I went through a phase of having steamed broccoli with butter for lunch, and then it was avocado toast and beet smoothies for a while. In recent months, my lunch of choice has consistently been a bowl of No-Cereal Cereal. As I’ve gotten more content eating a low-carb breakfast of fried eggs or a veggie omelet instead of the Mocha Glo Bars I used to constantly crave, I am feeling good and ready by lunchtime for something sweet.
This bowl of goodness hits the spot every time! It’s like granola, but without the added sugar or oil. I don’t have an exact recipe, but I’ll tell you what’s in it and you could make it like I do, or make it different to make it your own.
Ironically, this isn’t what I had for lunch today. My friend Sarah gave me a jar of delicious peanut soup she made yesterday, which I ate with kale salad that was left over from dinner last night. So today’s savory lunch was an exception to my usual sweet lunch.
Here’s what to add to the bowl:
-A whole Fuji apple, finely chopped
-A few dates, pitted and finely chopped
-A spoonful of finely chopped almonds
-A spoonful of finely chopped walnuts
-A handful of toasted pecans, broken in small pieces
-A sprinkle of cinnamon
-Lots of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
I grind raw walnuts and raw almonds (separately) in my food processor and store the chopped nuts in glass jars in my fridge so I can easily spoon out what I need. I also keep a jar or two of toasted pecans on my counter so I can add those to salads or to this cereal. To make the pecans, I fill a baking sheet with raw pecans and bake them at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, tossing once during cook time. The range in cooking time depends on how toasted you like them and how your oven works. But don’t burn them!
The two keys to this cereal being just how I like it is to use pecans that are toasted (not raw), and to use a lot of almond milk. Just as I would do with “real” cereal, I like being able to sip extra milk from my bowl as I go. But wait - maybe this is the Real Cereal. I think I’m gonna call it that from now on!
