Yogurt for Breakfast

It has always surprised me that people don't like to eat breakfast.

I go to bed dreaming of what I'm going to eat and wake up ravenous and anxious to get cooking.

It doesn't bother me that thinking of a yummy, healthy breakfast takes some creativity. I usually start with a base of eggs or fruit, or both.

Today Oliver located our stash of frozen berries (dang these easy to reach freezer drawers). From there we added plain yogurt for protein and minerals and probiotics, flax for fibre and fats and maple syrup for sweetness and more natural minerals. The maple syrup my family's batch from this year; you can read about how to make your own maple syrup here.

But that's just one way to do yogurt.

1. Locate your yogurt. For an easy tutorial on how to make your own go here. If you want to buy it look for no added sugar or sweetener and don't get sucked into the fat-free ploy. Go dietary fats go!

2. Fruit. Bananas (+ peanut butter!), apples (+cinnamon!), peaches, pears, raspberries... the list is endless. No, really, check out the Wikipedia list of edible fruits. If that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will. You can find some really cool fruits at your local Asian grocer; if you live in London check out Super King in the Westmount Mall plaza.

3. Sweetness. My go-to sweeteners would be maple syrup or honey. I also like brown rice syrup, agave nectar, stevia and sucanat. You can read my blog post about sweeteners here.

4. Add ons. As mentioned above, peanut butter and cinnamon are great on yogurt. My addition was flax seed this morning, but chia seeds and hemp hearts are great too. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds are awesome, as are cashews, pecans and pine nuts. I love cacao nibs in my yogurt. I love allspice in my yogurt. How about some whole-grain cereals? A homemade granola would be wonderful. Go crazy!

If you're not in a yogurt mood, there are plenty of other options for breakfast and once you chose one, let your imagination run wild:
- A breakfast wrap
- Homemade oatmeal
- A smoothie
- A baked frittata
- Fresh muffins

There's totally no excuse for skipping breakfast when these options are at your fingertips. Try one today... or tomorrow morning I guess.