My favourite breakfast

We love breakfast. Weekends are usually some kind of pancake, maybe a waffle. Friday night, the question is always, "What kind of pancake tomorrow?" And Greg will toss out an amazing flavour combo, and I'll make it happen. Lemon, coconut, blueberry, or pumpkin seed and bran, or dark chocolate cherry...During the week, breakfast is usually some sort of grain bowl with different flavours. Like our apple pie millet, pumpkin pie baked oats, chocolate chip coconut baked oats. Some inspired by others, like chocolatecoveredkatie.com, some our own invention. (Writing this already makes me excited for tomorrow morning!)

One of the week day favourites is cold oats. 

About five years ago, when I was pregnant with our second, my parents took us on a cruise. One of the best breakfast buffet features was an oatmeal bar with nuts, seeds, fresh and dried fruit and Bircher Muesli. My entire family loved it, and we'd load up a bowl with the Bircher, then pile on seeds, nuts, and fruit. We'd spend the rest of the morning wondering why we felt so awful. My brother called it seed belly, but researching Bircher Muesli on my return taught me it's made with cream and sugar.  Considering seeds never bother me and I eat them all the time, I'm guessing the richness of our "healthy" breakfast was the issue.

So, it inspired me to create what we lovingly call Cold Oats. We don't make it the night before like typical overnight oats, I just mix it up in the morning because we like the chewiness.

For 2 1/2 hearty servings (my 4-year old still doesn't eat much at breakfast)

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup milk of choice

1/2 cup applesauce, apple juice, orange juice or puréed pumpkin

1tsp vanilla

1tsp agave or maple syrup or honey

Cinnamon to taste

Options, vary at will

2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds

2 Tbsp raisins

2 Tbsp hemp seeds

1-2 Tbsp chia

2 Tbsp chopped pecans

Chocolate chips  to taste

Add more milk as desired, and serve!

I actually pull out a scoop before the options, because my four year old prefers it a little lighter. Just raisins, chocolate chips, and a tiny bit of hemp seed.