With minimal effort on a Sunday, you could kick off your week with a wholesome, fresh and healthy breakfast: Greek yoghurt with home-made granola and fresh berries.  

I started making granola after being turned off the high sugar and salt content of a popular cereal brand.  

Commercially produced yoghurt is another problematic food, as it is filled with stabilisers (gelatine), flavourings, colourants, preservatives and often, plenty of sugar. 

A recent case brought before the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) highlighted the deceptive marketing of these supposedly healthy foods. Consumer activist, Dr Harris Steinman had complained about Lactalis South Africa’s labelling of its Parmalat Fruit Cocktail Low Fat Yoghurt, which he alleged misled consumers about containing 6% mixed fruit when there was almost no fruit pieces in the product. 

On assessing the label, the ARB directorate agreed that the large front of pack claim of “fruit pieces” accompanied by a visual of fruit pieces, created the impression that the product contained a significant amount of fruit pieces and ruled in Steinman’s favour, ordering the advertiser to amend its packaging. 

Greek yoghurt might seem relatively pure, but it too is packed with stabilisers to thicken it, when the natural yoghurt is strained to remove most of its whey. 

Because it’s super easy to make at home, I’ve stopped buying Greek yoghurt. If you enjoy yoghurt, try making it at home, even if you skip the final step of straining it. 

This thick, velvety yoghurt is delicious with berries and granola, or simply drizzled with honey as a dessert. 

Note: You need a thermometer.

Greek yoghurt with home-made muesli and fresh berries

Yoghurt

Ingredients:

Three litres of full-cream milk

1 cup of plain unsweetened yoghurt

Method: 

Warm milk in a saucepan until it reaches 85°C, then take off the heat and cool to 43°C. Mix a cup of warm milk with a cup of yoghurt starter, then mix this into the milk in your saucepan. Cover with a lid and wrap the pot in a towel or leave it in a warm place to sit for between four and eight hours.

Once thickened, take a muslin cloth or clean dishtowel, pop it over a colander that’s inside a bowl and pour some of your yoghurt into the colander. Place straining yoghurt in the fridge for a few hours until it has thickened to your liking. 

Granola

Ingredients:

30g brown sugar

1 tbsp honey

2 tsp golden syrup 

20g butter

80g rolled oats

30g desiccated coconut

80g mixed nuts 

20g mixed seeds

Grated zest of ¼ orange

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 150°C. In a deep baking tray, mix the sugar, honey, syrup and butter and warm for a minute. Remove the tray from the oven and add the remaining ingredients, mixing well. 

Bake for about 35 minutes, turning every five minutes to prevent it from catching. Serve with yoghurt and berries, or milk.