Healthy Breakfast Ideas - Part One

These suggestions work for everyone, but particularly moms, searching for ideas to provide healthier meals for their children. The best thing you can do as a parent is to be a good role model by setting a good example - they do what you do much more than what you say!

First of all, skipping breakfast and physical inactivity have been shown to be risk factors for overweight and obesity in adolescents - the factor that had the strongest correlation to overweight was skipping breakfast. So, I'd like to share some suggestions and ideas (and I'd love to hear yours!) for making meals healthier and still appealing to kids:

Smoothies are always a fast, easy and tasty idea. You can use whey protein powder (I like Designer Whey French Vanilla, which is the only flavor sweetened with stevia*) mixed with water or almond milk; add a banana, some berries and blend.
To bump it up a notch nutrition-wise: mix whey (or pea, rice or hemp) protein powder with water, add a scoop of Food Science of Vermont Superior Reds, Superior Oranges or Superior Purples. Along with a banana I add in the following: with the Reds I add some frozen cherries or strawberries; for the Oranges, frozen peaches or mangoes and for the Purples, frozen wild blueberries. These taste almost too good to be healthy.
*Many are sweetened with sucralose, Nutrasweet or another artificial sweetener and you definitely want to avoid those. Read labels carefully.

Adding a scoop of chia seeds, ground flax seeds, lecithin granules, 1/2 tsp. of l-glutamine powder and a pinch of cinnamon bumps up the nutrition even more. These smoothies are highly nutritious and delicious - the kids will love it and so will you. I add in a few tablespoons of frozen spinach that's been thawed as well and you don't even taste it, but it bumps up nutrition even more.

A green drink is not always a kid's first choice simply because of the color. However if you mix a scoop of All Day Energy Greens Fruity Zing (from Institute for Vibrant Living) with water and a scoop of whey protein and blend it with a banana, they won't realize how much protein and nutrition they are getting! Another option is using Biochem Greens and Whey vanilla or chocolate flavor. The added plus with this is that it includes high quality green food like spirulina and still tastes delicious, especially when blended with a banana or some berries!

You can also use Organic Barley Green Juice mixed with Nutrition Now Meal Option in either Creamy Vanilla or Sweet Strawberry and blended with half water and half organic apple juice - these products are available from Purium Health Products (see the link on my site to order).

Take a Step:

Why not offer a tasty, fruity smoothie as a really delicious, fast breakfast option. And why not try it yourself? It's a fast, easy way to start your day with a nutrient-dense breakfast.

Until next time, I wish you vibrant health. Ann