I can’t claim to be a full on urban homesteader, but I do have a breakfast routine that is almost all local ingredients, low on packaging, and homemade.

Every week I buy a quart of organic whole milk from the Dill Pickle Co-op in Logan Square. I like that it is in a glass jar that actually gets reused when you bring it back for your deposit! I make yogurt with my Eurocuisine yogurt maker and packets of yogurt starter from Yo-gourmet. The deal with making yogurt is that it takes a few times to figure out the process, but once you get it down, it really only takes about 30 min in the kitchen, and then just remembering to put the yogurt in the fridge when it finishes 8-10 hours later. (The longer you leave it, the tangy-er it gets. I love a 12 hour yogurt.) And then you have fresh yogurt from organic, local milk and no plastic waste!

Every two weeks or so, I make my own granola using a recipe that I got through my friend Liz, who adapted it from a Martha Stewart recipe. Check it out on Liz’s blog! For this recipe, I use organic oats from the bulk bin at Dill Pickle. The main building blocks are the oats, wheat germ (adds crunchiness), and the wet ingredients. For the fruit and nuts you can use whatever you have laying around. I’ve put raisins instead of cherries and various combos of pecans, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds instead of almonds. I love the coconut shreds, but it comes out fine without them too.

For breakfast every day I pour one little jar of my yogurt into a bowl and top with about a 1/4 cup of granola. If I have bananas around, I slice half a banana on as well. Ok, that’s not local. But you gotta get your potassium.