Most of us love the thought of sitting down to a leisurely home-cooked breakfast, but during the week when trying to balance work and family commitments, is just not reality! If you are struggling to find the right breakfast to suit your needs, here are some quick ideas sure to satisfy.
Firstly, to ensure your breakfast adequately fuels your morning, ideally it should contain a source of:
- Carbohydrates such as whole oats/quinoa flakes, fruit (eg. banana), wholegrain bread, leftover roasted sweet potato or even cooked grains such as rice or quinoa.
- Protein such as eggs, salmon, yoghurt, milk, cheese, nuts/seeds, tahini/nut butter, chia seeds; and
- Healthy fats: avocado, olive/coconut oil, nuts/seeds and chia seeds.
As an added bonus, also aim to add a handful of veg to your breakfast.
Putting all of this together here are some balanced breakfast ideas:
Quinoa and Blueberry Muffins with yoghurt: these muffins contain complex carbs in the form of quinoa flour, healthy fats from olive oil and protein from almond meal. Bake a batch, cut into portions and store in an airtight container for a quick breakfast easily taken on the go. Serve with yoghurt for an added boost of protein.
Quinoa and Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 punnet blueberries
- 1 cup quinoa flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- pinch cinnamon
- ¼ cup almond meal
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup almond milk
- 1 egg
- yoghurt, to serve
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C.
In a small saucepan over low heat combine oil, honey and vanilla, stir until well combined, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine milk, eggs, baking powder, almond meal, cinnamon and flour and mix well. Add honey mixture and stir through the blueberries.
Spoon mixture into greased muffin tins and cook for 25-30mins. Serve with a dollop of yoghurt.
Toast toppers or wrap fillings:
- Mashed avocado + sprinkle of nuts/seeds
- Hummus + sliced boiled egg + sprouts
- Fresh ricotta + sliced strawberries or pear
- Pesto + left-over roasted vegetables
- Mashed cannellini beans + feta + sliced tomato
- Wrap topped with mashed avocado, crumbled falafel, rocket and drizzle of tahini
Porridge/oat based
- Simple porridge: Soak ¼ cup whole oats, in ½ cup milk/water overnight, in the morning place into a saucepan and warm through adding extra milk if needed, take off the heat and top with fruit of choice and 1 tbsp. LSA seed mix.
- Overnight oats: combine ¼ cup whole oats, ½ tbsp. chia seeds, 1 cup milk, pinch vanilla power/paste, pinch cinnamon and in the morning stir through grated apple/pear and yoghurt. If you don’t like oats replace oats with ¼ cup chia seeds in total to make a chia pudding.
Egg based
- Mini frittatas are a great breakfast to take on the go and incredibly simple to make. Mix together, eggs, vegetables of choice, ricotta and a handful of cooked grains and bake in mini muffin trays or as a single slice.
- 1-2 boiled eggs + an express smoothie using 1 cup milk, fruit (eg banana/berries) and 1 tbsp. oats/quinoa flakes.
- Breakfast jar/bowl containing handful rocket/spinach, sliced/mashed avocado, cooked grains eg rice/quinoa and 2 boiled eggs.
