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§03 · Breakfast · aaron-chow-breakfast

Aaron Chow Breakfast

The breakfast half of Aaron Chow — the two recipes that inspired Minimum Viable Pantry itself, named for their author, who spent 7+ years tuning them toward near-complete nutrition. A creamy, warm bowl of oats, berries, seeds, and nuts, unsweetened and finished with a spoon of peanut butter. Paired with the savory half, it's a week's worth of variety in two meals. Meet Aaron Chow Lunch →

Illustration of Aaron Chow Breakfast
Hands-on 12 min Total 15 min Serves2 Ingredients11 Cost / Serv.$1.88 Calories497 Contains Tree nut, Peanut
Batch

Ingredients

Everything here is in your pantry — no shopping trip.

Method

  1. Bring 2 cups water to a simmer. Stir in the 1¼ cups100 g rolled oats and 2 tsp4.8 g cinnamon.
  2. Cook 8–10 minutes, stirring often, until creamy.
  3. Stir the 1 cup148 g frozen blueberries and 1 cup232 g frozen strawberries in for the last 2–3 minutes, just to warm them through.
  4. Off the heat, stir in the 1 tbsp16 g peanut butter until it melts, then the 2 tbsp14 g ground flaxseed and 1 tbsp12 g chia seeds — add a splash more water if it tightens up, and eat it while it’s still loose, since the seeds keep setting.
  5. Top each bowl with the ⅛ cup10 g walnuts, chopped, ⅛ cup14 g pecans, chopped, and 1 tbsp8.1 g pepitas, and season with salt, to taste.

Kids: stir the berries all the way in at the start so the whole bowl turns purple and sweet, and skip the pepitas on top if they’d rather not have the crunch.

Dietary

  • free, with a caveat
  • Tree nut contains
  • Peanut contains
  • Soy free
  • Sesame free

Nutrition

Per serving · makes 2
Calories497Protein17gCarbs63gFiber16gSugars15gFat23gSaturated Fat3.0gSodium7.9mg
Vitamins & minerals
Iron4.9mgCalcium145mgPotassium668mgMagnesium211mgZinc3.9mgFolate85µgVitamin C76mgVitamin B120.0µgOmega-3 (ALA)1.1g
Estimated from pantry data, excluding Sea Salt (to taste).

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