As a food blogger I’m often faced with the dilemma of trying to decide dishes are worthy of posting for my readers. Sometimes I decided that a recipe is too complicated, or just not interesting or unique enough. Then there are the dishes that are so simple, I’m certain that everyone else is already making and eating them. This was one of those dishes. But last month, at three cooking classes in a row, participants asked for suggestions for healthy breakfasts. It turns out that a lot of them have just been feeding their kids the cheapest cereals they could find, but now they’re realizing that starting the day off with a sugar rush may not be a wise choice. We talked a lot about various breakfast options, but the one they got most excited about was the simple dish I eat almost every morning, Greek yogurt with honey and fruit.My mom really deserves the credit for this breakfast idea in my life. I remember eating a lot of yogurt as a kid, I especially loved the ones with the sugary sweet fruit syrup that you stirred into the yogurt. My mom had me try all sorts of different brands and varieties, but I think there was something about that mixing process that made me feel like I was cooking, so I always wanted the unhealthy yogurt option.
Fortunately, my mom figured this out and started giving me ideas for healthy things I can stir into yogurt. One of my favorites was wheat germ, which gave a fun grainy texture to the yogurt. But I also loved stirring berries and honey into plain yogurt.
Now, as an adult, I love this little trick because I can completely control the kind and and amount of sugar going into my breakfast. If I’m using a sweet fruit, like bananas, I can use a very small amount of honey. If I’m using a tart fruit, like raspberries, I can use a little more honey, or maybe some maple or agave syrup.
My very favorite add in is blueberries and honey. We get 20-30 pounds of blueberries at the end of each summer and store them in the freezer. Every Sunday night, I’ll scoop a few cupfuls of blueberries out of the box in the freezer and store them in the fridge to thaw a little. It makes it really easy to mix them into my yogurt every morning before I head to work.
In the summer I’ll just use frozen berries because I love how they ice up the yogurt for a really cool treat on a hot morning.
The best part about this breakfast is that it has a ton of protein but almost no fat. Don’t get me wrong, fat isn’t bad for you. But too much fat is, and this is an easy way to avoid fat but still get great flavor. Plus the protein keeps me feeling full until lunch time. Of course, if you’re not worried about fat or calories, you can add in other fun things like almonds, pecans or granola.
Are you a yogurt add in addict like me? What’s your favorite ingredient to stir into yogurt?
GREEK YOGURT WITH BLUEBERRIES AND HONEY
Ingredients
- 1 cup Nonfat Greek Yogurt
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 tsp honey
Instructions
- Mix ingredients in a bowl and enjoy!
Notes
Approximate cost/serving: I get two big containers of Greek Yogurt for under $5 at Costco and get blueberries for $2 a pound at local farms. This ends up costing me about 75 cents, a cheap and satisfying breakfast.
Vegetarian/gluten free: This does contain dairy but no meat or eggs. Naturally gluten free (but I recommend local honey to make sure you don’t end up with something labeled as honey that actually contains malt sweetener, it’s good to know your food sources!)
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
1Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 247Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 76mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 3gSugar: 38gProtein: 19g
Nutrition information is an estimate only.
Frozen mixed berries and honey, toasted pine nuts and honey, ginger honey, bananas and raisins and honey. I also love putting jams in, like lingonberry (from Ikea) or a honey-citron marmalade from Korea that is sometimes used to make tea.
Oooh the jam is a great idea. I have some lingonberry in my fridge right now!
I like to mix my homemade rhubarb sauce made from one of your recipes,but modified with stevia because I am diabetic! I sometimes also mix in a bit of oatmeal or some low fat granola. Yummy!
Is that uncooked oatmeal Tonja? I hadn’t thought of that!
My 2 pre-schoolers and I have blueberries & yogurt & sugar almost every day for lunch. One has recently changed to bananas because she doesn’t like the cold of the frozen blueberries. I used to thaw them out, but no longer – just easier to take them straight from the freezer. Eating yogurt every day is a big reason that I make homemade yogurt by the 2-3 qts at a time.
Sometimes we like frozen blueberries better than fresh! They add a really great texture.
My personal favourite is have 0% fat greek yoghurt with strawberries and banana. Mmmm. It’s also amazing served on top of a warm homemade pancake, drizzled with honey. But not quite as healthy. 🙂
Oooh I hadn’t thought of yogurt on pancakes, that sounds really good.
I usually have applesauce on pancakes. Healthy AND delish!
I have tried a few kindas of greek yogurt that were mostly meh. Do you have a brand you reccommend? Also, I was wondering since you have mentioned both WinCo and Costco, if you have a preference?
what is the serving size of this recipe?