Healthy Breakfast Bowl - Grain Free, Gluten Free, Paleo

Last week The Captain and I spent several days with his sister and her husband in North Vancouver... they have a lovely home on Grouse Mountain and we love to visit there.  They are wonderful hosts and make us feel completely welcome and at home.

My sister-in-law has been living gluten-free for several years now and seems to have it all under control in the food department.  Since I am new to this lifestyle, I was eager to pick her brain, and experience some of the foods she has been enjoying all this time.

I was really intrigued by her breakfast choices.  Normally we eat eggs, or some kind of pancakes, or even hot oatmeal... and more lately, hot ground flax cereal.  Since I am moving away from eating grains of any kind for the most part, I was pleased to learn about a new breakfast treat, and I have been building these Breakfast Bowls for myself ever since.

Because I am still a Weight Watchers member, I don't throw caution to the wind, and I am keenly aware of the Points Plus Values of these ingredients rapidly adding up... but the beauty is that they are very nutritious, very filling, high in fibre and they keep me satisfied for hours!  A bowl that adds up to 6P+ or even 8P+ takes some time to eat, a long while to digest, and therefore keeps me full till lunch time.  They taste like dessert and that makes me very happy!

Here is an example of the first one I made last week while still in North Vancouver....

Fresh apricot, sprouted chia seeds, raisins, pecans, slivered almonds... before I added a bit of orginal unsweetened Almond Breeze.  This was 7P+ in total.

Today I made this one...

Half banana, half nectarine,  1 Tbs raisins, 1 tsp chia seeds, 1 Tbs ground flax seeds, 15g almonds...

Then 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze, for a total of 6 P+

I should note that my sister in law doesn't add 'milk' to her bowls... but I think that the liquid makes the ground flax and chia seeds more palatable.  Yogurt works well, too.

The ingredient list is limited only by your imagination.

Here are some of the things I know that my sister-in-law selects, and also some things I have tried, or intend to try soon.

Nuts

• almonds
• walnuts
• pecans
• cashews
• hazelnuts
• coconut

Seeds

• pumpkin
• sunflower
• chia
• ground flax
• hemp

Dried Fruit

• raisins
• cranberries
• cherries
• blueberries
• goji berries
• goldenberries
• pineapple
• apple
• mango
• papaya
• strawberry

Fresh Fruit

• banana
• apricot
• nectarine
• mango
• berries of all kinds
• pear
• papaya
• grapes
• fig

Miscellaneous

• unsweetened cocao nibs
• agave nectar
• honey
• nut butters
• cinnamon and other spices

And another great thing about this Breakfast Bowl style of eating, is that it can be different every day, just by varying an ingredient or two.

What do you think?  Is this something that you might try for yourself?

I would love to hear about any different or particularly tasty add-ins that you come up with!