Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Breakfast Made Simple: Easy And Healthy Breakfast Ideas

It's often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but how many of us really eat a healthy breakfast every morning? Most of us either opt for sugar, fat and preservative-loaded breakfast foods or don't even eat breakfast, starting the day with just a highly caffeinated beverage. Preparing a healthy breakfast can be less time-consuming than you believe. Here are some simple, quick and healthy suggestions to get your day started right.

Cheese or Yogurt with Fruit- Fresh fruit, particularly when it's in season, is tasty when paired with some form of dairy product. Cottage cheese or low fat yogurt are good low-calorie alternatives, but if you don't care about the calories, any type of cheese is good. Fruit can be prepared the night before or alternatively canned, frozen or even dried fruit can be used, although fresh is always best for taste and health benefits.

Breakfast Parfait- Alternately layer yogurt, fruit and granola in a bowl or glass. Almost any type of fruit can be used, but it's best to use plain yogurt. If you don't have granola, breakfast cereal can be used.

Breakfast Shake or Smoothie- You can exercise your creativity here. Any flavor of yogurt or ice cream can be used for a base. Add a couple of tablespoons of milk or fruit juice. Blend in flavored milk powders or protein powders and fresh, frozen or canned fruit.

Microwave Omelette - You can make an easy omelette in the microwave in just a few minutes. Whip up eggs and milk as for any other omelette using a microwave safe bowl. Filling for your omelette can be cooked or raw veggies, cooked meat, seafood or lunchmeat, spices and soft cheeses. Cook eggs on high for about 1 to 1 and 1/2 minutes or until eggs are soft-cooked, but still runny. Stir and add filling. Microwave until eggs are almost solid. Sprinkle cheese on top. Microwave 'til cheese is melted and enjoy, with whole-grain toast.

Cereals- If you must have pre-packaged cereals for breakfast, opt for those high in whole grains and low in sugar. Keep nuts, seeds and fresh or dried fruit on hand, to add for flavor and health.

All of these easy and healthy recipies can be varied, utilizing foods you already have available. Experiment with your favorites and get a better start to your day.

Healthy Breakfast Ideas 2013

If I hear someone say breakfast is the most important meal one more time, I'm gonna' bean 'em with my bran muffin. Every meal is important if you're interested in health. With the incidence of diabetes on the rise, it's very important that we have a balanced and stable amount of food going in. Skipping breakfast is not an option for healthy people who want to stay that way. Even in a hurry, there are many nutritious breakfast ideas, and more, when you have the time.

Balance Is The Key To Health: O.K. So the same people who said breakfast is most important also told you to have a balanced diet. They're right, but what is a balanced diet? Without getting too technical, a balanced diet has the right amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, water and fiber. To do this, we need a balance of meat/fish, dairy, grains, fresh vegetables and fresh fruits. Since this article is about breakfast, we'll focus on ways to get a balance of about 1-2 servings of carbohydrates, 1-2 servings of proteins, 1 serving of fats, 1-2 servings of fruits or vegetables (not fruit juice), 2 glasses of water and one serving of fiber. This is about a third of what you'll need for the whole day.

Eating Healthy In A Hurry: There are many ways to eat a healthy breakfast in a hurry. In all cases, assume low fat dairy (2% fat or less), 1 glass of water when you wake up and another just before breakfast. Since many of the ingredients are interchangeable, the following examples represent about a dozen different quick healthy breakfast ideas:

1. Bowl of cereal with one cup of milk and a cup cubed fresh fruit. (Substitute hot cereal in winter).

2. Bran muffin, glass of milk, 1 cup cubed fresh fruit.

3. Trail mix bar, string cheese, 1 banana.

4. 2 pieces of whole grain toast with spread & sliced fresh fruit, 1/2 cup cottage cheese.

Celebrating Healthy Breakfast When There's Time: The weekend is when we can slow down a bit and really enjoy the time spent preparing and eating a healthy breakfast, together. This is also when we increase the servings to the max of our range of nutrients. Water and low fat dairy are assumed just as with the breakfasts above. The frittata and fry breakfasts can be doubled and reheated the next day if you want to save time and don't mind leftovers.

1. Fry breakfast per person: 1 cup frozen hash browns, browned and set aside. 1/4 cup cooked meat/sausage. 2 cups fresh vegetables. 1 egg. Stir fry the vegetables lightly, add meat, stir and set aside. Layer potato in pan, add vegetable meat combo on top, beat egg and drizzle over vegetables, sprinkle a little low fat cheese on top. Cover and cook over medium heat until eggs are done.

2. Flap jacks & Egg: 3-5, 4" diameter pancakes with spread. 1 cup sliced fresh fruit on top of pancakes. 1-2 fried egg. 1 glass milk of 1'2 cup cottage cheese. Substitute 2 pieces French toast, toast, muffin, waffles for pancakes and meat for eggs, or for half the eggs.

3. Lazy Frittata (per person)& Toast: 2 eggs, beaten, 1/2 cup grated cheese, 1-2 oz chopped cooked meat/sausage. Spray small pan with cooking oil, heat to low/medium, add egg mixture, sprinkle cheese in immediately, sprinkle meat in. Cook until egg hardens. Sprinkle with paprika for color. Serve with toast, spread and fresh fruit.

As long as you keep the amounts and balances of foods represented in these recipes, you can do pretty much what you want. As you can see, there are hundreds of healthy breakfast combinations. This article is just a sampling, so you can be creative and come up with your own ideas based on your favorite foods. Enjoy!

Healthy Breakfast Ideas to Get You Going

Remember the speech "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" from you mom?

Your mom isn't the only expert in our midst. According to Mayo Clinic breakfast fuels the body and gives you energy to keep you going for hours. The National Institute for Health reports that whenyou eat a healthy breakfast you are less likely to overeat later in the day. Weight Watchers teaches if you are trying to lose weight - skipping meals may cause you to gain weight. Think about this. Breakfast is really "breaking" your night time "fast". So if you skip the first meal of the day your body will be running on the energy (food) from the day before. That's a lot to ask of your body. Don't you think?

But wait, you already know that.

So what's the problem? How to do it.

Squeezing in a healthy breakfast

Mornings tend to be hectic for most of us. For some of us the kids, husband and pets are more than we can juggle. For the rest of us just getting out of bed is challenge enough. Adding breakfast to the mix and a healthy one at that just seems like too much.

Good planning, change a few habits and you're over half way to improving your health. It's equally easy to eat healthy as it is to eat unhealthy. You're just in the habit of eating unhealthy. Now is a good time to develop the habit of eating healthy.

• Start the night before you go to work.
• Think about what you want for breakfast the next day.
• Set out any dry ingredients and any bowls, blenders or pans so they're ready for use.
• Make breakfast the night before and put in the refrigerator.
• Make a weeks' worth, divide it into daily portions.
• Pack a to-go breakfast the night before.

Quick healthy breakfast ideas

You have plenty of ways to get in a healthy breakfast each day, and it doesn't always have to be a your mom's breakfast of cold sugary cereal, fried eggs and bacon.

Healthy breakfast ideas to get you going in the morning:

Eggs

• A whole-wheat pita stuffed with organic scrambled or hard-boiled eggs, organic sliced tomatoes
• Organic egg omelet with chopped vegetables, fruit and 100% whole wheat toast
• Breakfast sandwich with 100% whole grain bread sliced and an organic hard-boiled egg

Cereal

• Cooked oatmeal, steel cut oats or multigrain cereal topped with almonds or dried cranberries
• Whole grain high fiber (at least 8 grams) cold cereal

Vegetables

• A whole wheat tortilla filled with vegetables, salsa
• Vegetable smoothies - blended romaine lettuce, kale, spinach, banana, flax seeds and protein powder
• Carrot, celery, cucumber sticks and yogurt
• Celery sticks, peanut nut butter and raisins

Fruit

• Yogurt with chopped fruit, nuts and raisins
• Fruit smoothies - blended from fruits, some low-fat yogurt and a spoonful of wheat germ and protein powder
• Trail Mix of nuts and dried fruit
• Sliced apple and almond nut butter

Pancakes - Waffles

• Multigrain pancakes with fruit and yogurt
• Buckwheat pancakes with pecans
• A whole-grain waffle with peanut butter

Bagels - Toast - Crackers

• Whole-wheat crackers, bagels or 100% whole wheat bread with peanut butter or almond nut butter add a banana or apple
• A whole-wheat vegetarian sandwich on a bagel with hummus, fresh spinach, romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber

A word about food bars, protein powder and processed soy products.

Food bars are not always a good option. Food bars have become a popular to grab and go food for a speedy breakfast. However, it's important to read the food labels carefully. Many food bars have as many calories, fats, sugars and the overall nutrition as a candy bar.

Powdered protein can be a problem. The protein in protein powder is generally from whey, milk, or soy. Many people are allergic (or creates gastric distress) to milk and whey. The American Cancer Society recommends soy as cancer protective and the American Heart Association as reducing your heart attach risk. When selecting soy go with whole food sources, the healthiest option.

Processed soy is used in food bars and substitutes for protein such as veggie burgers. Processed soy like all processed foods are bad for you. Stick with natural, non-GMO (genetically modified organic) soy beans, tofu, miso, soy milk and whole food soy protein drinks. If you're wondering what company to go with check out Cornucopia Institute's Behind the Bean report.

Healthy Breakfast Ideas for Busy People

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Or is it? This is the type of advice that everyone takes for granted, but in reality, most people make breakfast the WORST meal of the day because they eat food that causes them to gain fat and lose muscle. Here's some healthy breakfast ideas to start your day off on a good foot.

The Problem With Breakfast

So why do I think that people are going about breakfast all wrong? Well, let's take a look at what most people eat for breakfast during the week, when we are rushing around to get ready to go to work:

- Cereal and milk

And here's what we eat on the weekends, when we go out for breakfast or make a big one at home:

- Pancakes and syrup

So what's wrong with this picture? Well, sugars and other refined carbohydrates such as cereals and flour have been found to cause insulin resistance, a state in which the body is continually storing fat away in the body, day and night. So if you want to start the day healthy, make sure you ditch these types of foods.

Breakfast Ideas for the Weekdays

First of all, many people aren't hungry in the morning and force themselves to eat anyway. This is wrong. You need to listen to your body and only eat when you are hungry. You shouldn't feel guilty about skipping breakfast.

That being said, if you are hungry in the morning, it's important that you start the day out with real, whole, unprocessed foods. That means cereal is out, so what are you to eat? Since you are in a hurry, it's probably best to make breakfast the night before, or to make a big batch of food earlier in the week that you can warm up. Here's some of my favorites:

• Last night's leftovers: Most people are weirded out by the thought of eating dinner for breakfast, but if you made a healthy meal emphasizing unprocessed meats and vegetables, it will be just as good in the morning.
• Hard-boiled eggs: Most people don't eat enough protein in the morning and therefore feel hungry in just a couple hours. Hard boil a dozen eggs at a time and you'll have a quick breakfast ready to go at a moment's notice in the refrigerator.
• Fruit: Berries and cream, melon and cottage cheese, even just a half of a grapefruit are all excellent ways of getting plenty of vitamins and antioxidants first thing in the morning.

By avoiding the sugars and processed carbs that are so common in most breakfasts and making it ahead of time, you will be able to start the day off right with these healthy breakfast ideas.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4824281

6 Ways You Come Up With Your Own Easy Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Would you like to know how you can come up with your own easy healthy breakfast ideas? This article will show you how. Eating healthily shouldn't and doesn't have to be difficult. Too often people start to suffer from information overload or think that the easy solution is "too easy". In reality however, keeping things simple often yields the best results. Here are 6 steps in which you can follow:

1. It needs to be nutritionally balanced

When coming up with your own easy healthy breakfast ideas, you should aim to get the right balance of protein, fats and carbs. We need all three of these macronutrients because without them we cannot function at our optimal level.

2. What's your goal?

Depending on your goal, your easy healthy breakfast ideas may differ from someone else's. For example if your goal is to build muscle you will need to be in a caloric surplus and will probably need a lot more protein and carbs than say someone whose goal is weight loss.

3. Choose foods you like:

There is no point in thinking up easy ideas for breakfast if these ideas are of foods you don't even like or worse you are intolerant too.

4. KISS - Keep it simple stupid:

The easiest healthy breakfast ideas are the ones you can prepare in a few minutes, for example a breakfast Smoothie consisting of a scoop of whey protein, a cup of frozen berries, a cup of spinach, some flaxseed and a cup of natural or Greek yoghurt.

5. Think ahead

When you're brainstorming for ideas always try and think ahead and plan out the next few days in advance. This way you'll know exactly where and what you'll be doing so you can come up with ideas to suit the activities you are doing. For example if you are going to be travelling it may be an idea to come up with an easy healthy breakfast idea that iscan be transported like healthy breakfast bars or a protein pancake.

6. Be flexible

Flexibility is key when you want easy healthy breakfast ideas. You won't always be able to source every ingredient necessary so if you can come up with breakfast ideas where you can easily substitute out ingredients, you'll be better able to adapt if the situation arises. Always aim to substitute protein for protein, fats for fats and carbs for carbs.