Do you remember the time when you got to wake up from your beauty sleep without an alarm and start your morning relaxed, without a rush and enjoy a nutritious and delicious breakfast without a care in the world? The sun was out, fresh air was sharing a beautiful breeze from your window, birds were chirping, and the smell of freshly squeezed orange juice and a sizzling omelet tickled your nose. You grab your freshly brewed coffee, sit down at the dining table, open a magazine and smile, wondering why this morning is just so perfect for you.
No? Well, me neither. Either this scenario has never happened, or it’s been so long that I don’t remember any longer. Instead, do your normal mornings look more like the scene of a war battle? Dirty dishes in the sink that give a giant clue about the snacks and lunch you just finished packing for the family. Their breakfast is in containers because they will be enjoying their first and most important meal of the day in the car again because you are running late, like most days in the week.
Their backpacks are stuffed at the entrance along with the cello and soccer gear they will need for music lessons and soccer practice after school. You are frantically looking for matching socks and shoes hoping to leave the house as soon as possible and pray that traffic is on your side so that they don’t have to collect yet another tardy slip, and that you will arrive at the office on time to start the meeting.
You finally lock the door and dash out. You start the car engine, while the kids open up their goodies to enjoy. You remind everyone not to spill their breakfast in my car again. Then, it suddenly hits you. You didn’t get the chance to prepare any breakfast for myself to enjoy. While your stomach growled, you passed by a donut shop after you dropped off the kids and hastily devoured it on your way to your final destination, work. With regular mornings like this, followed by sitting in meetings or your desk all day, you can’t help but wonder why you haven’t had any success at losing weight or feeling energetic yet.
If you are a young adult and live by yourself, does your morning look very different from the scenario described above? My guess is probably not. Either way, the bottom line is we are all too busy. So, our mornings naturally lack the calmness that we long for. Despite all the good intentions and efforts, we all have been there in similar shape or form before. We are overworked and overcommitted so it’s quite challenging to wake up extra early in the mornings to whip up a gourmet meal.
So, what I have discovered is the secret to battling those crazy morning routines is to prepare ingredients or meals, especially breakfast, on the weekends. This will help you save a lot of time in the week following.
Below are five of my favorite healthy and easy breakfast options, in no particular order. For the first two recipes, you can wash and cut ingredients in advance. For the remaining three recipes, you can prepare them on the weekends and freeze or refrigerate. So come weekdays, meals are easier to conquer through simple reheating. Please note that the beauty of these recipes lay within their simplicity and flexibility. You can change them up as you like. The below is just a general guideline, and you can easily exchange some of the ingredients as indicated.
# 1 – Egg Thins with ham, spinach and cheese
Servings: 1 portion
Ingredients:
- 1 Slice of ham of your choice (we love Black Forest Ham)
- 1 slice of cheese of your choice (we love Smoked Gouda or Havarti)
- 1 handful baby spinach
- 1 sheet of Egg Thins (from Crepini) large tortilla or Cauliflower Thins
- Other vegetables of your choice if desired, such as mushrooms, bell pepper etc.
Instructions:
- Preheat Toaster oven to 375 degrees
- Take one Egg thins, add ingredients on half of the sheets in order of veggies, ham and cheese and fold in half
- Bake in toaster oven for 5 minutes or 10 minutes if you want your spinach and egg thins to be crispier
# 2 – Morning smoothie
Servings: 2-3 cups
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of baby spinach or kale (lancito kale has a lighter flavor)
- 2 cups frozen pineapples (frozen to make smoothie colder)
- 1 banana
- 1 small apple, cut and cored
- (Above fruits and vegetables could be interchanged according to your preference.)
- 2 teaspoons flaxseeds (could also replace with hemp seeds or chia seeds)
- 2 cups of water (could be half orange juice and half water)
Instructions:
- Put all ingredients in a blender, such as Vitamix, and enjoy!
# 3 – Chia Seed Pudding
Servings: 2-4 servings
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or any other milk of your choice)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- For toppings: fresh fruits (berries, banana, mango etc.), chocolate chip, unsweetened shredded coconut, or hemp seeds
Instructions:
- Whisk all ingredients (except toppings together) and pour in glass container of your choice
- Store overnight in the refrigerator
- Add toppings of your choice before enjoyment
# 4 – Overnight Oats
Servings: 2-4 servings
Ingredients:
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup of your favorite milk
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup yogurt (optional)
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds
- 1/2 mashed banana (optional)
- For toppings: fresh fruits (berries, banana, mango etc.), chocolate chip, unsweetened shredded coconut, or hemp seeds
Instructions:
- Whisk all ingredients (except toppings together) and pour in glass container of your choice
- Store overnight in the refrigerator
- Add toppings of your choice before enjoyment
# 5 – Breakfast Egg muffins
Servings: 12 egg muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 cup of chopped bell pepper
- 2 cups of baby spinach – roughly chopped
- 1 cup of chopped mushrooms
- 1 cup of chopped asparagus
- 2 cloves of minced garlic
- Himalayan or garlic salt to taste
- 4 whole eggs
- 4 egg whites
- Pinch of dried parsley or basil
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease a standard non-stick 12-slot muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add oil and minced garlic and stir for about 1 minute.
- Add vegetables, leave spinach and mushrooms for later.
- Sautee 5-7 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add spinach and mushrooms and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Season with salt and herbs, if desired, and remove from heat.
- Distribute vegetables evenly in the muffin pan.
- Crack egg and whisk along with egg whites and pour over vegetables in muffin pan.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until eggs are cooked.
- Let it cool slightly before serving.
Try them out and experiment with them and see how the family enjoys them. Have fun and hope this helps you towards your first step in enjoying some yummy and healthy breakfast the whole family will enjoy.
