A Balanced Breakfast

Yes its that time.

Vacation is oooooovvvveeeerrrr. Our inboxes are filling up. Official mail (you know, like bills) are overshadowing the friend greetings and holiday cards in our mail boxes, and the gym sure is calling isnt it?

Yea. That carefree week between Christmas and New Years Day is long gone. Major bummer.

Before we totally freak out and put our work helmets on, can we just have breakfast?

Lets have a balanced breakfast like the kind in the cereal commercials. Were talking glass of juice, slice of toast, and whole grain cold cereal that kind of breakfast.

This is our version with hot oatmeal and a super healthful smoothie.

The only thing were missing the the cheesey eggs, crispy bacon, and side of doughnuts. This is not that. We can still deal.

Were on the fast track this week. The fast track back to work and into a busy new year! Theres no use fighting it. The best thing to do is bulk up (not literally) on breakfast. Does a body wonders.

The oatmeal is topped with dried cranberries, big toasted coconut flakes, brown sugar, flax seed meal, and just a few cocoa nibs. Hearty, warm and delicious. Please make your own variation according to what you have on hand: dates, dried apricots, chia seeds, fresh apples go bonkers!

The smoothie is a healthful combination of banana, frozen blueberries and blackberries, orange juice, flax seed meal, and green! I really love to add vitamin packed green powders to smoothies. Secret health, on the double! Amazing Grass is a favorite of mine (and no one is paying me to say that). Boom.

Cranberry Toasted Coconut Flax Seed Oatmeal

serves 2

Print this Recipe!

1 3/4 cups water

1 cup old-fashioned oats

pinch of salt

heres where it gets fun:

a heaping teaspoon of brown sugar

a small handful of dried cranberries

a sprinkling of toasted coconut

a generous sprinkling of flax seed meal

a few cocoa nibs

Green Banana Berry Smoothie

makes 2 small portions

1 ripe banana

1 cup mixed frozen berries ( or whatever you have on hand)

1 to 1 1/4 cups orange juice

1 tablespoon flax seed meal

1-2 tablespoons green powder (I like Amazing Grass)

Mix all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add more juice as necessary until desired consistency is reached. Enjoy immediately.