Breakfast ideas that aren’t cereal

I love cooking and I take great pride in planning and preparing meals. But to be honest, I often really fall down in the breakfast department.

With two small children, and both my husband and I working during the week, the mornings are a frenzied rush to shower, dress and evacuate the house in order to get to childcare and work on time. It doesn’t seem to matter how early I get up, SOMETHING will happen to trip us up; whether it be trying to find a matching pair of socks in a pile of unfolded laundry, or last-minute demands from irate children.

And yes I’m one of those people that often forgets to eat breakfast. Don’t get me wrong, I feed the children and make sure my husband is packed off to work with at least the semblance of breakfast, but too often I’ll find myself in the office at 9.30am wondering why I am so hungry!

The easiest thing, of course, would be to have a bowl of cereal, but the majority of them are loaded with sugar and the ones that aren’t? Well, they’re just not that appealing. And toast? Well, I’m trying to eat a little less bread and butter so I need to get a little creative.

As a result, I’ve started to spend some of the weekends thinking a bit more seriously about nutritious breakfasts I can either prepare SUPER quickly when I wake up, or can easily shove in a container to have the minute I arrive at work.

Here are some ideas to get you going:

• Bircher muesli – ditch the pre-packaged version and make your own. I use whole rolled oats that are soaked in water with a mix of seeds, nuts, and a grated apple (skin and all). In the morning, I add some sheep’s milk yoghurt and away I go.
• Stewed fruit and yoghurt – opt for poached pears or stewed rhubarb and served with a natural yoghurt, be it dairy or plant-based. There’s no need to add sugar when poaching pears, you’ll find they’re sweet enough! Similarly with the rhubarb, instead of using sugar, squeeze the juice of an orange into the saucepan to help take the edge off the rhubarb’s tart flavour.
• Boiled eggs – prepare some boiled eggs ahead of time and then take them to the office to eat alongside some cut up pieces of apple. Simple, but effective!
• Sweet potato toast – get on board with the Instagram craze and toast thin slices of sweet potato in your toaster! Top with some smashed avocado and goat’s feta for a quick and filling breakfast.
• One-egg omelette – lightly whisk an egg and pour into a hot pan, quickly swilling it around – crumble some feta into it, add some rocket, quickly flip it in half then on to a plate. You have to move fast so as not to overcook the egg!
• Quinoa Porridge – cook quinoa with your choice of milk and stir in some sliced Medjool dates. The next morning, warm it through and mix in some fresh fruit and yoghurt.

By Victoria Thaine,
Recipe Contributor