A healthy start: Breakfast Millet

A healthy start to the day is more then a strong cup of coffee. I know this, but more often then not, that's how my day begins. If I'm organized, I'll have homemade granola and yogurt or fresh fruit and yogurt - but that's usually as ambitious as my breakfast gets. Today was a little different though. I woke up determined to reset my inner clock and have a healthy follow up to my morning coffee. And I'm going to keep this going all week.

Sundays are always a lazy day for me, its my only full day off. So, I like to have coffee in bed and read or catch up on emails. I like to have nothing to do. Today, I took a little extra time to make a big batch of breakfast millet, which is millet baked in the oven with milk, coconut, dates, raisins and walnuts. A high fiber breakfast with a whole grain, dried fruit and walnuts for Omega 3 fatty acids. This takes an hour to bake in the oven, so after putting it together I happily climbed back into bed until it was ready to eat.



In my determination to keep this healthy start thing going all week, I doubled the recipe so I'd have enough to last a few days. I divided the leftovers into single serving containers that I'll take to work - adding in a little extra milk before warming up in the microwave.

Breakfast millet or "Millet Delight" as posted on Allrecipe is better then it sounds. It's a jazzed up alternative to oatmeal that tastes a lot like my breakfast quinoa with blueberries. The texture is creamy and the taste is slightly sweet because of the coconut and vanilla. The great thing about this is that you can change up what fruit and nuts you add depending on what you have on hand. You could also use soy milk, cranberries, blueberries, flax seeds, figs or whatever you like.


Breakfast Millet (serves 3)

Ingredients
1/2 cup millet, rinsed
3 cups milk
1/3 cup dates or golden raisins
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a casserole dish, combine millet, milk, chopped dates, coconut and vanilla.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then remove and stir. Stir in the walnuts, return to the oven and bake an additional 30 minutes. Serve hot.