Friday 2 December 2011

The little things

A winter Breakfast to melt the ice
Turning a key that works.
Arriving to a warm and peaceful home.
Hearing the voice of someone you love.
Seeing your child smile with pure happiness.
Listening to your favourite music.
Opening the door to greet an old friend.
Trusting your instincts, and getting it right.
Waking to the smell of a Nutty Sweet Potato Breakfast on the weekend!!!
What's inside?
Ooh, it’s the little things that make each day special and worthwhile. Each year on the 30th of November I set about filling my eldest sons Advent Calendar. Behind each door awaits a different surprise. For me, the joy is watching his eyes light up and seeing that treasured innocence and excitement, which is so special. That lightness of being is in us all. Life, experience and heartache may dull it and take away the shine, though our job, especially important at this time of the year, is to get the polish out, dust off and dream big! When I say polish, I mean replenishing your inner sparkle, by relishing the little things in quiet times and giving some TLC to your good self.

One of my favourite parts of the week is waking up on Saturday morning, it promises a sense of space and freshness to enjoy and behold. I have a lovely recipe for you today. It’s not what you’d expect of a morning meal, though it delivers on every level. Healthy, warming, fibre rich and deeply delicious, the aromatic spices will tickle your taste buds and sooth tired minds. The warm oven will take away the chill of winter mornings and each bite offers a different set of flavour experiences, from nutty to tangy sweet, to smooth then crunchy, to delight and happy harmony.
A gorgeous combination of textures
Sweet potatoes have a natural creamy consistency, which becomes breakfast beautifully. Also known as yams, they are at their seasonal best between October and March, so now is a great time to eat them.  Vitamins A, C and B6 will set your body into a sunshine celebration. Best of all you’ll FEEL great after eating this and it will keep in the fridge for up to three days, in a tightly sealed container.
Snow-capped sweet potatoes!
So often winter gets a tough wrap. I love this time of year and know it’s the little things that make this so. Looking forward to wearing my favourite wool scarf, that is long enough to fit a giant, enjoying spiced warmed apple juice, watching box sets, burning cinnamon scented candles, reading a good book and snuggling up contentedly. Bliss.

Whatever your little things of joy are, I hope that your weekend is full of them.

With huge winter warmth,

FFX

Nutty Sweet Potato Breakfast
A bowl of beautiful breakfast
SERVES 4
Sweet potato, 300g peeled and diced in 1cm cubes
Porridge oats, 2 tbsp
Pumpkin seeds, 2 tbsp
Dried Cranberries, 1 tbsp
Coconut oil, 2 tsp
Soft brown sugar, 1 tbsp
Pistachios, 1 tbsp roughly chopped
Almonds, 1 tbsp roughly chopped
Ground Cinnamon, a pinch
Ground ginger, a pinch
Nutmeg, a couple of scratches
Salt, ½ tsp

PRE-HEAT oven to gas 5, 190’
MIX sweet potato, porridge oats, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, coconut oil, and spices together in a bowl.
TURN out onto a lined baking sheet and spread evenly.
BAKE for 10 minutes.
REMOVE from oven and scatter over nuts.
GENTLY stir everything to help cook evenly.
SPRINKLE over salt and bake for a further 15 minutes.
REMOVE from oven and cool for 5 minutes.
SERVE with a generous spoonful of your favourite yogurt and some freshly chopped banana and pomegranate seeds for a Breakfast of waking dreams.

6 comments:

  1. Love this post, just the thing for a poor Mommy with a sore throat and not feeling too well...I wonder will some big girls mke this for me tomorrow morning? Love Saturdays xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope you feel much better very soon. I had this for breakfast and it was DELICIOUS, warming and healing too. So definitely get some big girls to make it:0) !! It will give the kitchen a lovely festive smell too! FFX

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sinead, that looks delicious. I love your alternative recipes with a generous dash of health kick. Would be interested in your take on homemade mincemeat. Nigella makes a decent effort, but I bet you could beat it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Angela, challenge accepted:0) My Granny made delicious mince pies in her day, she is now 95! I'm seeing her this weekend so shall get her recipe. Synchronicity in motion! Give me a few days to tinker around with all things mincemeat and I shall write a post about these sweet pies very soon! FFX

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love sweet potatoes but would never have though of having them for breakfast - great idea.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks GC! I love breakfast and this is definitely a seasonal favourite. I'm mixing it with apple spiced yogurt at the moment and it's delicious! FFX

    ReplyDelete

I'm glad you're here and would love to know what you think? If there’s a dish or a type of food you’d like to see here, please do let me know. Your comments, notes, tweets always bring a smile to my face. Thanks very much for stopping by at Feeling Food:)