One of my favorite meals of the day is breakfast. The problem is I don’t like to eat it until about 10 a.m. and most of the breakfast foods I really love are not that healthy for you. You know the ones I’m talking about — grits with cheese, pancakes with syrup, biscuits and jelly, the list goes on and on. I also know that when I eat a big breakfast with these types of foods, in no time at all there will be a drop in blood sugar and lethargic feeling that even cups of coffee can’t undo.

So I’ve been looking for some new and healthy ideas besides a bowl of cold cereal. And I have found these new recipes, and I think you will love them too.

This first one is really easy to make and you can make any number of changes to it. Sometimes I add dried figs and raisins, sometimes I swap out the pecans for walnuts. I keep this around for a better snack in the afternoon, and it’s really good stirred into a serving of plain vanilla yogurt.

Homemade granola

9 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

4 cups shredded coconut

1 1/2 cups toasted chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups slivered or sliced almonds

3/4 cup honey

1 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)

1 cup dried apricots

1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the oats, coconut, pecans and almonds together in a 13 by 9 inch pan. Whisk the honey and oil together in a small bowl. Pour over the oat mixture and stir until all the oats and nuts are coated. Bake, stirring occasionally, until the mixture turns a nice even golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove the granola from the oven and sir constantly to keep it from sticking together, until the granola is cool. Stir in the dried fruit. Store in an air-tight container.

These new muffins are great to have on hand for your breakfast. Let them cool and wrap them individually and put in the freezer. They thaw quickly on their own, but I often set them on top of the toaster and push the lever down a few times to speed it up. I don’t like to put them in the microwave because it toughens them.

Remember with these muffins, just like all muffins and quick breads, you only want to mix them enough to mix the ingredients, don’t overmix them or they will be tough. Yeast breads have to be beat and kneaded but not these.

Banana Oat Muffins

2 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs lightly beaten

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup banana, mashed

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the rolled oats with the buttermilk and set aside. Sift together the flour, soda and salt. Add to the rolled oats mixture. Mix in the eggs, honey and banana. Let the mixture sit for 20 minutes. Spray the muffin tins with nonstick spray and fill the cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Christina Hall writes a weekly column for The Democrat. She can be reached at christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com