healthy recipe #1: breakfast compote

Eating those commercial breakfast cereals is as American as, well, dental cavities.  Sorry, it’s a sad analogy.  Being a cost-conscious guy, over the years I have fumed at paying dollars per pound for store-bought products made of grains costing pennies per pound.  But my greater concern had to do with the unhealthiness of those products.  So I created a breakfast we call Breakfast Compote.  Composed of whole grains, nuts, and fruits, it’s not only healthier; it’s cheaper than the store-bought junk.  And it’s pretty quick; our compote can be made in less than 10 minutes (with a little practice).  This recipe is for two hungry people:

1. Prior day: To 1-1/4 cups hot water, add ¼ cup of cracked whole grains in a pan.  Soak over night.  (Our local whole foods store offers a nine-grain mixture, mostly cracked wheat.  After finishing breakfast, I prepare the mixture for the next day and place it on the back of the stove to soak.  For busy people, this saves drying and putting away the pan.)

2. Next morning: Bring the pot to a boil, add ¼ cup of rolled oats, and a similar amount of dried fruits, if desired.  Turn off the heat and let sit for five minutes.  (I buy my rolled oats from the same store.  Cranberries are the dried fruit we mostly add.  When fresh fruits are scarce, dried fruits can substitute.)

3. While the oats and dried fruits are cooking, prepare two bowls by adding to each:

-1 heaping tbsp of freshly ground flaxseed.  (I get the flaxseed from the same store as the grains.  Originally I ground it with a hand grinder, a good source of exercise, but now use a low-cost Cuisinart Spice and Nut Grinder for a finer grind.)

-2 heaping tbsp of crumbled pecans, or any freshly chopped nuts.

-A little honey, brown sugar, or grade B maple syrup, depending on the natural sweetness of the fruits added in step #4.  (Or a few drops of stevia.)

-Season to taste with cinnamon, cardomon, or nutmeg.  A few drops of vanilla works also.

4. Wash and prepare fruits in season, adding to each bowl:
-1/4 cup of berries.  (Blueberries mostly, but using all the berries in their season.)

-1/4 cup chopped apple or peach.  (Apples are available all year, peaches in summer.  We love the peaches, but nectarines are good too.) 
-1/2 orange, freshly juiced.  (I use an old hand juicer, also good exercise.  The orange juice provides a citrus fruit, while reducing or avoiding the need for milk, per your taste.)

5. Combine all ingredients into the bowls and enjoy. I like to add a little cream; it tastes good and can improve absorption of fat-soluble nutrients.  (I would love to find a source of unpasteurized cream from pasture-fed cows.)  If we have good whole-grain bread I also have some as toast with butter.  

We enjoy this breakfast on weekdays then have a special breakfast on Saturday for variety.  If you think of a way to make this healthier, tastier, or cheaper, please leave a comment. Or share your own ideas for a healthy start to the day.

Comments

[Jana]

Love your site. I always put cinnamon in my oatmeal, cooked cereal...lots of healthy benefits from cinnamon. With any fruit added you really do not need to add any sugar. but if you do, try just a drop of agave, it is sweeter than sugar or honey so you don't need but very little. I always mix it up, whether adding fresh or dried fuit and nuts, cinnamon, and a bit of skim milk and I am good to go. My Dad always had a pan of wheat soaking overnight. Also try oat groats. Good to put them in the pan and kind of toast them before adding your liquid. My grandkids love to have "Grandma cereal" when they come. Keep up the good work. Love to read more.

[Joy Fisher]

This is a "hard core" recipe for a newbie to the bulk grain isle like myself. Gonna do my best to try this out. It is a little intimidating. Like, I'm guessing we're NOT talking instant oatmeal here ;)

The post and the variations in the comments got me wanting to ask/suggest a post discussing honey vs. molasses vs. agave nectar. I have see articles that both praise and decry the use of each for this reason or that. Information overload = confusion, and sometimes, deer in headlight mentality for making the change to the healthier diet.

Another post discussion I'd love to see is on cinnamon. I read an article somewhere about how our common cinnamon is somehow really bad and that their is better cinnamon. It seemed like a kind of dramatic over the top article at the time, but have you come across anything about "good vs. bad cinnamon before?

[Skip Hellewell]

Joy, thanks for you suggestions. We'll definitely have a post about the merits of the "natural" sugars. And cinnamon also. Best, Skip

[Isabel]

This looks really healthy and delicious, I'm gonna try it today!
I'm a reader from Brazil, and the bad thing here is that it's hard to find information about how much sugar is there on your industrial cereal (companies are not obliged to provide such information). So I was wondering how to make a fast-healthy-cheap breakfast, and your recipe fits it perfectly ;) As I can't find a mix of cereals on my shop I will choose some and do it myself, hope it works!

[Skip Hellewell]

Isabel. What fun to have a reader from Brazil. You have the right idea, use whole grains to make your own cereal. You have wonderful fruit also. Best to you, Skip

[jo]

such an informative blog!

you seem to know a lot about the matter, so may I pick your brain real quick?

for a variety of reasons, I can't cook oatmeal in the morning or any other time for myself. as a conclusion, my average/daily/go-to breakfast is raw oats+chopped apple+milk. is that nutritionally ok? personally I'm satisfied with it, both taste-wise and because it's filling enough to last me through 6 hours of high school (during which I normally have a banana) but I was wondering what a more nutrition-savvy person thinks.

I have 1.5% milk and never add sugar or any other sweetener, by the way.

Thanks!

[Skip Hellewell]

Jo, your breakfast sounds great and is similar to muesli, a healthy breakfast we enjoyed in Switzerland. I like the simplicity of what you do. We like a variety of fruits—apples in winter, strawberries in spring, peaches in summer, sometimes all mixed together. Berries, especially blueberries, are wonderful and rich in antioxidants, though sweeter in the summer. The Swiss also add nuts, which I enjoy. You can mix in a healthy breakfast cereal (see the post, Trouble in the Cereal Aisle) for variety. We're sparing with milk. My wife uses orange juice (sounds odd but she likes it) and I add cream (yes, the healthiness of the low-fat milks is a question for some). You can use less-processed rolled oats from the health food store if you soak them overnight. You don't add sugar? Good for you. Best, Skip

[Lori]

I often throw some steel cut oats and water in a rice cooker (setting it to a porridge cooking setting) at night and use the timer mode to have it cooked by 7am. I wake up to some delicious hot cereal without cooking in the morning. I do this once or twice a week. I also make a big batch to last a few days and reheat leftovers in the microwave. And to save on dishes I usually store leftovers in individual bowls ready to go for the next morning.

As for toppings - nuts, wheat germ, fresh or dried fruit.

This process really works for me. :) This is my favorite breakfast.

[M]

I eat steel cut oats most days and I add a bit of pure maple syrup, a bit of coconut oil (this makes it creamy without adding milk), some nuts, some nut butter (or NutzoPF) and some fruit (often some raisins and/or currants). I absolutely love it and it keeps me full for hours.

[Amber]

Thanks for the thoughtful blog, I'm looking forward to reading more on a topic I have pondered over often. If you are still looking for raw cream, there is a great company out of Fresno, CA called Organic Pastures Dairy, they sell unpasteurized cream from pasture fed cows. Their products are available in many stores throughout CA, or they will ship directly to you. You can even tour their dairy, they have an open door policy. We've been buying from them for many years, and love their products. Their website is www.organicpastures.com

[Kiasa]

I make a big batch of steel cut oats every couple days. It keeps well in the fridge and tastes great warmed up (unlike regular oatmeal). My kids are often famished as soon as they wake up, so this is quick, healthy and easy to just warm up and serve. We usually serve it with honey and milk.

I love a lot of these suggestions. I'm going to check out some multigrain options in the bulk section next time I'm at the grocery store.

Skip I like what you said about honey not being as addictive as sugar. The first time I went sugar free I let myself induldge in honey. I ate a lot of things with honey the first week, but then I just didn't "need" it or crave it like I did sugar. Honey (and dried mango) made it possible for me to get off processed sugars.

[Trinity]

Hi Skip! I'm a little late to the band wagon but better late than never :)
I'm going to try this recipe this week, my husband particularly liked the part about not having to wash the pot.
Here's a recipe that I adore for breakfast
Bring 1C apple juice to the boil
Take off heat add 1/2 cup cous cous, stand for about 5mins
then add chopped toasted almonds and dates
top with yoghurt & cinnamon

[mayme]

I wanted to throw out another reason one might choose to use a little raw honey: for seasonal allergies. This is one of the reasons we started using it in the mornings. If it is local raw honey you will take in the local pollens and eventually build an immunity.

I will second the request for a post discussing the different natural sweetener. There is a lot of conflicting info out there. Then again, maybe you already have.... I need to do some more searching as I just found your blog today.

I appreciate the W.O.W. influence as that has been my basis for many of my health and diet choices - in particular, not choosing a complete vegetarian diet.

[KyleS]

Hey Skip,

Quick question--why do you grind the flax seed yourself versus buying the one that is already ground? It is for taste (like fresh ground coffee flavor is always better than the preground) or is it for health reason?

Thanks!
KS

[Skip Hellewell]

Kyke, fresh-ground is more about nutrition than flavor. Grains are very long lasting; wheat found in the pyramids of Egypt is said to retain the ability to sprout. There are two issues with buying grains pre-ground:

1. Typically vital nutrients are lost in the grinding, whether to improve the shelf life, or make the flour more appealing. Flour in the store may have 30-40% of kernel removed, including the fiber and antioxidants in the bran, and the vitamins, minerals and fats in the germ. Everyone knows about this but many continue to use white, bleached flour.

2. Even if the flour is whole-grain, once it is ground and exposed to oxygen all the nutrients that react to oxygen in the air begin to oxidize. The omega-3 fats we need so much are particularly vulnerable. So when we buy whole wheat flour (or flax seed meal) in the store, this oxidation is a problem that is not being addressed. Typically such flour is 4-6 months old when you buy it and it has not been protected from heat.

So, for optimum health, get your flour freshly ground and then store it in an air-tight container in the freezer or refrigerator. I think we should organize a campaign to have wheat grinders in stores, the way that coffee can be ground.

Best to you,

[Mame]

So I know you just recently did a post on dairy - and use it as a minimum but I do enjoy this breakfast:

Equal parts slow-cook oats, greek yogurt & some sort of liquid - I use mostly almond milk. you can use regular milk, and I saw you said your beautiful wife used orange juice this has made me wonder if I might try that. Anyways, I just mix the three - and let it soak in the fridge over night. It's a great cold recipe for those 100 degree days here in TX. In the morning I add a sweetener whether it be honey, agave, maple, etc. and then fruits or nuts or ground flax seed or whatever.

I know it's not quite the season for this, but it really got me through those hot summer days where eating something warm for breakfast sounded like a horrible fate.

[Cheryl]

Our ward is hosting a community Preparedness Fair next week and I'm teaching the food workshop. My husband and I really enjoy your Breakfast Compote and it is a great food storage recipe. May I include the recipe and your website in my handout. In fact, I'm trying to think of a way to actually prepare this during the workshop so people can taste it. The problem is the overnight soaking and a lack of cooking facilities. I will holding the workshop multiple times during the day, hence the problem. Have you ever cooked a lot and held it in a crockpot? Thank you.

[Skip Hellewell]

Cheryl Best wishes for your presentation. Please feel free to use the Breakfast Compote Recipe, or anything else that will help people to eat better.

I don't always soak overnight. In the summer when it's warm the grains start to ferment a little. You can just cook the 9-grain mix for ten minutes, adding the oats for the last 5 minutes. I think you can make a pot and use it for several hours but you'll need to add a little moisture as the mush does thicken with time.

[Jennifer]

Real Foods in Orem / Heber / St. George sells raw milk, & it IS pricey, depending on how you look at it. But we've chosen to look at it as a FOOD, instead of a drink, & our normal drink is now water. So looking at it as a nourishing food, the price really isn't too bad. An ENTIRE GALLON of healthy nutrients for a little over $6 bucks. Not bad! :) PS - Elder John A. Widtsoe addressed in his Word Of Wisdom book written way back in 1950 that milk should ONLY be consumed if it is clean & unpasteurized from healthy cows in their natural environment. I LOVE that book!!! :D