Eating the same meal every morning makes breakfast a dull dish. Not only is it hardly worth a yawn, the same breakfast day in and day out can also make it a challenge to ensure your family is getting their recommended daily intake of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. The good news is that you can easily add variety to your morning meal, which will give your family a delicious reason to jump out of bed as well as start the day with healthy, satisfying breakfast foods.
1. Don’t eat the same morning meal twice – in the same week
Seven days of buttered rye toast and eggs over easy is better than skipping breakfast altogether, but with the scrumptious array of alternative breakfast options, you have no reason to eat so monochromatically. Make it a point to eat seven different breakfast foods every week.
Here is a sample morning meal plan:
- Monday: Cold cereal with made with whole grain, berries and soymilk
- Tuesday: French toast with fruit puree and yogurt
- Wednesday: Oatmeal and a protein smoothie
- Thursday: Toaster waffle with nut butter and banana slices
- Friday: Half a bagel spread with a cream cheese smoked salmon spread
- Saturday: Pancakes topped with a maple yogurt pumpkin puree and chopped nuts
- Sunday: Breakfast casserole made with eggs, turkey sausage, veggies and fresh herbs
2. Update your usual breakfast foods
If you and your family like routine and predictable breakfasts, you can still add inventive twists to your morning meals. Cold cereal made with whole grains is a quick and healthy way to start the day – give it a spin by replacing regular milk with soymilk, goat milk, rice milk or almond milk. You can also add chopped nuts one day, dried fruit the next. If eggs are on the usual breakfast menu, fix them a variety of ways. For example, fill omelets and frittatas with a tasty array of different ingredients, add pesto or salsa to scrambled eggs, or make delectable egg sandwiches with poached eggs. Morning smoothies can also be made in a delicious number of ways – use different fruits, flavored yogurts and nut butters for a yummy morning shake.
3. Be adventurous at breakfast
Dare to be different in your breakfast choices. Have dinner for breakfast – just because veggie pizzas or deli sandwiches aren’t considered morning fare doesn’t mean you can’t eat them upon rising. Give ethnic foods a try – venture into breakfasts of other cultures (do an Internet search for breakfasts from a particular culture or continent or pick up an ethnic cookbook). Add fresh flavors to your usual meals with fresh herbs and spices – sprinkle cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice in your cold or hot cereal, use chopped fresh basil or parsley in your omelets, or add a dash of chipotle powder to your breakfast casserole.
4. Plan to add variety
When you first roll out of bed, the last thing you are probably thinking about is making a drastically different breakfast. So, think about it the night before. Adding variety to your morning meals takes a little – but not much – planning. If you want to make pancakes for breakfast, mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls and store in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, combine the ingredients while the griddle is preheating and simply pour out your batter. Assemble your breakfast casserole before you head to bed and all you need to do in the morning is pull it out of the refrigerator and bake it in the oven. Save yourself even more time in the morning by cutting up a large variety of fruits and have them always on hand in the refrigerator for breakfast (as well as snacking throughout the day).
Taking the blah out of your breakfasts will give you a delicious reason to wake up and eat the most important meal of the day.
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