Goji Berry and Blueberry Oatmeal

I always welcome new exciting ways to liven up my bowl of oatmeal in the morning. I'll be honest, sometimes I get pretty bored with it. I happened to pick up some dried blueberries and dried goji berries recently in the bulk section of an amazing food co-op. These little berries are quite expensive normally, but such a treat when I can get a small amount in bulk. Goji berries are said to have tons of antioxidants in them, which is great, but their chewy texture, pretty color, and sweet-sour taste are other reasons why I like them. And blueberries rate pretty high on the antioxidant scale, as well, but I prefer them freshly picked in the summer over dried any day. Although, these dried blueberries really made my oatmeal extra interesting this week.

The addition of the walnuts and raw green pumpkin seeds just made this oatmeal so colorful and exciting to eat, as well.  Pumpkin seeds are a very good source of the minerals phosphorus, magnesium and manganese. They are also a good source of other minerals including zinc, iron and copper. In addition, pumpkin seeds are a good source of protein and vitamin K. I'm not a huge fan of the flavor of raw pumpkin seeds, but when mixed with berries and nuts, I can usually handle them. Walnuts are incredible nuts, high in Omega 3's and they also have anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, and cardiovascular health benefits. So much research has been done on these nuts and they are totally worth adding them to the diet regularly.

So basically this is a beautiful superfood-laden bowl of oatmeal. Even trying just one of its components can provide health benefits. And it sure makes a boring bowl of oatmeal much more interesting.