Jimmie's Guide to Unusual and Delicious Hot Cereals and other Breakfast Foods

Breakfast Part 1: Re-defining Hot Cereal

Hot cereal is typically, well, "good for you", but really bland in taste. Adding sugar or honey doesn't help much either. So here's some tips on amping up the flavor:
 For starters, try mixtures of cereals instead of just one. Combine a "rolled" type of grain with a finer grain. Some examples:

Bob's Red Mill thick cut rolled oats plus Bob's Red Mill 6 Grain

Bob's Red Mill thick cut rolled oats plus Bob's Red Mill 8 Grain

Bob's Red Mill 5 Grain (rolled) plus Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran

Bob's Red Mill Museli (rolled) plus Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran

Next, use milk, almond milk, or another vegan milk instead of plain water. This makes a significant difference. I use whole milk, actually.
 And lightly toast some of the grains. For example, If you are using 1/4 cup of the thick cut rolled oats, toast half of it. You can certainly toast the entire amount, and that would be OK, as long as the toasting is LIGHT. Toasting, like all other cooking, is a bit rough on the nutrients.
 Try some malted milk as the sweetener! Just spoon some on top after you have heated the cereal and "poke it down" into the cereal a bit with a fork. Another sweetener is half a ripe banana.
 Finally, add some seeds and/or nuts, lightly toasted:

Pecans, walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts for the nuts. (If you place almonds into a small container of hot water for a minute or two, the skins will easily come off, and the almonds will be softened)

For the seeds, try sunflower or pumpkin seeds.

Nutrition Note: Pumpkin seeds are a nutritional powerhouse. They are very high in magnesium and iron, and provide some Omega 3 "ALA" (precurser to EPA and DHA). They are also high in fiber. It's best to use raw (organic) pumpkin seeds in your dishes. They are shown in several of the images on this page.

As a final topping, try sesame seeds or hemp seeds.

Here's how to do it.
 Measure out about 1/4 cup of each cereal (Fig 1). As mentioned above, you can lightly toast 1/2 or all of the rolled oats, or the rolled 5-grain or the rolled museli - after removing any of the fruits from the museli. The easiest way to toast grains, nuts, or seeds is to simply "dry roast" them in a shallow small pan placed over a stovetop burner on low heat. (Fig 2) They should not even be allowed to turn brown; just have a slightly toasted scent.
 Place the cereal in a Pyrex bowl. (We are going to microwave our cereal. There is a bit more flavor if it is heated in a pan on the stovetop, but then you have to clean up the pan. Your call. . .)
 This will make a fairly large serving. So you may adjust accordingly.
 For extra flavor, toast a palm-full of rolled barley (shown at the top of Fig 1) and add to the mixture. Rolled barley is HARD to find. Natural Grocers has rolled barley in a bag, if you have a Natural Grocers in your area.
 (Optional) Add a pinch of salt. This makes a difference.
 Add about 3/4 cup of the desired milk (if you used 1/4 cup of each cereal type). Place in microwave and heat for 1 1/2 minutes on high. The milk should be bubbling with this amount of heating. Let stand for a bit so it will cook. For extra sweetness, slice up about 1/2 of a ripe banana and stir into the cereal. Then heat for 30 more seconds. Let stand some more.
 While this is going on, gently toast some cut-up nuts.
 Then lightly toast some seeds. ( Nuts and seeds shown in Fig 3) Good combos of nuts/seeds are walnuts/sunflower seeds and pecans/pumpkin seeds, or almonds or hazelnuts and either seed.

Take your heated cereal out of the microwave (or remove from pan and place into a bowl) (Fig 4). It should be a bit more moist than you usually like (the dry malted milk will absorb some of the milk). Add some milk if needed. Add a spoon full of ground flax (if desired) on top for extra flavor and powerful nutrients.
 Spoon a light layer of malted milk on top, and pierce it repeatedly with a fork. (Fig 5) Heat about 15 - 20 seconds more in the microwave.
 Pour the nut/seed mixture on top of the malted milk. (Fig 6)
 (Optional) Lightly toast some sesame seeds or hemp seeds and place on top. Flax seeds would be great too, but they will tolerate only minimal heat and might be best placed untoasted.

Enjoy the tastiest hot cereal you've ever had!

Try a rolled grain mix instead of just rolled oats.
 I noticed that almost all museli mixes contain only rolled oats, and that the specialty cereal mixes with spices also contained just rolled oats. So for a bit of extra flavor, try rolled barley and rolled rye mixed with the oats.
 Bob's red mill has excellent rolled oats. And Natural Grocers carries packaged rolled barley and rolled rye. Just premix all three in a bottle or other container and keep it on hand.
 When you prepare your morning cereal:

Add 1/8 or 1/4 cup of oat bran

Place 1/8 or 1/4 cup of the rolled grain mix on a small tray and toast lightly.

Add the toasted grains to the oat bran, and add your favorite milk or vegan milk and microwave about 1 1/2 minutes. NOTE: Watch the bowl as it cooks. It will easily boil over. Try placing the bowl in a plate or other flat container, just in case.

Remove bowl from the microwave, add some spices (discussed on the right) if desired, and add a level tablespoon of ground flax or hemp seeds for a big nutritional boost. Then microwave about 30 seconds longer.

Top with toasted nuts and the like, as discussed above.

Spices! Transform your hot cereal to a gustatory delight!
 Here's 4 spices that seem to work best:

Pumpkin Spice (Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Cloves) This is really good!

Nutmeg (either ground or whole nuts)

Cinnamon (either ground or sticks)

Cardamom

Try the Pumpkin Spice, or just Cinnamon, or Nutmeg plus Cardamom. you can buy the nutmeg whole - it's like round almonds - and use a zester/grater. The tool is partially shown in the lower right of the spice image above.
 One of the specialty cereals was named "Chai Oats". It contained cardamom and nutmeg along with oats, walnuts, and currants. It had an excellent taste, with just a hint of the spices. But if you make your own, it will likely be better, since you can use the three-grain mix discussed on the left (instead of just rolled oats), and you can adjust the amount of the spices to suit your taste. Further, you can add a decent amount of nuts/dates/dried fruits!
 HINT: Just add the spices in about 3 places instead of spreading them over the entire top. This provides an extra flavor hit from time to time as you eat the cereal. This way you don't get tired of the spice.

Onion and mushroom Eggs

Here's a delicious way to start your day! To prepare this dish:

Saute some onions and mushrooms in another skillet (not your "scrambled eggs skillet"). Use a bit of olive oil and a bit of the Jane's or other salt, or salt substitute. Better yet, just plan to have this breakfast the morning after you have sauteed some onions and mushrooms for dinner. Just set aside some for breakfast. This works for peppers, leeks, or other veggies of your choosing.

Place the sauteed onions and mushrooms in your scrambled eggs skillet, which has been coated with a small amount of olive oil or butter.

Break the eggs into a small bowl and stir thoroughly. Pour them over the onions/mushrooms.

Add just a bit more of the salt/salt substitute, if desired. Sprinkle some basil or parsley on top.

Cover the skillet and cook on low heat for a few minutes, checking periodically for desired firmness. Don't have a skillet cover? Just place a small baking tray on top.

Slide the finished eggs into your plate. If you want to "present" with the carmelized onions showing, invert the eggs.

Sauteed vegetable Eggs (using "Jimmie's Quick Saute")

To prepare this dish:

An easier way to add vegetables to eggs is to "Quick Saute" them first. This is my method of simply placing some cut up vegetables (in this case, some red and green peppers plus some shallots) and place them in a pyrex bowl. Coat with olive oil and add some Jane's salt or other salt, or salt substitute. Add just enough of the salt so that you won't need to add any salt to the eggs. Heat in microwave for about 2 or 2 1/2 minutes.

They're ready to use just like this, or for a little extra taste, place them in your scrambled eggs skillet, which has been coated with a small amount of olive oil or butter and pre-heated a bit. Brown the veggies slightly if desired, although they will brown nicely while the eggs are cooking. Break the eggs into a small bowl, stir thoroughly, and pour them over the veggies.

Sprinkle some basil or parsley on top, cover the skillet and cook on low heat for a few minutes, checking periodically for desired firmness. Don't have a skillet cover? Just place a small baking tray on top.

Slide the finished eggs into your plate. If you want to "present" with the carmelized vegetables showing, invert the eggs.

A couple of tips on frying eggs:

Place a pat of butter in a small non-stick skillet and move it around to coat the bottom of the skillet. remove the excess before it melts. This way, you get very little of the fat. OR: spread a light coat of olive oil on the bottom.

Crack the eggs into the skillet.

Busted a yolk, by chance? If so, just poke the other one. Then they will cook evenly. It will take much less time if you like your yolks slightly runny.

Sprinkle some of the Jane's salt or the salt seasoning or salt substitute of your choice. If adding spinach, just drop some pieces on the top of the eggs.

Try some fresh basil if you have it. This is shown in the image on the left.

Other great herbs: Sage or parsley.

Cover the skillet. This allows the top to cook due to the higher heat and steam. This way you won't have to flip the eggs, with the attendant risk of busting the yolks and ruining a good "presentation". Just check your eggs from time to time and remove when they are cooked to your likeing.

Here's how to "chop" hazelnuts. Get a mortar and pestle from the kitchen section of a store.
 Place about 5 or 6 nuts in the pestle and pound a couple of times to partially crush the nuts. Place the crushed nuts on a tray similiar to the one shown. Toast lightly on medium heat. Watch your nuts! (Hazelnuts, that is) Sniff from time to time and remove when they acquire a "toasted" smell and/or are sizzling lightly. Remember, toasting is rough on nutrients!