They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it's true! In turning over a new leaf, what better way to start than with the first thing I eat?

 Mornings are busy, even for a stay at home mom. Most days, I skip breakfast and end up starving by noon. Starvation diets do not promote weight loss or healthy living, they only screw up a metabolism and make things worse. So, if I want things to change, I must eat breakfast every day--and NOT captain crunch or pop tarts!

What makes a good breakfast?
 I need a breakfast that satisfies and keeps me going till noon (or later if the kids keep me busy). Something fast, easy, cheap and above all: delicious! A perfect breakfast should be packed with protein for energy but also lots of fiber to keep me feeling full. Eggs and meat are good sources of protein but I'd prefer to not start the day with heavy eggs or meat. Cereal is good for fiber but I love the taste of food (hence the big butt) and who wants to eat cold cereal every day?

 All For the love of Oatmeal
 In reading Kath Eats Real Food, I have too, become obsessed with oatmeal. That gal makes me want to eat nothing but oatmeal for the rest of my life. Don't believe me? Just look at her Tribute To Oatmeal page and you'll know what I mean! This is my first bowl of delicious, amazing revamped breakfast, which includes oats, banana, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, flaxseed meal, granola, chia seeds, soymilk, wheat bran and nutella. Yeah, nutella isn't exactly health food but just a little spoonful adds something sweet and delicious to the bowl. When I keep a food journal, I actually have trouble eating my entire daily recommendation of calories so a dab of 200 calorie nut butter does the trick and adds a few grams of protein too. I also use sun butter, peanut butter and soynut butter. Of course, oatmeal loaded with bran and other grains  is probably not the best choice for those who need or want to go gluten free but I like my gluten so I go with it!


Oatmeal really is the perfect breakfast food. When topped with nuts, nut butters, fruit, whole grains and yummy things, I have fast, easy, cheap, healthy and delicious all in one bowl. When I'm craving something more savory, I take a hint from Kath Eats and add an egg, cheese, basil, sauteed onion, avocado, prosciutto or corn bread to the mix. YUM!

This bowl has almonds, pumpkin, granola with cranberries, sunbutter and cinnamon

 The Add-Ins
Grains
oats (scottish, rolled, steel cut, whatever), granola, whole grain cereals like Kashi, wheat germ, oat bran, farina, crumbed granola bars, crumbled high protien/fiber cereal bars, energy bars, graham crackers, crumbled fruit muffins or any other crumbled, whole grain breads.

Seeds/Nuts
 Almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, ground flax, pecans, coconut, poppy seeds, hazel nuts, nutbutters of all varieties, trail mix, rye berries

 Fruits/Veg
 apples, grapes, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, banana, carrot, pumpkin, raisins, cranberries, cranberry sauce, dates, figs, apple butter, pineapple, mango, butternut squash, pumpkin butter, peaches, plums, etc.

Other
 soymilk, honey, yogurt, vanilla, cinnamon, cottage cheese, maple syrup, eggs, dark chocolate bits, toffee, butterscotch chips.

 *Since I'm a sugar addict, I'm leaving out things like chocolate, toffee and butterscotch until I can behave myself!*
This bowl contains pumpkin bread crumbles, almonds, golden raisins, chia seeds, flaxseed meal, vanilla, kashi cereal and a drizzle of local honey. I do chia and flaxseed meal in every bowl since they are both a great source of with omega fatty acids and fiber.