Today's guest post focuses on the importance of indulging in breakfast and comes to us by Carlo Pandian.
Carlo
Pandian is a food lover and blogs on technology, food and health. He is
always busy learning on new local products and loves the organic milk
delivery by Milk & More. When he’s not online, he likes gardening and volunteering at his local community center.
Breakfast
is perhaps not just the most overlooked meal, as many stressed out
workers will also admit to often skipping lunch as well. However,
breakfast has in recent years become known by health professionals as
the most important meal of the day and research shows that it is also
the most skipped meal of the day. This decision to skip results in
(less-than-healthy) snacking during the day, something which is also an
issue for those who skip their lunchtime too. A good breakfast is
important
because it helps to kick start your day, has been shown to improve
concentration levels and, of course, stops that snacking bug take hold.
For those on a diet, skipping breakfast may seem like a good idea, but
in fact filling up at this time of day can help you to stave off hunger
throughout the morning. While dieting may be one reason for skipping
this crucial meal, a lack of time is probably the reason most
individuals would give for this missing of meals. Here are some simple,
easy to prepare breakfast ideas that will help you to hit the ground
running every day.
Move Away from the Cake Shop
If
your commute takes you past a cake shop everyday (and let’s face it,
whose doesn’t?), it is crucial that you find an alternative to the
treble choc chip muffin such as a simple, plain doughnut. The plain
snack will contain only a couple of hundred calories, while a muffin is
required by law to contain at least five hundred. The carbohydrate
content in both is the important bit for stoking up those inner fires
and providing you with energy to meet the day’s challenges. A nice big
handful of almonds will compliment a plain doughnut and add a little
sweetness to the mix. Don’t undo all the good work
with a full-fat latte on the side but opt for a small milk or fruit shake.
Getting Blended Early in the Day
Obviously
the shake mentioned above can be created at home and it can offer a
tempting choice for kids. Milk, yogurt and a little fruit of your
choice, are quick to blend together to create what appears to be
confectionary and looks nothing like breakfast. Essential vitamins and
minerals are, however, sneakily contained in the milk. An added bonus is
that with very little effort you’ve also managed to deploy one or two
of those five a day, before the day knows what’s hit it! In the
interests of ‘quick’ here, yes, blenders need cleaning; on that score I
have one word for you: dishwasher.
The Breakfast Pizza (Yes...Really)
We’ve
all had pizza for breakfast at some stage in our lives, haven’t we?
However, by the time we have kids, for most of us at least, those days
are long gone. However, pizza for breakfast is not as bad an idea as it
seems. Pizza here means a healthy bit of crusty brown bread, smothered
in soft cheese and topped with tomatoes, which is easily positioned as breakfast pizza. Capturing kids’ imaginations is half the battle with food. Some mornings it’s ninety nine per cent of the battle.
Breakfast Bars and Bluebirds
I’d
like to say that Breakfast Bars are the healthy alternatives to a Mars
Bar (well, no I wouldn’t, not really) but to be honest not all
commercially produced breakfast bars are hugely healthy. You can, of
course, make your own. This doesn’t sound easy, or rather the concept of
rising at four o’clock in the morning, donning your apron and singing
along merrily with the bluebirds as they begin the dawn chorus, is not
necessarily everyone’s idea of the good life. Breakfast bars can be made
in advance in bulk and stored, leaving you to doze peacefully while the
cat to deals with the bluebirds. Basic ingredients should include oats,
nuts, seeds and raisins, you can also add coconut if you enjoy it
outside of a bounty bar. To bind together you will need butter, syrup
and sugar; these are the less healthy additives which contain the
calories; however the portion sizes are up to you and the nuts and fruit
are the best known energy providing foods on the planet (more or less).
Strategies that Work
Generally,
most healthy breakfasts are incredibly easy to prepare but they do take
some advance planning and strategic shopping. The simplest way to
ensure all ingredients are to hand is to arrange a weekly or daily
vegetable box delivery. Daily delivery can be costly, unless your local
milkman does fruit and veg too, so shop around for the best services.
Whatever you do, remember that breakfast is the most important meal of
the day and it shouldn’t be skipped.
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