Breakfast is important. Your mom told you. Your teachers told you. The breakfast cereal people LOVE to tell you. The truth is, breakfast doesn't need to be inhaled the moment your feet hit the floor in the morning. Not everyone has an appetite immediately upon waking! If you are the six-small-meals-a-day type, you probably eat breakfast early. If you eat 2-3 solid meals that leave you full for several hours, you might not have breakfast until you've had a cup of coffee. Maybe you wait and eat breakfast until you're comfortably tucked into your cubicle. Sweaty Hubby prepares his breakfast every morning and eats it in his fortress of solitude at work, after he's worked up an appetite wrestling the kids through morning rituals and commuting on Toronto public transit.
Metabolism doesn't fluctuate so wildly that you can't wait an hour or two to feed yourself in the morning, and waiting until you are actually hungry is simply responding positively to your body's cues. So stop feeling guilty if your face is not planted into a bowl of steel-cut oats at 5:45 a.m. every weekday. Do think ahead, however, and be ready for a nutritious meal when the moment strikes you!
A mommy's morning is hectic, and preparing something fresh, hot, and protein-packed every morning is not doable. And we all love a muffin, but turning a muffin into a complete meal to power you through your morning and keep you away from the pastries in the Starbucks case requires adding a lot of other components to that muffin meal . . . like protein. Fats. Fibre. OK, basically everything. And, chances are, you are supplementing your muffin with coffee, not eggs and spinach.
Plus, eating eggs for breakfast has been proven to help you avoid cravings later in the day, and aid in weight loss.
Enough said.
Here is one of my go-to recipes to prepare on a Sunday, arming me with breakfasts on-the-go all week. Two of these delicious muffin tin frittatas plus a piece of fruit, and I'm good to get through my morning and my daily Belly Bootcamp class! The kids will have one with a side of yogurt and fruit (and a side of ketchup, if we're being honest—whatever gets the protein down).
Check out the basic recipe at the end if you'd like to change the ingredients to your family's tastes. Ham + cheddar? Tomato + green onion? Broccoli + feta? Yum-o.
Sundried Tomato, Feta + Kale Muffin Tin Frittatas:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush muffin cups with olive oil or melted coconut oil (do not skimp on oil—fats will keep you full and prevent your frittatas from sticking in the most frustrating way!).
Saute kale until condensed; cool slightly.
Whisk eggs, milk, oil, baking powder, and oregano.
Divide kale, feta, and sundried tomatoes evenly among muffin cups; top with egg mixture.
Bake 15-20 minutes until golden on top. Frittatas will puff up, but shrink back down upon cooling.
Cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on wire rack. Enjoy!
(yields 12)
Get the basic recipe here and add your own fave meats and veggies!
For more healthy, kid-friendly breakfast ideas, click here!
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