Breakfast is a big thing

• It wakes your body up after deep rest and assists in your organs functioning again at full speed

• It gives you the energy needed to hit the day at full speed, supporting stamina, concentration, creativity, mood

• Not to mention gives your body a dose of vital nutrients, vitamins, minerals and protein that it needs to function properly

We are lucky that we have an array of foods to choose from to eat for breakfast. Muesli, cereal, toast, eggs, some eat vegetables, others eat leftovers from their dinner the night before. 

Yes we really are spoiled for choice. I am a slow eater and have always battled with waking up early and being on time for work. This has made a deadly combo. It’s often meant the first thing I skip from my morning routine is breakfast.

For an extra 15 minutes in bed, I’d skip eating. I’d end up at work. Not having eaten in 12 hours – no wonder my body was in all sorts. I’d usually realise at 10am in between meetings and run to the nearest cafe for some vegemite on Turkish bread…. Nourishing. 

This became a habit I couldn’t kick. Over and over again, morning after morning… sleep got the better of me, rushing to work but always time for a strong coffee that would falsely fill me up.

There we go, the cycle is born. I then had the light bulb idea to make breakfast at work. Easy for some, not for me. Add in my slow eating and short attention span. I would find my breakfast still on my desk at lunchtime.

Then I had a delicious bircher muesli experience at a café one Sunday brunch and I was hooked. Experimenting with recipes at home, I loved the creaminess, soft texture and easy preparation. I make a batch of bircher on a Sunday and it lasts the full week or until your yoghurt expires. 

5 reasons to eat home-made bircher muesli

1. A healthy variety for a morning meal: oats, fruit, yoghurt, seeds and nuts.

2. The ingredients list is endless: passionfruit, banana, for a chocolate kick add Cacao, use as much or as little yoghurt and milk as you like.

3. Prep once on a Sunday and it’s an easy, no fuss prep in the morning. Serve in 2 mins, smash in 5 and you’re out the door.

4. Grains need to be soaked for as little as 2 hours before eating. This releases their enzymes and makes them easier to digest.

5. Low cost. A pack of oats from your local supermercado should cost less than $5. Compare this with any pre-packaged muesli’s, you’re homemade mix will outlast the pre-packaged stuff by weeks.

Easy to make fruitty bircher muesli

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats

• 1 apple

• 1/2 cup of orange juice

• 1/2 cup yoghurt

• 1/4 coconut

• Walnuts (preferably soaked overnight in water to activate)

• Almonds (preferably soaked overnight in water to activate)

• Pinch of cinnamon

• Pinch of sea salt

Method

1. Place nuts in a bowl and cover with water, add a pinch of salt

2. Cover with tea towel and leave for a minimum of 2 hours

3. Grate apple into large bowl

4. Juice orange into apple mix

5. Mix apple, orange with oats, yoghurt, cinnamon, coconut

6. Place bowl in fridge for minimum 2 hours

7. Rinse nuts thoroughly in water

8. Serve with an extra dollop of yoghurt or milk, extra fruit and the activated nuts