Best Healthy Breakfast: Four Supercharged Foods in One Bowl

I call myself the inventor because I've never seen it published, offered on a menu or recommended by anybody. I know I've got the preparation of it down to a fine art.

For most of my life breakfast has been skipped or the meal I ate "on automatic". If you asked me I probably wouldn't recall what I ate for breakfast. Not so with the magical breakfast - I know what I ate and I know why I ate it.

Here are the basic ingredients:

Berries

Nuts

Oatmeal

Yogurt

Berries info: I quickly learned I didn't want to wash and cut strawberries everyday; I found fresh blueberries often had moldy ones to throw away which sometimes affected the taste of the others. So I stocked the freezer with frozen berries. You'll need the large size of everything unless you have limited freezer space. Walmart now has Dole Wild Blueberries in a 3 lb bag and they are fabulous. I buy sliced strawberries because they thaw quicker. You'll find a Dole 5lb bag at Sam's. There are two ways to prepare your berries. Take the portion you'll need out the night before and let them thaw in the fridge. Or do it in the AM and use the microwave to thaw.

Nuts info: Walnuts and most nuts have the kind of fat your body needs and fat helps you feel full and satisfied. For great info on nuts in general and walnuts in particular go to http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA326631

Oatmeal info: Buy oatmeal that cooks in one minute. My husband thinks Quaker Quick - 1 Minute is the best and I'm happy with Walmart's Great Value. Don't use instant. Put oatmeal in a bowl, add enough water to cover, microwave one minute. You can also follow the directions on the package. I cook with the idea that directions are just a suggestion.

Yogurt info: This may surprise most cereal eaters: Don't use milk. Just glob on tablespoons of yogurt which is so-o good for you and more easily digested than milk for people with lactose intolerance. For great info on the many reasons to eat yogurt go to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/24019.php

I recommend Stonyfield Farm Organic lowfat vanilla as a tasty choice. A little less expensive but equally delicious is Dannon's Vanilla yogurt. Try to avoid yogurt that has high fructose corn syrup and lots of unpronounceable ingredients.

Here's why I go to the time and trouble to eat this breakfast: THE BENEFITS!

So that my readers will know, I'm going to live to be over 100 years old and I plan to be healthy at 100, not bedridden, afflicted by disease or otherwise incapacitated from enjoying life. So everyday I have to replenish my body with what it needs. Everybody knows Americans don't get enough fiber but you do in this breakfast all at one meal. And berries! I could rhapsodize about berries for a whole article. Oatmeal is a complex carb, helps your cholesterol yada, yada, yada. We all know that from TV. You've no doubt clicked on the links about nuts and yogurt. So, voila, The Magical Breakfast.

Now here is a money saving tip about this breakfast:

If you fill your bowl too full and can't finish it all (or run out of time to eat it) DON'T throw it away. FREEZE IT RIGHT IN THE BOWL with a plastic wrap cover. Next time you don't finish a full bowl, add it to the already frozen breakfast bowl. When you have a full bowl of leftover Magical Breakfast, it's time to make Magical Muffins. See article of the same name.

Final but very important tip: For more fiber add a small amount of wheat bran to your oatmeal. Since I need more fiber than my husband I buy wheat bran from the local health food store (they have it in bulk) and a big bag costs me about $.35. Keep it in the fridge. I also like organic raisins so those go in my bowl.

Enjoy your Magical Breakfast! Then find my article called Magical Muffins.