If you family is like our family, this time of year is always filled with lots of extra fun activities that keeps us on the go even more than ever. While they are lots of fun and great ways to build family memories, in our rush to get from place to place, we often put our meal planning aside and just grab what is easy and convenient. And that may not always mean the healthiest choice. Breakfast is one of the most common meals that gets cut first. But it doesn’t have to be!

Cindy Cullen is a chef and freelance writer and owner of the website Culinary Arts College. In her guest post, she offers some great ideas for quick but healthy breakfast ideas.

And if learning to cook more healthfully is on your holiday wish list (or maybe New Year’s Resolution), check out her site to get tips on where to begin. And check out my post from a couple of years ago for some more cooking class ideas.

Welcome Cindy!

5 Quick and Healthy Breakfast Ideas
It’s the most important meal of the day, and if you’re in the habit of skipping breakfast, you’re definitely going to pay a heavy price in terms of good health and looking and feeling good. When you start the day with a power breakfast that’s loaded with healthy ingredients, you feel more energized, you give your metabolism a much needed boost, and you tend to eat much less as the day goes by. The most common excuse for skipping breakfast is that you have “absolutely no time”. However, waking up a half hour earlier to eat a healthy breakfast is worth the effort and the sacrifice. So before you head out the door every morning, ensure you try out these quick and healthy breakfast ideas that are proven to improve your day and your overall health.

• Carry on with Cereal: If you love cereals, your best breakfast is a bowl of cooked oats mixed with some skim milk and topped with nuts (almonds or any other unsalted and unprocessed nut) and fruits (blueberries, bananas and strawberries make delicious additions to oatmeal). You could add some cinnamon and honey to augment the taste. Other wholegrain cereals are also fine as long as they’re not coated in sugar or chocolate. Remember, keep the sugar and cream out and stick to wholegrain options and low-fat dairy.

• Energize with Eggs: Eggs are probably a popular breakfast food the world over; however, they’re most healthy when they’re boiled, scrambled or made into an omelet. For a breakfast that’s healthy and tasty and which will definitely hold your hunger till lunch time, slice a boiled egg, add salt and pepper and little low-fat spread, place it between two slices of wholegrain bread, and you have a protein and fiber-rich sandwich. If you prefer, you could make scrambled eggs or an omelet with onions and tomatoes (spray oil on the pan to grease it instead of using spoonfuls) to replace the hard boiled ones, and if you’re a real health nut, you could use just the egg whites for your sandwich. Avoid fried eggs and other forms of cooking them that use too much oil or butter.

• Support with Smoothies: If you’re not much of a morning person, this is the breakfast for you. A smoothie packs a punch in terms of nutrients and also satisfies your sweet tooth. Mix your favorite fruit with some skim milk or vanilla-flavored yoghurt (chose the low fat kind), add some chopped nuts or pieces of fruit, and you have the perfect breakfast on the go.

• Fortify with Fruits: Another great breakfast idea when you’re running late or when you’ve had a late night and are still groggy, or if you’re hung over and cannot bear the sight of food – chop a few of your favorite fruits into a bowl, add some honey and nuts, and spoon them in as you go about your morning chores. Or if you’re too lazy, just bite into an apple and a few bananas and finish with some orange juice (no sugar).

• Check out with Cheese: Low fat cottage cheese is not really a breakfast on its own, but when combined with fruit and bread, it forms great additions to your breakfast tray. You could enjoy a cheese and fruit platter or make yourself a grilled cheese sandwich with some tomatoes (yes, they can be eaten for breakfast too).

Your breakfast is healthy as long as it doesn’t involve too much sugar, cream, fat, oil, and cooked meat like bacon, rashers and the like.

This guest post is contributed by Cindy Cullen, she writes on the topic of culinary art colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email id: cindycullen84 <@>gmail<.>com.