Easy, Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Whether you are still in the work force or retired, sometimes it’s hard to find quick, healthy breakfast ideas. Here’s a few to get your morning started without spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

CEREAL: When it comes to cereal, there are plenty of choices – unfortunately, many of them are heavily laden with sugar, salt and other stuff that we really “don’t” need in our diet.

Buy yourself a box of shredded wheat or other whole grain cereal that has little or NO sugar, salt., etc. Add a trail mix of raw unsalted nuts and dried fruit (such as raisins or cranberries) to your morning cereal. Add fat free, low fat or almond milk. Unsweetened vanilla almond milk also works well in cold cereal and hot oatmeal.

Walnuts, almonds and other nuts are heart healthy and the dried fruit will add natural sugar. You can also use fresh fruit instead of dried fruit, but dried fruit is the easiest, stores well and contains plenty of nutrients. Everyone’s taste is different, so experiment with how much trail mix and dried fruit to add.

HOT OATMEAL: Same principle with oatmeal. Skip the sugary sweetened oatmeal. Purchase an unsweetened oatmeal and follow the package directions for cooking. While oatmeal is cooking add your trail mix of raw unsalted nuts and dried fruit. Adding the dried fruit and nuts while the oatmeal is cooking releases the natural sweetness of the fruit and softens the nuts.

HEALTHY TOAST TOPPERS: It doesn’t get much easier than a piece of toast for breakfast. But the key to a healthy breakfast toast is to start with a high fiber, hearty, good grain bread. For example, Trader Joe’s carries their own organic Super Bread. It’s a wheat flour bread packed with flax and sunflower seeds, carrots and more. You can skip the high fat butter with these toast topper ideas:

TOAST WITH AVOCADO PLUS: Spread mashed avocado over the toast. Kick it up a notch by topping it with a cooked egg white. Kick it up yet another notch by adding a slice of cooked turkey bacon and/or fresh tomato slice.

TOAST WITH HUMUS & EGG WHITE: Spread your favorite humus over the toast, then add a cooked egg white to top it off.

EGGS: Watching your cholesterol? For scrambled eggs, whisk together 2 egg whites and ½ of ONE yoke. *Add a dash of dill and a squirt of lemon. Even half of a yoke will give your eggs extra flavor and color.

*EGG TIP: When whisking eggs OR egg whites, adding a squirt of lemon and dash of dill will enhance the flavor.

TRAIL MIX & DRIED FRUIT IDEAS:

Buy a bag natural raw nut trail mix already containing dried fruit OR buy a bag of raw nuts and a separate bag of dried fruit. Keep these on hand not only for breakfast, but to use in other dishes such as:

– Salads: Jazz up your lunch or dinner salad by adding raw nuts and/or the dried fruit. Goes particularly well with crumbled goat or blue cheese.

– Sandwiches: Add raw walnuts and/or dried fruit to your favorite chicken salad sandwich.

– Snack: Raw nuts pair well with an apple and a hearty slice of cheddar cheese for a quick snack.