Why eat breakfast?
After a night of fasting, your body - and especially your brain - needs to refuel to be in great shape. By eating breakfast, you activate your attention span, memory, learning, thinking, concentration and alertness. By skipping breakfast, you might get a little tired, irritable and inattentive later in the day, even if you eat a good lunch. You just can’t make up for a lost breakfast!
“I’m not hungry!”
Some people don’t have much of an appetite in the morning. In fact, you'll notice that each person has their own pace. Some are hungry as soon as they wake up. With her eyes half open, Juliet says "I would like some toasts, please!”. Her brother Arthur, on the other hand, needs time to wake up a bit before having a piece of fruit, then a yogurt and a piece of toast. What about their parents? Mommy dreams of an egg with cheese every morning, while daddy makes himself a ham and cheese tortilla to eat in the car while stuck in traffic.
If possible, respect each person’s pace. For those who are never hungry, start slowly and with small amounts of light foods (apple, peach, grapes, pear, melon, toast, etc.). Forget foods with strong flavours that "stimulate" the taste buds too much (oranges, strong jams, etc.). And for those who really hate breakfast, go with little pleasures. Why not add a bit of Nutella on Jeremy’s toast to help him eat something in the morning? A few mornings later, you’ll add a small bowl of strawberries, some yogurt, etc.
Revamping your breakfast!
Breakfast is often the quickest meal of the day! You’re in a rush and don’t have the time nor the desire to get too many ingredients out, and even less the pots and pans! Result: you end up always eating the same thing, which only adds to the dullness and your desire to eat as quickly as possible.
Here’s a variety of great ideas to boost your breakfast and enjoy it more! The important thing is to vary what you eat. You’ll find your plate to be a lot more appetizing and eating breakfast will no longer be a chore. Having “back-up” foods in the freezer or fridge, such as different kinds of toppings for toasts and other easy-to-prepare products, will allow you to reinvent your first meal of the day.
A good breakfast
A balanced breakfast includes foods from at least 3 of the 4 food groups :
- A grain product, preferably whole grain
- A piece of fruit
- A dairy product
- Meat or meat substitute
Excerpt from the article Déjeuner pour mieux apprendre
Grain products
- Bread. Go to the bakery to discover all types of bread. Freeze it and take some out the previous day. Try: honey and nut, wheat, country, raisin, pumpernickel, ciabiatta, baguette, etc.
- Bagels. Once again, try new flavours. There are so many!
- Cereal. Don’t limit yourself to popular commercial cereal. There are healthier mixes, but equally delicious - with chocolate chips, cranberries or dried cherries, etc. - on the shelves at the grocery store.
- Muffins. It’s better to make them at home to lower their fat and sugar content, and prepare them to your liking. Double your recipe to freeze some and enjoy them again later on. And from time to time, why not indulge in fresh muffins from the grocery store?
- Others : english muffins, pancakes, tortillas, oatmeal, etc.
Fruit and vegetables
Fresh, canned, juiced, dried, stewed: try new arrivals and jump on the season’s best!
Milk and alternatives
- Milk : Cow milk, soy milk, and why not chocolate milk?
- Yogurt : Vary the types and textures.
- Cheese : Have different kinds on hand. Have it sliced thin, perfect to slip into a sandwich.
- Probiotic drinks : such as Danactive and others.
Meat and meat substitutes
- Eggs : Sunny-side up, poached, fried, scrambled, etc.
- Nuts : great way to add protein to your yogurt!
- Tofu spread
- Peanut butter
- Creton or pâtés
Little pleasures
- Jelly and jam
- Chocolate hazelnut spread
- Almond butter
- Maple syrup
- Honey (you can find flavoured honey… simply delicious!)
Vox Pop – Facebook
We received many breakfast ideas our Facebook page!
- French toast with crusty bread on the BBQ (Natacha)
- Homemade waffles with fruit and chocolate chips (Melissa)
- Whole wheat pancakes and oatmeal with honey (Diane)
- A simple cereal mix (Anaïs)
- Toast with maple butter (Mélanie)
- Grilled-cheese sandwich with raisin bread and brie (Marie-Josée)
- In the blender: frozen blueberries, yogurt and granola (Nathalie)
- Huge fruit salad (Caroline)
- Morning shake: 1 cup of frozen fruit (raspberries and mangoes), 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1/2 cup of milk and 1 egg. Everything in the blender! (Julie)
- Apple oatmeal : 1 dose of oatmeal, 3 doses of apple juice and 1 dose of applesauce (Sylvie)
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