I’m definitely a breakfast person, I can’t function without something in the morning to see me through to lunch. In the summer I class myself as a fruit fly, I like nothing more than a bowl of chopped banana, peach, raspberries and blueberries topped with the essential freshly toasted flaked almonds.
However, as we now enter autumn the fruit supplies are no longer at their best and it’s time to move onto something else to keep the body fuelled over the winter months. So, it was perfect timing to hear from the Stoats team recently to try some of their latest oaty cereal numbers.
I have to say with all the talk of late about sugar being the bad ingredient in our food, I am much more conscious about its presence, particularly in certain foods and breakfast cereals is pretty much top of the list. I can spend ages looking at new cereals in the aisles of Sainsbury’s trying to figure out which one has the least sugar, but still looks tasty.
The good news is the latest arrivals from Stoats are excellent on this front. The Toasted Oaty Flakes come in two flavours – Original and Fruit & Nut. The wholegrain Scottish oats have been roasted to create their crunch and remain light while still being able to fill a hole and keep you going for the morning.
Stoats Toasted Oaty Flakes
Of the two varieties the Fruit & Nut is the absolute winner for me, but being a fruit fly that will be of no surprise. I loved the fact that it was combined with sunflower and pumpkin seeds, as well as raisins and blueberries which turn the milk blue – a big hit with my son! The Original felt as though it was lacking something and needed an extra pizazz, whether this comes was in the form of mixing it with cinnamon or sliced banana or something else altogether, I’ll leave that up to you to choose.
The 550g boxes are priced at £2.49 for the Original and £3.29 for the Fruit & Nut, which again compared to other alternatives available in our supermarkets felt value for money.
But, if you feel like having a go at making your own breakfast cereal, I have a fab recipe to share for granola. It takes under 15 minutes from start to finish and most of that is down to the baking time. A bowl of yogurt sprinkled with this nutty granola is my idea of morning heaven and will definitely make sure you get off to a good, healthy start every day.
The measurements are loose, whether you based your single unit on the packet weight of the seeds from the supermarket, or an American measuring cup, or even your favourite tea cup it will work perfectly.
Gen’s Granola
- 3 parts oats
- 1 part sunflower seeds
- 1 part pumpkin seeds
- 1 part flaked and whole almonds
- ½ part oil olive (make sure it is not expensive extra virgin as this can be overpowering)
- ½ honey
- Mix all ingredients together
- Spread over a baking tray with grease proof paper
- Then bake in the oven at 180C for 10 minutes/ until golden
