Good old-fashioned hot cereal is truly a breakfast of champions.  It is satiating, economical, warm and comforting, and of course, delicious!  As classic and tasty as it is to sprinkle raisins onto oatmeal, incorporating a variety of textures, colors, and tastes to hot cereal is key to adding extra spice to life.

Whether cooking up delicious gluten-free hot cereals such as amaranth, buckwheat, millet, sorghum, teff, or quinoa, or regular hot cereals like steel cut oats, wheat berries, and barley, be sure to keep adventure in your palate by mixing up your toppings with my creative hot cereal ideas.

*These same toppings are also delightful stirred into plain yogurt or in baked goods.

Fruit: (canned/jars, dried, fresh/frozen)
Canned/Jars: pumpkin or sweet potato puree, applesauce, apple butter
Dried: pineapple, prunes, apricots, cherries, cranberries, currants, raisins (golden or dark), shredded coconut, goji berries, dates, figs
Fresh/Frozen: pomegranate, chopped apple, banana, plums, fresh Medjool dates, peaches, strawberries with rhubarb, mango, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, pear, cranberries mixed with orange slices

Nuts: (whole, chopped, butters)
Nut butters: almond, tahini, sunflower, cashew, peanut
Whole/Chopped: walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds,  pistachios

Seeds:
Ground flax meal, chia, pumpkin, sunflower, hemp

Healthy Oils:
Extra virgin coconut oil or coconut butter, flax oil, hemp oil, fish oil (Barlean’s Organic Oils, a local Great NW company, makes delicious flavored essential oils such as chocolate, lemon, raspberry, and more.  *Be sure to add essential oils to hot cereal after cooking only, as they are fragile and are damaged under heat.

Sweeteners:Orange juice, molasses, honey, raw agave syrup, stevia (also available in flavored drops), date/coconut sugar, pure maple syrup, mashed fruit, 100% fruit spreads, morsels of dark chocolate

Spices/Seasoning:
Cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, pumpkin spice, real vanilla bean from a pod or liquid extract

Dairy/Non-Dairy:
Canned coconut milk, non-dairy milk (almond, rice, soy, coconut, oat, hemp, or hazelnut), cultured yogurt kefir (goat/regular dairy), plain yogurt (Nancy’s, made here locally, is the best!)

Miscellaneous:
Wheat germ, raw cacao nibs or powder,  carob, or baking cocoa powder, bee pollen, nutritional yeast

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