Simple Summer Breakfasts

Simple Summer Breakfasts

I love breakfast. The lure of a good breakfast is the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. I eat breakfast daily, without fail. I’ll be late to work before I skip breakfast. Bottom line: I’m serious about breakfast.

These days, Cookie practically shoves me out of bed to feed her breakfast. She's lucky she's so cute.

As much as I love spending a leisurely weekend morning making pancakes in my pajamas, I enjoy simpler breakfasts on groggy weekday mornings. I gave up my favorite Kashi cereal about six months ago because I decided even that was too processed. I’ve adapted by developing a few favorite breakfasts that are easy enough to make even when I’m bumping around the kitchen like a sleepwalking zombie.

Today, I thought I’d share some of my favorites. If you’re not a breakfast eater, please, try one of these. You might change your mind. By now, we’ve all heard that regularly eating breakfast is associated with maintaining a healthy weight, right?

If you do regularly eat breakfast, try making one of these instead of your standard cereal. Each is a healthy, whole grain, minimally processed breakfast that is easy to make. They’re worth getting out of bed for.

First up: toast. Avocado toast. Honestly, we could just stop here. I could eat avocado on toast every morning and be satisfied. Just mash some avocado onto a piece of whole wheat toast and add a sprinkle of sea salt. Pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, or a drizzle of olive oil are optional.

Strawberries and goat cheese on toast is an idea I got from Power Foods, one of my favorite cookbooks. Throw some whole wheat bread in the toaster, then mash strawberries or raspberries in a small bowl. Top your toast with goat cheese, mashed fruit, and a drizzle of honey. Yum.

Muesli made with milk, steel cut oats, a dash of cinnamon and maple syrup, topped with fresh banana and blueberries.

Muesli. Let’s talk about muesli for a minute. Muesli was a foreign concept to me until this summer. It seems serendipitous that I would come across the idea during the hottest season, since muesli is basically cold oatmeal. Muesli consists of oats, either steel cut or old fashioned rolled oats, mixed with milk or yogurt, and topped with fruit, nuts and whatever else sounds good.

Steel cut oats are delicious and chewy, but you do have to prepare ahead of time by soaking them overnight in milk or yogurt. I like to mix about 1/3 cup steel cut oats with about 2/3 cup or more of milk (cow’s milk, almond milk, or any other kind of milk). Alternately, you can mix Greek yogurt with steel cut oats, but you’ll want to thin the yogurt with water. It sounds a little strange, but the muesli will soak up moisture, so you need to add some extra liquid to the mix. I learned that little trick in Heidi’s Super Natural Every Day.

Old fashioned rolled oats are great because they add texture and substance to yogurt or milk, and you can throw the oats in and eat right away. I like about 1/3 cup oats to 2/3 cup liquid.

However you make your muesli, add some extra flavor with a dash of cinnamon or cardamom, orange zest, and a drizzle of honey or pure maple syrup. Toss in some fresh fruit. It’s about as delicious, healthy and filling as can be (not to mention cheap!).

Greek yogurt mixed with a splash of filtered water, old fashioned oats and honey, topped with blackberries and peaches.

Sometimes it's good to start your day off with an inspiring quote, too. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sales. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain via Roost

You can’t go wrong with cherries and almond! Steel cut oats soaked overnight in almond milk with a dash of cardamom, topped with dark cherries and a drizzle of honey.

I have more ideas, but I’m running out of photos. I often eat plain Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and nuts. Sometimes I make this banana almond smoothie, which is great for when I’m out of fresh fruit because I can make it with ingredients in my pantry and freezer. I also have a freezer stocked with my favorite banana bread and blueberry scones, which are easy to defrost. And hey, sometimes I eat dessert for breakfast. There’s nothing wrong with that, right?