When it comes to breakfast, I have great intentions that don’t seem to pan out. Even though I determine almost every night to eat a good-tasting, healthy breakfast the next morning, it’s quite difficult for me to make breakfast for myself.

I’m a morning person, but I prefer to spend my early morning hour writing, reading, or talking on the phone with my sister. Hanging out in the kitchen, rolling sausage in a pan and flipping eggs, does not come naturally to me in the morning.

I have to eat, though. I’ve tried many times to make it until lunch without eating anything, solely based on the fact that I’m too lazy and/or uninspired to make myself some food. That never works out – usually by 10:00 a.m., my body is asking for food by throwing some unpleasant symptoms my way, like a lack of focus, a feeling of weakness in my body, and the telltale wooziness of low blood sugar.

While a host of easy-to-prepare “breakfast foods” are available at the grocery store, I’d prefer not to start my day with processed foods, GMOs, corn syrup, and partially hydrogenated oils. Even a regular old bowl of cereal gives me the heebie-jeebies now: the cereal itself commits many a food sin in my book and the milk I pour over it comes from an industrial dairy operation.

Coffee can’t fill the hole in my stomach that’s begging for real food. I’ve tried. I may accomplish quite a bit on those coffee-for-breakfast mornings, but all my tasks are performed on the cusp of passing out.

Thankfully, I discovered some tasty treasure a couple months ago. Through my bi-weekly orders from Crown O’ Maine back in the early part of the this year, I collected a few ingredients that I thought might make a yummy combination.

I love being right.

It started with Tide Mill Creamery greek yogurt, also known as “the best food ever.”

Tide Mill Farm has been in the same family for nine generations and the creamery was established in 2010. The yogurt, or the base of my breakfast, is created on the Maine coast.

I’ve had greek yogurt before – the more expensive little tubs from the supermarket are tastier and richer than conventional yogurts, but can’t compete against Tide Mill Creamery’s product. I buy it plain and add flavor to it.

My first experiment in flavor involved adding a spoonful of Kountry Kettle strawberry preserves to the yogurt. At first I was concerned that it wouldn’t taste very good, but it took me about four seconds to remember that many of the yogurt containers in the supermarket boast “Fruit on the Bottom.”

That’s the day I discovered you can pretty much eat strawberry cheesecake for breakfast. It’s a day that went down in tastebud history.

For a couple weeks I ate yogurt with preserves with complete delight. Though the taste never let me down, I figured ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!’ (right?) and that adding a little more heartiness to the mix couldn’t hurt.

Now I add Moose Bee‘s Strawberry Granola to the yogurt and preserves and it’s what I eat for breakfast every morning (at least until my ingredients run out and I have to wait for the co-op truck to come again).

It’s super quick to prepare.

1. Spoon yogurt into bowl.

2. Spoon preserves into bowl.

3. Pour granola into bowl.

4. Mix. Eat.

It’s delicious on a level that seems unreal (but is actually the opposite) and it’s very filling.

I feel good at breakfast. It’s a cheap meal (when I figured out how much a serving cost, it’s less than $2). It’s real food (minimally processed), organic and from my state.

I support my tastebuds, my wallet, and my health, along with supporting real food, small farmers and businesses, and a state-wide distribution system that aims to provide Maine food to Maine consumers….

…all while I’m still half-asleep.