Not a breakfast person but trying to make some lifestyle changes in order to better take care of yourself and your body? Awesome! It’s good to have you here. We’ve compiled a short, but very easy list of our top 5 healthy breakfast recipes for you to master, to give you that morning boost every day. As you might already be aware, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This is because when we’re asleep for 8-10 hours, our bodies aren’t being fuelled by nutrients. What we have for breakfast essentially replenishes the stores of energy and nutrients in the body.
If you’re not a morning person, you can try and change that with a few morning tips to help kickstart your new routine, before you then tackle becoming the ultimate breakfast chef in the kitchen.
Why is Energy for the Body Important?
Before we get right into the recipes, we need to understand the body and how it receives it’s energy. The body’s energy source is glucose – this is broken down and absorbed from the carbohydrates that you eat. The body is intelligent enough to store most of it’s energy as fat, but it also stores some of the glucose as glycogen. Glycogen can be found in your liver, and tiny amounts in your muscles too. The storage process is important, because when we are unable to eat, such as overnight when we physically cannot – the liver breaks down the glycogen and slowly releases it into your bloodstream as glucose. This is so your blood sugar levels remain stable while you are unconscious.
Breakfast is imperative, because once you wake up from a well-rested sleep, your glycogen levels will be low, these means you have to eat the right foods and put the right nutrients into your body so it can repeat the same process again and keep your glycogen levels stored. This helps keep your metabolism up for the day, and ultimately helps you feel more energised and less drained as you consume foods that are rich in key nutrients – calcium, iron, B vitamins, fibre, folate and more.
See below our top 3 breakfast recipes.
#1 Berry Granola Yogurt Pot
A lovely breakfast you can even prepare the night before. Granola is a great source of fibre, and combine it with fresh fruit and yogurt, you can’t really go wrong. You can use fruit of your preferred choice, but our example below features a range of berries!
Ingredients
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Blueberries
- Greek Yoghurt
- Quick Granola
- ½ Lemon
- ½ Tbsp Honey
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- 150g Oats
- Sunflower Seeds
How To
For the quick granola:
Let’s start off by making the quick granola, and it is called quick for a reason! Grab the coconut oil, cinnamon, oats, seeds, honey and cook gently over a low heat. Use a pinch of salt and mix all of the ingredients thoroughly together. Once golden brown, which should take around an estimated 5 minutes, spread the granola out onto a baking sheet, and leave to cool.
For the coulis:
To make the berry coulis, simply place the raspberries into a pan, along with a tablespoon of honey and half a lemon (just the juice) and gently heat. Within a few minute, the heat should begin to break down the soft fruit, but you can also use the back of your wooden spoon to speed up the process. Once they have been mixed together, you need to blend the mixture to a puree then use a sieve to discard the raspberry seeds (unless you like them too). Once you have the raspberry puree, you can use this to divide between your granola pot (s). Set this aside while you prepare the below.
For the extras:
Slice up the strawberries, as thin or thick as you prefer. You can do the same with any leftover fruit you have too, whether it’s lemon or raspberries. Make sure you take some of the granola aside, because you can use this to sprinkle on the top of your pots when you’ve prepared them.
To prepare:
Simply take the granola and place into your pots, ensure each have an equal amount and make sure you’re happy with the servings. Next, take the coulis that you set aside, and pour over the granola, again be sure to divide this equally onto the pots – you don’t want to be eating dry granola. Scoop one tablespoon of Greek yoghurt over the coulis, and then place the additional fruit on top of the yogurt. One this has been done on the pots, sprinkle the last remaining bit of granola.
#2 Poached Eggs on Wholemeal Flatbread (with Avocado, Tomatoes & Broccoli)
Designed for the ones who have a relatively peckish appetite when they awaken. It’s a protein packed dish, rich in antioxidants.
Ingredients
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Broccoli
- 1 Wholemeal Flatbread#
- 2 Free Range Eggs
- Pinch of Basil
- Avocado
How To
A lovely dish to prepare quickly before you head off to work.
Preheat the oven at 120c for at least 10 – 15 minutes. Bring the kettle to the boil and use this water to pour into a saucepan that will be used to cook the broccoli. Place over the hob / stove and cook until soft. Alternatively, you can cook the broccoli the night before and refrigerate for the morning to save you time. Slide the avocado into thin slides and prepare on a plate – you will only have to dress these along with the tomatoes and broccoli later on.
While you cook the broccoli, add the cherry tomatoes for at least 30 seconds and bring to the boil. Place the broccoli and cherry tomatoes inside the oven while you prepare the poached eggs to keep them warm.
Cooking your eggs depends on what equipment you have and what method you are most familiar with, if you already have a poached egg pan, then feel free to use that. If your method is bringing water to the boil in a saucepan, and cracking an egg to poach it that way, then go ahead. Cook 2 poached eggs until the whites are set and the yolks are runny enough.
Take the wholemeal flatbread and place over a plate, take the broccoli and cherry tomatoes and sprinkle over the flatbread. Place the eggs on top, and sprinkle with basil, black pepper, and oil. Bon appetite!
#3 The Ultimate Breakfast Smoothie
So, we’ve given you the healthy breakfast, the protein packed breakfast for food lovers, and now we’re giving you the have to leave in a hurry, can’t really eat in the morning breakfast recipe. Smoothies are the quickest breakfast meal to exist, and they’re packed full of nutrients you can drink on the go.
Ingredients:
- Banana
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Oatmeal / Oats
- Peanut Butter
- Coconut Milk
Time to put your blender to good use, simply place all of the fruit, and the coconut milk in the blender, and blend until it is mixed thoroughly. Take out and do a little taste test, if is it too thick, simply add some more milk, or if it needs more sweetness, add some more fruit! It’s simplicity at its finest – just grab and go!
