Tasty Breakfast Options

I am a HUUUUGE fan of breakfast!!!  French toast oozing with syrup, Mimi’s dutch babies, Eggs Benedict with fresh avocado, fried eggs with bacon, power pancakes, … I could go on and on and on.  I am to breakfast as Bubba is to shrimp.  I love every option on that diner menu.  But during the week, we are hurrying off to school and I often scurrying to the gym that we don’t have time to cook a full, well-balanced breakfast.

This week, I prepped a few things to help our week run smoother and was pretty pleased with the recipes.  I made a new muffin recipe, a new granola bar recipe, and a few smoothies for a quick-lunch for me or after school treat for the kids!

MUFFINS

My kids LOVE muffins!  Talk about a quick meal in your hand.  Muffins are so easy to whip up.  One thing I like to do with the final product is first I let them cool on the counter-top.  Once they are brought to room temperature, I individually wrap them up in a zip lock and pop them in the freezer.  You have now made yourself a quick and easy morning breakfast for many mornings to come.  Just grab one out of the freezer and quickly microwave them to desired warmth.   They are also great for throwing into the backpacks for a nutritious classroom snack (they defrost by the time snack-time comes around) or an after school snack on the way to soccer or dance or wherever that mom-taxi is heading.  I am so glad I tried this recipe and will be posting more muffin recipes in the future!

GRANOLA BARS

I have a few favorite granola recipes.  My favorite I made for holiday gifts this year!  Here is a granola bar I had printed the recipe for and have been meaning to try.  I made it 2 days ago and the 9″x9″ pan which contained the goodness is now in the dishwasher.  They were a HIT with the whole family!  Next time I make them, I think I might try adding mini chocolate chips or cacao nibs (my new favorite baking discovery!) and possibly mix in almond butter vs. peanut butter.  But, the peanut butter was pretty darn tasty!!!!

SMOOTHIES

Whiles in California over the holidays, I discovered a new cookbook called Nutrition Stripped, 100 Whole-food Recipes Made Deliciously Simple.  Oh there are some super inventive recipes.  I’ll be trying them over time and will share with you my discoveries.  This week I tried two of her smoothies and was super pleased.

Chocolate Coconut Smoothie

The first was the Chocolate Coconut Smoothie.  Holy goodness!!!!  My daughter and I were sucking the straws till it made that obnoxious “YOU CAN’T GET ANY MORE OUT OF ME GIRLFRIEND” sound.  So sad when the goodness is gone.

Sweet Potato Julius

The second smoothie I tried today for lunch.  It’s called the Sweet Potato Julius.  You know the original Orange Julius you would get as a teen while cruising the mall with your friends?  That was like the original fruit smoothie!  So refreshing and frothy!  I never knew what was in that thing but this one, seeing I made it, I know every ingredient in that glass.  It was not only tasty to my tongue but good for my body.

Cheers to the weekend and let me know if you try any of these quick breakfast items next week with your families!

xo, Melissa