Gluten Free Tropical Sunrise Buckwheat Cereal

I’m the kind of person that needs sunshine as soon as I wake up to even begin to feel awake by noon. This time of year, I sometimes feel like I have to manufacture a little sunshine. We’re going to forget about the grey winter scene outside for a little while with this super-quick, satisfying breakfast made with Hodgson Mill Gluten-Free Buckwheat Cereal with Milled Flaxseed and loads of sunny tropical fruits.

Buckwheat cereal on its own tastes lightly nutty and pleasantly earthy—everything you love about buckwheat pancakes, but in a smooth hot cereal made up of tender buckwheat groats. (Word of the day – “groat” is hulled grain broken into fragments larger than grits.)

The tropical explosion comes from using coconut milk as a base for the cereal and by mixing in creamy mashed banana as the sweetener. Chunks of tart-sweet pineapple create an unexpected but perfect contrast to the light, smooth buckwheat cereal. And get this — this recipe is not only gluten-free, it’s vegan. Gasp! You don’t have to be hardcore on either of those fronts to enjoy it, though.

Rise and Shine Tropical Multigrain Muffins

I had the best muffin a few weeks ago– a lifesaving muffin. I was on a road trip, driving through Michigan, and having a really hard time finding quick road food that was not covered in cheese, or deep-fried, or both. I stopped at a little diner and the sign at the front advertised “Rise and Shine Bran Muffins” packed with pineapple chunks, apples and raisins, and it was like someone turned on the sun in the middle of the night. Night and day, muffin, you are the one . . . .