Breakfast

Did I say I was tired yesterday?? Ack, its nothing compared to today.  You see Miss 5 decided at 4.30 this morning she'd howl the house down in the hope of getting hold of Hubby's iPod to play Sims or somesuch.  When it was made clear that her cruel and bleary parents were having none of it she proceeded to have a tantrum that then woke Miss 4, the dog, the chooks and the neighbours dog, who started barking which set off all the other dogs in the vicinity.

FFS.

Of course everyone was back asleep by 5am, except for insomniac me. I got to listen to hubby slumbering LOUDLY next to me for an hour before it was getting up time and finally I could have some tea. Thank GOD for tea.

Needless to say the morning did not progress well from that point and I was heartily glad to see the back of my children when I dropped them off to wreak havoc at school today.

So, breakfast.

Breakfast has been bothering me for a while at our house.  Here are our perpetual four types of cereal - they are four that are relatively low in sugar and high in fibre.  We never, ever have anything like nutri-grain or coco pops.  The kids don't even know they exist.  We go through these four boxes in about a week - maybe a bit slower on the vita-brits - and the cost is around $25.

Even so, below is a typical bowl of what I'm throwing away every day.  Yes. I do give them a small amount, which they eat, then they insist they are still hungry, so I give them another small bowl which they don't eat - so usually leftovers amount to about this much.  And I challenge any parent to deny their child's request for "more pweese."

The leftovers go to the chooks who love them, so its not right into the bin, but still I'm not happy with the whole breakfast scenario.  Those cereals are processed and expensive and I think we could be doing better.

So, my breakfast plan for tomorrow is as follows

• Home made yoghurt (which I did yesterday and is in the fridge) with granola (recipe below)
• Blueberries and strawberries
• Home made muffins (which may possibly be made in the breadmaker and then finished off in the oven - unless hubby's company deigns to actually PAY HIM SOME MONEY and then I might buy some, ready made, whee, the anticipation...) with strawberry jam
• Fruit smoothie - milk based or orange juice based with frozen fruit from the freezer (I buy it in bulk from Frozberries in Hornsby - its about 50% cheaper than the teensy weensy packs you get in the supermarket - also their tag-line is We Put The Thrill Back In Chill - which has always caused me much amusement though I have no idea why).

Best Granola Ever
140g/2 cups Rolled Oats (7 points)
110g/1 cup hazelnut meal (9 points)
110g/1 cup flaked almonds (11 points)
50g/0.5 cup sultanas (2 points)
80ml/ 0.3 cup honey (3.5 points) I mean a third of a cup of honey here

Mix all ingredients well (I heat the honey briefly in the microwave so its really runny).
Spread evenly over a baking tray
Spray lightly with canola oil (I often forget to do this)
Bake in a moderate oven for about half an hour (my oven does not know the meaning of moderate so I tend to leave it in for ten minutes at 150 and then get too stressed about it burning to leave it longer).  Basically it needs a little bit of a cook, but whatever you do don't burn it - makes the whole thing taste bloody awful.
Cool
Keep in an airtight container.

Weightwatchers points for 50g of granola are 3 (so I usually have 25g of it on a cup of low fat yoghurt (2 points) which gives me a breakfast of 3.5points).

Also, I use a digital scale and am a capricorn so it all Must Be Precise. However, sometimes when I'm feeling all wacky and out-there, I double the quantities of rolled oats, use dried apricots and even prunes, well once, but it went a bit gluggy and pruney, so I fed it to hubby. I even put in more almonds and less hazelnut from time to time. I know, I can barely stand it.

I'm not thinking this breakfast will be much more trouble than the cereals (other than the children having a fit at something - holy crap - different). I'm in the kitchen doing lunches when the kids eat anyway and the smoothies won't be too much effort and the rest will be ready to go.

So breakfast. There you have it.