Crunchy Breakfast Bowl with Cereal, Seeds, Almonds, Ginger, and Fruit

Hot cereal and grains get all the attention. Yes, it is fall/winter in some places, so it is cold. But hot cereal is the thing that everyone plays with. Adds to. Personalizes. Loves.

But cereal eaten cold can also shine. I suppose I should confess that this is a rather recent revelation, as I've been giving it the cold shoulder (I'm hilarious) for awhile and eschewing it for everything else under the sun. It isn't clear how I fell out of love, but it happened.

Perhaps by relying on it for an absurd amount of years as my one and only breakfast. Perhaps by not realizing that one can add more than the occasional banana to the stuff.

But I have rekindled an appreciation, finding cool milk a creamy delicious vehicle for delivering crunchy morning time sustenance. But instead of taking it at face value, I'm adding stuff to it. Lots of stuff. To make a breakfast bowl.

Sliced strawberries and mandarin oranges are sprinkled with ginger and either 5-spice powder or cardamom. Poppy seeds and sunflower seeds are thrown in the mix, along with some chopped almonds. A drizzle of honey, unsweetened cereal, and milk brings everything together. What's not to love?

Ingredients
handful of sliced strawberries
mandarin orange, segmented
sprinkling of freshly grated ginger
5 spice powder or cardamom
sprinkling of poppy seeds
about a tablespoon of sunflower seeds
about 2 tablespoons chopped almonds
drizzle of honey
1/2 cup - 1 cup unsweetened cereal (I used puffed brown rice cereal)
milk

Instructions
In a bowl, mix together the berries, mandarin orange, and grated ginger. Sprinkle just a bit of 5-spice powder or cardamom. Add the poppy and sunflower seeds, almonds, and drizzle of honey. Add in the cereal and milk and you are good to go.