Finding ways to easily enjoy the first meal of the day

I never used to be much of a breakfast eater. I’d often skip it, prioritising another half hour of sleep over wolfing down some porridge before the morning commute. Part of the problem is that I just don’t particularly enjoy a lot of the standard breakfast choices. I’ve never been that into cereal, and the smell of toast in the morning makes me gag (even before I got pregnant!).

The big thing that changed this for me was being pregnant, and having a baby. Suddenly, I really needed extra fuel, and could no longer handle going that many hours without something to eat. It was time to start eating breakfast. After now many months of experimentation, phases of being really into certain things, and figuring out what I always return to, I’ve come up with a formula for how to make actually enjoyable, but still quick and easy breakfasts. Anyone can make a tasty breakfast if they have plenty of time (avo on toast, scrambled eggs, etc!), but it’s a bit more challenging to find one that is both quick to make, and quick to eat. So I’ve narrowed this down to a simple equation:

Cereal + fruit + nut + seed + sweetener = tasty breakfast

Once I started thinking about cereal as the base for a good breakfast, not breakfast in itself, things started to look up. Each of these elements wouldn’t make for a good meal by themselves, but together they get you what you need in the morning, and are actually tasty. Let’s take a look at each of the elements, then I’ll share some of my go-to solutions.

Cereal

The key is to find which fairly bland cereals you like most. They don’t need to be flavoured, because you’re adding flavour with the fruit. They don’t need to be sweetened, because you’re choosing your own sweetener later. So go for whatever works best for you – and your digestive system – but try to keep it simple. My most frequent choice is oats in some form or another – whole rolled oats for a hearty breakfast, or blended to oatmeal for a more refined option. Second place is Weet-Bix (or Weetabix in the UK) – the go-to for when I don’t need something warm. Note that I include milk under the ‘cereal’ heading. I’ve not quite managed to go without, or switch to water (I can’t see why you’d want to do that!), but have used both cow and oat milk. Choose whatever works for you, and bear in mind how the flavour might interact with your other choices.

Fruit

I used to scoff at cereal ads where people topped their Weetabix with whole strawberries. But now that’s me! Well, I at least chop them up first. This is where the majority of the flavour comes in to your breakfast. It’s key to note that you don’t need to choose ‘normal’ breakfast fruits. It doesn’t need to be just berries. If you’re having strawberries, raspberries and blueberries on your breakfast every day, the cost soon mounts up, and it becomes unsustainable. We’ve all seen the memes about the price of blueberries. Instead, I simply choose whatever is on offer or cheapest at the supermarket. My preference is the Odd Bunch/I’m Perfect/wonky fruit options. Depending on the time of year, here in Australia there are often gluts of fruit, so the price of normally expensive fruits can drop substantially. Season will also make a difference to just what you have to choose from (again, this might be quite an Australian thing), so it can be fun to just try whatever there is and see how it works. If it’s a ‘big’ fruit, just chop it up and chuck it on top of your cereal. You can also cook the fruit and store it in the fridge – I’ll often do a big batch of cooked apples when we have an influx of green ones.

Nut

Not only do nuts add some delicious flavour, they also add a much-needed bit of texture. Like berries, nuts can be fairly expensive depending on which you choose, but you can usually buy them in bulk, so that saves a bit. My favourite is the pecan, which is definitely on the pricier end of the scale, at least here in Australia. But it’s worth it to add some depth of flavour, and extra healthiness, to your breakfast. My main tip with nuts is to toast them. A raw pecan is lovely, but a gently toasted pecan is a wonderful thing indeed. You can do this by simply popping them in the oven on a low heat, just long enough that their colour starts to darken. Other nuts that make good breakfast options are hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts. I don’t know about you, but to my mind cashews are a little too savoury (and expensive! )for this formula.

Seed

Seeds just add a little bit of extra texture and flavour. Arguably you could skip this step, but as there are plenty of health benefits to seeds, I like to add them for a bit of a boost. My top three are pumpkin, sunflower, and flax. I have also tried chia seeds, but their high fibre content doesn’t always sit right with my relatively sensitive digestive system. Again, if you look in the right places (often smaller, specialised grocers) you can buy these in bulk. If you’re limited to the tiny packets in the baking aisle of the supermarket, you might be best to give them a miss, if only for budgetary reasons.

Sweetener

Depending on what fruit you’ve chosen, you may not need a sweetener at all. From a health perspective, it’s certainly not necessary, so you can do what you like according to your own taste. There’s a lot of talk in ‘wellness’ communities and elsewhere about what sweetener you should choose. But there is also a lot of content debunking the idea that some sources of sugar are better for you than others, e.g. that maple syrup is inherently better than cane sugar. So at the risk of sitting on the fence, I just choose whatever makes sense with what I’m eating. Something liquid will often mix better than granular sugar, so honey might work best. I love the taste of maple syrup, and it complements pecans nicely, so often I’ll go for that.

The resulting tasty breakfasts

Now you’ve had the formula, here are some of the breakfasts I’ve made with it! The idea is simple: you can use whatever you want for each of the steps, and you’ll always end up with a filling, healthy and most of all delicious start to your day.

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I hope this has given you some inspiration for your own tasty breakfasts! I’d love to hear how you use the formula, or what your own go-to breakfast options are, so please do leave a comment!