Fast and Healthy Breakfasts on the Run

Breakfast can become a big dilemma for the working parent. We want our children to eat healthy foods, but the mornings are always so rushed that its hard to come up with something that they'll enjoy that's good for them. Then what about you, the parent? In your struggle to make sure that your children are fed, do you go without? Eating a healthy breakfast boosts your metabolism for weight loss, helps you maintain your focus, and gives you much needed energy throughout the day. Breakfast literally means "breaking the fast" of the night, so it could arguably be the most important meal of the day. When the clock is ticking and you are struggling to just get the kids out the door, what do you do? There's plenty of healthy cereals out there, but after a while it's nice to have some variety. Well, here's some quick, easy, delicious, and healthy choices for you. Each stand alone as a meal but they are also wonderful put together.

Smoothies

Fruit contains a natural sweetener, fructose, you don't need to add any sugar to this delicious treat! Every fruit has something special that boosts your health. Bananas are known to help retain information throughout the day. Strawberries are very high in vitamin C. Blueberries are incredible antioxidants. With that in mind here's a quick recipe for a fruit smoothie. You can interchange the fruit as you please, and even combine fruits to add a different flavor. Adding yogurt to the mix only makes the mixture all the healthier. Yogurt is incredible for helping to aid and maintain your digestive tract. And, of course, most people know the benefits of milk, like how it contains vitamin D and calcium for bone health. If you're lactose intolerant, however, simply substitute the milk for soy milk.

2 cups fruit (fresh is best, but frozen works well too.) I suggest strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, or banana.
1 cup of vanilla yogurt
2 cups whole milk

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Make this the night before and store in your refrigerator for the busy morning ahead. It takes approximately 15 minutes to prepare. Can breakfast get any easier than pouring your meal in a cup?

Oatmeal and Blueberry "Bread"

This is another recipe for preparing the night before, but it lasts a few days, and is very easy to make.

4-5 cups cooked oatmeal
1 cup blueberries

Cook enough oatmeal to fill a bread pan, about 5 cups. Stir the blueberries into the just cooked oatmeal. Next, put all the oatmeal into a bread pan and cover with saran wrap or aluminum foil. Put it in the refrigerator. The next morning simply cut a slice off like you would bread or cake and put in a plate. Drizzle honey over it or top it with jam.

Apples, Apples, Apples

Remember the old adage, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away?" There's truth to that. Apples are a great source of fiber, and they contain vitamin C. What does all this mean? Apples make a great breakfast! Cut them into slices and you can eat them plain or with a coating of peanut butter. Peanut butter is a great source of protein.

Apples also taste great with cheese. My favorites are American and Cheddar. For a quick, on the go breakfast, cut some cheddar or American cheese in squares and throw in a baggie along with your sliced apple.

Bagels: Your Fast Paced Friend

If you take a stroll down your bread or freezer isles at the grocery store, you will see that there are many different types of bagels to choose from. They range from plain to cinnamon flavored, mixed with fruit, and garlic flavored... the list goes on. Top it off with peanut butter, jam, butter or cream cheese. Like bagels, cream cheese comes in several different flavors. The possibilities are endless. You can toast them for a warm treat, or, like me, eat them untoasted, making another perfect meal for "on the run."

Hardboiled Eggs and Pigs in a Blanket

Eggs are loaded with protein to give you energy. If you cook and peel your eggs the night before, this makes a great food to grab and go. Add a dash of salt and/or pepper and you're set.

Pigs in a blanket are another easy and delicious breakfast alternative. Again, best prepared the night before, they taste great with a hardboiled egg and kids love them too! Purchase link sausages and canned croissants. Take the croissants apart individually and cut them in half. Wrap each sausage with a croissant "cape" and press down in the center to bring the ends of the croissant together. Follow the baking directions on the croissant can (bake them as if you were baking plain croissants).

Fruit Salad and Yogurt

This is one of my favorite treats. It's great for breakfast, snack, or even dessert! Prepared the night before, its another grab and go food.

Simply peel and cut several different fruits of your choice and combine them in a bowl. Fruits that work best are oranges, bananas, kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, peaches, plums, nectarines, and tangerines. Apples can be used, but its best to sprinkle them with lemon juice to keep them from browning over night. Use plain or flavored yogurt as a topping and mix a few spoonfuls into your prepared fruit. You can get really adventurous and add a handful of mixed nuts or trail mix as well.

All of these quick meal ideas are a cinch to make and are extremely nutritious. All of them will give you energy to move through your day effectively, and they all taste so, so good!! Even your children will like them!