Grab and Go Breakfast

I used to have a breakfast routine for weekdays.  I'm all for changing it up on the weekends but used to be very happy to eat my corn flakes and milk for breakfast.  That all changed when our second son decided that he would get very cranky if I drank milk so it's been a constant struggle to figure out what to make. That and the lack of time in the morning. Everyone wants something different now.  Luckily the breakfast muffins are a big hit and quite easy to make on the weekend for the week ahead.  I've also started experimenting with adding veggies to muffins so that my oldest will get more out of them.  Hubby will eat anything. Usually he's a cereal type of guy as well, but I wanted to make something new for him, and hopefully filling.

I found this recipe on Parents.com and after reading a bunch of negative reviews, still decided to try it as I thought that it sounded like something hubby would like. I did do a bit of changing up, but here is the link.

The dried fruit with the original recipe is cranberries.  I chose to use bananas. As I didn't know if the soft bananas or the crunchy chips would be better, I used both.  Feel free to use whichever fruit (or nut) you like the best.

What you need:

A lot of this was from my Konstanz stash, but there is quite a large range of dried fruits in the shops here.  Haven't checked on the cereal yet.

1/3 cup brown sugar (when using brown sugar, always make sure it is firmly packed)
1/3 cup honey
1 3/4 - 2 cups of peanut butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
5 cups of bran flakes
1 package of dried fruit (I used about 1/2 of the soft dried bananas and then 1/4 of the banana chips on top).
Not pictured: chocolate morsels: because everything is better with chocolate :)

Line a baking dish with foil or wax paper to ensure ease of removal.  Clear out some space for the baking dish in your fridge.

Measure out your peanut butter.

Mix the sugar and honey into a pot and bring to a boil, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn. Remove from heat. Add the PB and cinnamon.  Mix until smooth (PB melted in).

Add the cereal.  Here is where you mix in 1/2 of your fruit (or like me, the soft dried fruit).

Put the mixture into your baking dish and if using a large dried fruit, give them a rough chop and then sprinkle over the top.  Add some chocolate morsels (or cubes if buying them here).

Place in the fridge over night.

I sliced them into 12 pieces and then layered them into a sealing bag with wax paper.  Has been a week and they are still fresh.

Enjoy.

Ahh...Konstanz....

-So I have been here for about 3 years now, and finally, last week, I went to Konstanz!  I'll gloss over the non-food part, but get there early in the morning if you want a place to park.  If you take the train though, it drops you off right in the center and you should be able to get to closer shopping. I would recommend a car though, if possible - the trip from Zurich was only about 50 minutes and you can get a lot more in your car than on the train.
We went to Lago and looked around at the Aldi, but ended up going to Kaufland (think Wal-Mart-ish).  It was fantastic! (overlooking the crowds because I found some great stuff).  Be aware though, that there are regulations on what and how much you can bring back into Switzerland.
Some of the things I found:

I was very excited to find the Pillsbury Doughboy as you can see...all I have had so far is the garlic bread....and you had to peel the paper back from the can and the dough just popped out...wonderful! :)

 Some yummy looking cheeses

 They had a bunch of Weight Watcher and other prepackaged, non refrigerated foods

 Miracel Whip.  I had no reason to buy this other than it was 1.50 Euros and I was reminded of home.  I am quite happy with the Thomy mayonnaise.

There was a HUGE aisle of these packets - there were also mac n cheese packets and other Americanized items (as distinguished by the US flag in the corner...)

The beef I bought - I bought lots of chicken as well. The Pepper Steak was good, but the other tasted kind of 'funky' and it wasn't a cooking issue.  However, for as cheap as it was, it wasn't as disappointing as it would have been had I gone to Jelmoli or some other place.

In any case, here are the results: 

I made it with a scoop of rice and some broccoli.  The rice and broccoli were great as was my husband's steak :p

Enjoy Konstanz!