Back to the routine: A go-go Breakfasts!
Holidays
over: Life has already resumed its normal pace. Mornings come
earlier. So do breakfasts! The most important meal of the day so
often defies imagination and ends up in toast and coffee. Result?
Tedium sets in and you more or less skip the first meal of the day.
Following are a few tricks to brighten your mornings along with
some very good reasons why you should not forget breakfast.
Imagine going 17 hours without eating. Unthinkable? Yet that’s what happens if you skip breakfast. Do the math: Say you have supper around 7 p.m. and eat at noon the next day… No wonder batteries run low by mid-morning!
A balanced breakfast provides the lift needed to start the day.
Fuel for neurons as well as the body, it fosters concentration and
boosts learning. For a youngster just entering school, a morning in
class without breakfast can seem like an eternity!
Try these quick and easy combinations for colour, freshness and variety:
- 1/2 cup of complete cereals + 1 small vanilla yogurt + 1/2 cup
of fresh or frozen berries.
- 1 slice of banana bread+ 1 orange + 1 glass of
milk.
- 1 slice of bread with veggie-pâté + 1 tomato + 1 piece of
cheese.
- 1 hard boiled egg + 2 whole wheat toast + 1 piece of cheese + 1
orange.
- 1 banana and orange muffin + 1 glass of
soymilk.
- 1 English Muffins with Apples+ 1/2 cup of
fruit salad + 1 glass of milk.
- 1 small vanilla yogurt + 1/2 cup of thawed raspberries + 1/3
cup of soymilk (mixed in a blender).
- 1 Buckwheat Pancakes+ 1/3 cup of cottage
cheese + 1 pear.
- 1/2 cup of complete cereal + 1/3 cup of vanilla soymilk + 2
Tbsp. of dried fruit.
- 1 "Chewy Granola" Bars+ 1 small vanilla yogurt + 2 Tbsp. of dried cranberries.
Good morning!
Breakfast ought to account for 25% of your daily energy intake. It needs to be balanced and include foods from at least 3 of the 4 following groups:
Whole grain cereal products: bread, a bagel,
oats, cereals rich in fibre or homemade muffins.
Keep in the pantry: cereal bars
Fruits: Put sunshine on your plate. Whole or
pressed oranges, mandarins, kiwis, apples and bananas are high in
fibre, vitamins and antioxidants.
Lifesavers: Dried fruit, frozen berries, fruit juices
Milk products: Yogurt, milk or cheese. They
deliver calcium along with high quality proteins. Soymilk makes a
great choice: Certain types supply up to 30% of the daily
recommended need in calcium.
Always have on hand: Yogurt in individual formats, cheese,
milk,
Meats and substitutes: an egg, a few nuts,
peanut butter, tofu spread, veggie-pâté.
In a pinch: Keep hard boiled eggs handy