Delicious breakfast and Kefir smoothies

I finally got around to taking a photo of one of Brendon and my new breakfasts (I take the photo so I remember to put the recipe on here).

The cream & cinnamon version

This one (on the left) is made with some berry Kefir but the other way we enjoy it is with 1/4 part cream and 3/4 part water (so making up a milk really but better for us as it is then a nice low carbohydrate meal with delicious healthy fat). If we go with the cream option then I add 1 tsp of cinnamon per cup of liquid (pictured on the right).
For each cup of liquid I will put:
1/4 - 1/2 cup oats (if I go 1/2 cup then I need a bit more liquid)
1 1/2 Tbs Chai seeds
2 Tbs nut pieces (we enjoy 1 each of cashew and walnuts)
Some sweetener (we use Xylitol as it's natural and also good for your teeth).
(In this one I also put some poppy seeds, linseeds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. I tried it this once but don't normally add these other seeds.)
Put all the ingredients in a container, mix well and leave overnight in the fridge. All the ingredients become so much better for you once they have soaked and the nuts still keep their crunch - even after a few days. If you want to get a good explanation on why it's good to soak nuts and seeds have a read here.
If you want to go for a carb free meal (a great help to loosing weight) then leave out the oats and put 3 Tbs chai seeds per cup of liquid.
The first time I made this I thought I should perhaps stir it before I went to bed. I made the mistake of tasting it (it was the cinnamon and chai only way) and had to exercise so much self control to not eat the whole bowl. It really is delicious.

And if you are wondering about Kefir - here is a photo of our Kefir grains - just about to go into the new bottle of milk. It's basically like a drinkable yoghurt with all the wonderful benefits of yoghurt but SO quick and easy to make. You will be able to find loads of info about Kefir and it's benefits on-line.
I have tried two types of grains now (thanks to two friends giving me some). The first was in a bag and it was a great way of getting started as every day I just lifted the bag out and put it in the next lot of milk. The grains do grow though - so eventually the bag was a bit messy. I was then given these nice big grains and with the little bit more confidence I had have really enjoyed using them. I just spoon out the grain with a plastic or wooden spoon, allow some of the thicker creamy kefir to come off and then put the grain into new milk.
Every 24 hours we have a new litre of Kefir which I make into a berry smoothy for the children (ok - and me as I always enjoy a glass with them too and Brendon joins us on the weekends). I use a litre (or a bit more) of Kefir, 2 bananas, 2 handfuls of berries and a bit of Xylitol (as the children have gotten used to the taste I have been able to reduce the sweetener).
I also add a great supplement, NutriVerus, to this and so even boost the nutritional value even more. If you want to know what we use you could have a look at this video. Let me know if you would like to try it for yourself and I can give you more information.
I had to laugh the one day as I was in a bit of a hurry and forgot to add the NutriVerus. Everyone noticed the difference in flavour and the report is that it's WAY better with the NutriVerus in. :-) I was surprised myself to taste how much of a difference it made. It almost tasted less rich and filling (if that makes sense).
Hezekiah and Hannah especially love the Kefir smoothies and they both have two glasses every morning (I suppose the older girls like it just as much - the younger two are just so much quicker at drinking it). This has become our new "morning tea" and Hezekiah will even come and ask for "juice" if I am a bit late in getting it made. :-)