I love cereal and I often have a bowl for a snack, but I never find that it does a good job filling me up. Because of this I rarely have cereal for breakfast, assuming that I am going to be hungry in an hour.
Every morning Eric eats a gigantic bowl of Nature’s Path Spelt cereal, chia seeds, and raisins that holds him over for 4-5 hours. I have cereal envy! If I can make it happen, I just may have to design my own custom cereal.
So, this morning I set on a mission to do justice to the cereal bowl…
My mission was to create a bowl of cereal that had the following elements:
- High in protein (over 25 grams)
- High in fibre (over 15 grams)
- Good dose of Omega healthy fats
- Antioxidants
- Fruit
- Super Crunchy texture
- Light sweetness and an array of flavours
Is it possible? And would it hold me over all morning long?
The first thing I did was make a list of the foods that I wanted to include:
- Nature’s Path Spelt Cereal (love this cereal because it’s 100% spelt flour and just 4 grams sugar per serving)
- Raw Buckwheat Groats- For the crunch, protein/fibre + other nutrients
- Eden Organic Soy Milk– I’ve been using this lately for breakfast because it has 12 grams protein per cup! It is also organic, no additives, and uses non-GMO beans. With that said it doesn’t taste great because I got the unsweetened variety.
- Vega Choc-o-lot Protein Powder– I had the fun idea of sprinkling some of my favourite protein powder onto the cereal for an extra vitamin and protein boost.
- Fruit– For light sweetness, texture, and nutrients (Today I used strawberries, kiwi, and raisins)
- Homemade granola– for the insane crunch!
- Sweetened Shredded Coconut– just a pinch on top for sweetness, aroma, and flavour
- Chia seeds– Antioxidants, protein, fibre, healthy fats, calcium, iron, etc.
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High Protein & High Fibre Cereal
Staple Ingredients:
- 1 cup Nature’s Path Spelt cereal (or cereal of choice)
- 1/4 cup buckwheat groats (soaked overnight, drained, rinsed) *See note below
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2-1 teaspoon (not tbsp like I wrote prior) chocolate protein powder (I used Vega choc-o-lot)
- 1.25 cup high-protein non-dairy milk (I used Eden organic soy with 12 grams PRO per cup)
Before I even poured the bowl, I calculated the nutrition info to see if it was where I wanted it to be. After a couple tweaks, I was able to come up with one powerhouse cereal bowl.
Nutritional Info Per basic Bowl (above):
- 532 kcals
- 15 grams fat (1 gram sat fat, mostly healthy fats)
- 222 mg sodium
- 75 grams carbs
- 15 grams fibre
- 9 grams sugar (cereal and protein powder)
- 28 grams protein
Now add on your desired toppings!
I added:
- ~ 1/2 tbsp Raisins
- ~1 tbsp Granola (I used my favourite granola)
- A pinch of Sweetened coconut shreds
- Fruit to equal 1/2 cup (I used 3 strawberries and 1/2 kiwi)
Buckwheat Note: Apparently, raw buckwheat groats can cause GI discomfort in some people Please proceed with caution when using! Toasted buckwheat (Kasha) might be a better option for some.
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The chocolate protein powder was fun! I’ve never had it on cereal before but I loved the chocolaty and sweet flavour it brought to this bowl.
I also loved the combination of chia seeds, protein powder, soy milk, spelt flakes, and buckwheat. The chia seeds created a doughy VOO mixture at the bottom of the bowl that I loved. This was probably one of the most satisfying bowls of cereal I have had in a while. It was SO flavourful and had so many amazing textures!
But how long will it hold me over? I have my doubts, but time will tell. I’ll be sure to report my findings. :)
Are you a cereal fan?
oh i love cereal. i was JUST about to have mine haha. but i never had my bowl with so many ingredients before! usually a bowl of plain cereal can hold me till lunch :)
but i love mixing 2-3 kinds of cereals together, gives more taste and surprise.. i love to snack on Quaker Oatmeal Squares!
Can’t wait to see how long it holds you over – I’m a cereal addict, but it never fills me up! :)
I use to eat cereal every morning, but then I started to eat oatmeal because it’s healthier.
Does anybody know what I could use instead of chia seeds? My local store doesn’t carry any :(
You can order chia seeds online. It’s usually cheaper that way too. Try iherb.com
For me, cereal is more of an accessory than the main event. That looks like quite the bowl of cereal, you’ve got pretty high standards!
I love cereal too, specially with fruits :)
Wow! That is a lot of calories for a single sitting… you MUST have been full till noon at least. It does look tasty though. Lovely photos, too.
Cereal doesn’t stick to my ribs; neither does oatmeal. Quinoa works a bit better.
If I eat grains for breakfast, I always count on a morning snack.
I do love cereal but I’m just like you where I have it mostly as a snack. And usually it’s a late night snack of Puffins before I go to bed. :-) I love how colorful yours is!
Beautiful photos as always; they’re really making me crave cereal!!
I’m a huge cereal fan and this breakfast looks absolutely delicious! I love the beautiful colours.
By the way, I really like your site, I could browse through it all day!
thanks!
I LOVE LOVE CEREAL!! This post made me so happy. I’m so excited to try this recipe.
I love cereal so much that I have allocated myself a cereal shelf, and when it is full, I am not allowed to buy any more until I finish a box :P I love it at just about any time of day, and by itself or mixed with fruit / yoghurt / soy milk / anything.
I’m also a sucker for buying new cereals (well, if they’re not sugar-loaded and the taste appeals) just because they’re new. Sometimes those turn out to be a fail and the boxes languish on my shelf for way too long, taking up valuable cereal space, but the appeal of a ‘new’ sticker in the supermarket is just too big to ignore. One day I might learn!
I absolutely love cereal, but tend to eat oats more often as they are more satisfying. I have cereal for snacks pretty often though :) I think I could munch through a whole box in one day!
I love cereal too! I wouldn’t try this one though, as the calories would be enough for 2 or more meals for me (I eat lots, I just eat more often). I find my eggs and oatmeal are as much as I can eat at once anyways, I would hesitate to eat more volume. Darn it, as I love how creative you are and how much you love food, flavour, texture and nutrition!!!
Mmm, that looks delicous. I haven’t tried the spelt cereal yet, might have to pick up a box next time I’m out. The glass jar you have your chia seeds in looks just like mine! Is it from IKEA? ~Leslie
That is one of the prettiest bowls of cereal I’ve ever seen. Especially the picture with the pouring milk.
Cereal doesn’t hold me over at all, so I don’t have it often. I’ve been toying with the idea of mixing my own like you do here, but haven’t quite gotten to it yet. I love spelt and anything spelt based, too bad I can’t get that nature’s path cereal here. I’d love to try it out!
I am a HUGE cereal fan, and this bowl looks absolutely fantastic. I had no idea buckwheat groats could be consumed raw. I will have to give it a try. Then maybe I can add them to my own home made cereal. I always make this huge batch with all sorts of different grains about once a month and am always open to new ideas as to what to include in my recipe. That raw buckwheat is a serious contender, let me tell you. So is your Spelt cereal. I always use all-bran, but this looks so much better! :)
Angela,
I’m not really into food photography, but I have to say, the first picture of your cereal in this post blew me away!!! And that’s saying something, as I usually don’t give a hoot about photos. It was so clear and crisp, and the colors were vibrant, and I love how the milk was pouring in the center! Amazing!!! The picture looked delicious…if that makes any sense!
I LOVE cereal! But like you….it doesn’t fill me up! I could literally eat 5 bowls of cereal and not get full! I usually make a green monster if I want cereal because then I am getting some protein and fat and I can use the cereal as a topping for some crunch! But with this recipe I think I will actutally be able to eat cereal for breakfast! And this bowl is so pretty btw….I love all the colors and textures….beautiful pics girl!
Hi Angela, I was wondering if there is a sort of basic recipe you follow for making cakes or muffins, mostly in terms of dry/wet proportions, amount of baking powder, eggs (chia ones!), oil and flour and maybe minimum amount of sugar/sweetener. I was raised baking cakes with 200 g butter, 200 g flour and 200 g sugar, but that no longer works for me, so hope you can help me with some kind of (healthy) guideline!
Thanks! Melissa
Oh, I have a weakness for cereal. If this kept you full, I hope you’ll let us know. Nothing ever ties me over for the morning! I included you in my “Blogs I Love” post this morning: http://bit.ly/feySIa – You truly are one of the best!