Healthy Breakfast Recipes
Updated: Dec 4, 2020
Why is breakfast often known as the most important meal of the day? It's because your body has been resting and rebuilding during sleep, and it needs fuel when you wake in order to provide you with the energy and nutrients you need to perform your best.
Any food will not do. To be at the top of your game, you need a meal packed with vitamins, protein, and hearty carbohydrates. Despite not being a nutritionist, I have tested my body with different meals, and I know what works to keep you full all morning without packing on pounds.
Here are 4 healthy breakfast recipes that are simple, fast, and inexpensive for you to try today.
1. Smoothie
Smoothies blended with fresh fruits, vegetables (spinach, kale, and carrots mix well), yogurt, and proteins are a perfect way to feed your body with a full supply of required daily nutrients by combining ingredients that aren't normally served together as a meal.
Smoothies allow you to create new flavors by mixing a variety of ingredients together. And if you select the right ingredients, smoothies can be a healthier and more delicious alternative to your normal meal selection.
I have found there are 5 essential ingredients that make a healthy smoothie.
1. Fruit: It is the base of any smoothie and adds sweetness, fiber, and healthy sugar to boost your energy.
2. Greek Yogurt: 0% fat plain greek yogurt provides a creamy consistency for the smoothie and helps you meet your daily protein intake. I recommend plain flavored yogurt as it is low in sugar and allows for the smoothie to be flavored by the fruit.
3. Leafy Greens: Spinach, kale, and other leafy greens are known as SUPERFOODS. The benefits of eating leafy greens are too numerous to list in this post. Leafy greens taste bitter, but when blended into a smoothie, the bitter flavor is overmatched by the sweetness of fruit, therefore giving you the health benefits but not sacrificing flavor.
4. Liquid: Smoothies need liquid to blend the ingredients and enable you to drink the smoothie. Milk, juice, and water are all great choices. For healthy options, choose low-fat milk and low-sugar, 100% fruit or vegetable juices.
5. Protein: Protein not only helps sustain and build muscle, but it also helps fill the void of feeling hungry. Protein powder is the easy way to add protein to any smoothie. Nut butters, sliced nuts (think almonds, flax seeds, and chia seeds) and oats are natural choices that also add texture to the smoothie.
Making and drinking smoothies can be fun because there are endless amounts of choices to mix and match ingredients. Between preparation and cleanup, a smoothie should take not more than 15 minutes of your time. Save time by filling a large blender and saving some of your smoothie in the fridge for another day.
Try my Berry Oat Kale Smoothie for a low-fat, delicious, healthy green smoothie:
Ingredients (makes 2 servings):
1 cup red raspberries
1 cup blueberries
3/4 cup quick oats
3 oz organic baby carrots
1 cup kale leaves
3/4 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
6 oz 1% organic milk
2 bananas
Instructions:
Pour all the ingredients into a blender and crank the motor until all ingredients are mixed. Not all the ingredients may fit in the blender at first, so fill the blender and blend to make some more room. If the smoothie is too thin, add some ice. If it's too thick, add some water. Makes about 32 oz., so pour half for yourself now and the rest in a sealed container and store in the fridge for tomorrow.
Nutritional Information (per 16 oz.)
425 cal, 4 g fat, 1 g sat. fat, 36 g sugar, 84 g carbs, 15 g fiber, 21 g protein
2. Yogurt Bowl
Similar to a smoothie, yogurt bowls are an excellent way to feed your body with a full supply of required daily nutrients. And if you select the right ingredients, they can be a healthier and more delicious alternative to your normal meal selection.
I have found there are 4 essential ingredients that make a delicious and healthy yogurt bowl.
1. Greek Yogurt: It is the base of any yogurt bowl, and 0% fat greek yogurt provides a creamy consistency to help you meet your daily protein intake.
2. Fruit: Fruit is the taste of the bowl, as it adds sweetness, fiber, and healthy sugar to boost your energy.
3. Grains: Granola or dry oatmeal provides that crunch you need to complement the creamy yogurt and ripe fruit. Granola's and oatmeal's common ingredients include oats, seeds, and nuts, which are linked to numerous health benefits. Just make sure to choose your grains wisely and opt for lower sugar, low-fat options.
4. Protein: Protein not only helps sustain and build muscle, but it also helps fill the void of feeling hungry. Protein powder is the easy way to add protein to any bowl (mix it into the yogurt). Nut butters and sliced nuts (think almonds, flax seeds, and chia seeds) are natural choices that also add texture to the meal.
Between preparation and cleanup, a yogurt bowl should take not more than 15 minutes of your time.
Ready to make your 1st Yogurt Bowl? Here's a recipe for a Dragonfruit Avocado Blueberry Yogurt Bowl that is sure to get you hooked.
Ingredients (makes 2 servings):
1-1/2 cups dragonfruit
1 cup blueberries
1 banana
1 avocado
1-1/2 cups nonfat plain greek yogurt
2 tbsp of peanut butter
3/4 cup granola (Kind Almond Butter Whole Grain Clusters)
1 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions:
Mix the avocado with the yogurt in a large enough bowl so all the ingredients won't spill out the top. Add on the fruit , followed by the granola, peanut butter, and topped off with the coconut flakes.
Nutritional Information (per serving)
660 calories, 26 g fat, 4 g sat. fat, 37 g sugar, 84 g carbs, 12 g fiber, 32 g protein
3. Oatmeal
Here is my step-by-step process to preparing a delicious oatmeal breakfast. Be creative and add your own twist to enjoy a variety of flavors.
Ingredients:
European Hot Cereal: I get this from Sprouts, and it is composed of Rolled Oats, Raisins, Dates in Oat Flour, and Sliced Almonds. You can also create your own mix of Rolled Oats with dried fruit and nuts. I just like to buy the premixed product because it saves me time.
Granola: choose a low-fat, low-sugar, high-fiber mix. I like the Kind brands, and the Cinnamon Oat Clusters with Flax Seeds probably has the best mix of nutritional value.
Egg
Fruit
Milk or water
Instructions:
1. To start off, I get a gallon-sized storage container and mix in bulk to minimize my prep time in the future.
2. Combine 2 parts European Hot Cereal to 1 part granola. If making your own mix similar to European Hot Cereal, combine 2 parts quick oats, 1 part granola, 1/3 part raisins, 1/3 part dates in oat flour, and 1/3 part sliced almonds.
3. At meal time, scoop 1 cup of the mixture into a microwave-safe bowl. I'm 150 lbs and 1 cup holds me over until lunch.
4. Add a scoop of protein if you need to replenish muscle fatigue.
5. Stir in a raw egg and just enough milk or water for the mix to be saturated. Don't worry
about the egg; it will be fully-cooked in the microwave later.
6. Top with a handful of berries, peaches, cherries, sliced banana, or any other fruit you think would be tasty. I like to stir my fruit into the oatmeal so the juices mix and soak into the oats.
7. Zap in the microwave for 3 minutes. Enjoy!
You can also prepare your meal and chill it in the fridge overnight. The oats will soak up the liquid to reach their optimal saturation, delivering you a more complete breakfast.
Nutritional Information (not including fruit, milk, or protein powder)
600 cal, 9 g fat, less than 2 g sat. fat, 6 g sugar, 108 g carbs, 8 g fiber, and 15 g protein. Depending on your choice of ingredients, and portion size, the nutritional value can vary.
4. Fresh fruit with peanut butter
Bananas and apples with a bit of peanut butter is the quickest and easiest healthy breakfast recipe.
Conclusion:
The healthy breakfast recipes mentioned in this article are by no means the only healthy breakfasts ideas. They are, however, in line with Healthy Habits for Busy People's values of being simple, fast, and inexpensive.
Be adventurous and mix and match ingredients to your liking and add variety to your breakfast. If you have a great, healthy breakfast recipe, please share in the comments or on our facebook page.
*Tip: When shopping for berries, the color of berries is associated with antioxidants. The brighter the color, the more antioxidants there are in the fruit. So choose the brightest berries you can find to maximize your antioxidant intake.
**Tip: To save time and energy, double or triple the serving size. You can then save the extra servings in a sealed container and store in the fridge or freezer for another time. Or choose to share with family or a friend.
For recommendations on starting to eat healthier, check out my guide, Beginner's Guide to Eating Healthy.
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