruit (especially raisins, etc) separately and add them at the last minute. I find they turn into little rocks if left interspersed with the dried cereal blend. Love the colour punch of your blend!
Give Nabisco Shredded Wheat and Bran a try. Yes, it's not organic. But no sugar. And full of flavor.
Hi Heidi, Wondering what fruit you use. Is there a particular brand that's you suggest? Thanks! Maggie
HS: Hi Maggie - I think the last time I bought them, they were Karen's Naturals.
That's a great idea, thanks for sharing! I recently accidentally bought some strawberry mini wheats that contain artificial food coloring, blech. I could taste it right away. When our cereal supply dwindles, you've inspired me to buy some healthy, non sugary cereals and make this mix.
My favorite breakfast or lunch is vanilla or honey whole milk yogurt, Bran Buds and fresh or frozen fruit. today it was mango. I make it the night before so the Buds get soft and caramel-ly.
Do you have a problem with all the smaller bits and pieces falling to the bottom of the jars? I've long been a cereal mixer, but always day of, which means i need space to keep 3+ boxes of cereal in my pantry. But I'm worried that week 2 I'll eat all the yummy fruit and big flakes and by week 3 a bowl will be 90% oats/flax/bran/chia and the crumby bits.
Heidi: such a swell idea ! I haven't eaten dry cereal in years, probably got bored, but this would curtail the boredom! You're so clever!
Slightly off subject but do you freeze dry your own fruit? Getting interested in this topic and exploring affordable and reliable ways of doing it.
LOVE all the berries!!!
Could you say something more about the freeze-dried fruit? Is this something you make? Buy? Thanks.
This looks killer! Always on the hunt for a quick breakfast, especially when I haven't planned ahead! Thanks for sharing!