Healthy Weekday Breakfasts
Something that a lot of people I know, including myself struggle with is having the time, energy and desire to make a good, healthy breakfast on a weekday morning. I try to get up at 5:30am everyday, but that inevitably always turns into 6:00-6:15am before I actually roll out of bed to get ready for the day. By the time I’ve done all that I need to do, I’m rushing to get my lunch packed up, and fighting with if I make breakfast, or actually be on time to work, and usually I’m really hungry, so the obvious choice is make breakfast… however, who wants to stay later than they have to at work? Not many people, so breakfast usually get scarified for being on time for work. However, worry no more! I’ve compiled a list of my favourite morning recipes that you can either make ahead, or require very little time in the morning. Let’s get into them!
Egg Muffin Cups
Make Ahead & Freeze
One of my favourite things to have in the morning is eggs. If it’s the weekend, I usually whip up some fried eggs, with avocado toast & some veggies and/or fruit on the side. Obviously, I don’t have time to make myself that big of a breakfast during the week, but when I’m really wanting something savory for the week, on Sunday night, I’ll whip up a batch of 10 egg muffin cups, two for each day of the week. They’re super simple to make, and my favourite part is you can easily change up the ingredients for what you want that week. All of the ingredients, other than the eggs are completely optional, but I give you a list of my favourite ingredients to throw in:
Ingredients
10 Large Eggs
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Bell Pepper (Optional)
Spinach (Optional)
Broccoli (Optional)
Cherry Tomatoes (Optional)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (Optional)
Feta Cheese (Optional)
Goat Cheese (Optional)
Basil (Optional)
Green Onion (Optional)
Mushrooms (Optional)
Vegan Breakfast Sausage (Optional)
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) & lightly spray or oil a 12-cup muffin pan with oil of choice.
Crack all 10 eggs into a large bottle, whisking together. Add in your salt & pepper to taste, whisk to combine & then transfer to a liquid measuring cup to prevent spilling when you’re pouring the egg mixture into the pan. Pour your eggs into 10 of the 12 cups, filling about 2/3 of the way, and adding water to the remaining 2 cups on your tray (this will prevent the pan from burning in the oven without anything in there). Add your desired chopped up ingredients to each cup.
When all of your desired ingredients are added, bake your egg muffin cups for 25 minutes. Don’t worry if they aren’t entirely cooked through, as you are going to reheat them later, cooking the remainder of the eggs.
Freeze in a freezer-safe container or bag for the week, taking two out each morning. Reheat in your microwave for approximately 1 minute on high. If you store them in the fridge, reheat for only 30-45 seconds. Enjoy!
Banana-Maple Overnight Oats
Make Night Before
Overnight oats are the perfect meal to make the night before work, when you just know you’re either going to sleep in, or be running late. It’s another dish that you can easily do a variety of different combos, and flavours in, but my personal favourite is blueberry-banana-maple! Here is how I make my blueberry-banana-maple overnight oats:
Ingredients
Plain Oatmeal (2 Packets)
Dash of Cinnamon, to taste
Maple Syrup, to taste
1/2 Cup Milk of your choice
1 Big Tsp 5% Fat Plain Greek Yogurt
1/2 Banana, sliced
Directions
In a mason jar, add in your oatmeal and your cinnamon. Mix well to combine by either closing & shaking the jar, or with a spoon. Add in the yogurt, maple syrup & milk of choice. Stir everything well to combine. It will kind of end up looking like a sticky, gross ball of oatmeal, but don’t worry - it gets better!
When everything is combined, add in your blueberries & banana on top. Put the lid on the mason jar, and put in the fridge overnight. In the morning, open the lid and enjoy!
Banana-Chocolate Oatmeal
Quick Morning Breakfast
This is one of my favourite quick-morning meals to make myself during the week, particularly in the winter when it’s nice to start the day with a warm breakfast. Another easy meal that doesn’t take a lot of time to put together, oatmeal is also really easy to customize to your liking. Here’s my favourite, as well as some optional add-ins:
Ingredients
Plain Oatmeal (2 Packets)
Dash of Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
Epicure Cocoa Crunch Topping, to taste
Handful of Made Good Chocolate Granola
1/2 Banana, sliced
Drizzling of Nut Butter (Optional)
Directions
Make oatmeal according to directions on package. I usually use 2 packets of Quakers Plain Oatmeal with boiling hot water, to taste.
Sprinkle on cinnamon, and pour in maple syrup, mix to combine.
Add handful of granola, sprinkle on the cocoa crunch topping as desired, and finish off with sliced banana & option nut butter drizzle. Enjoy!
Pineapple-Mango Smoothie
Quick Morning Breakfast
Another quick and easy morning breakfast. I love making smoothies, mostly in the spring & summer, but also after the holidays, when I really want to get away from the heavy foods I’ve consumed for the last month, and not feel like I’m weighing myself down as much. It’s also a great breakfast that’s quick to make, especially on days that I’m really running late. I love to make all kinds of smoothies, including mixed berry & strawberry-banana, but my absolute favourite is pineapple-mango! Here’s what I include:
Ingredients
1/2 Cup of 2% Milk or Coconut Milk
2 Big Tsps of 5% Fat Plain Greek Yogurt
One banana
1/2 Cup of Frozen Pineapple
1/2 Cup of Frozen Mango
Handful of Fresh Spinach (Optional)
Directions
In a blender, add the milk, frozen fruit, banana, yogurt and spinach. Blend on the blenders smoothie setting, or if your blender doesn’t have this setting, blend until everything is well combined. Pour into a smoothie bottle to bring on-the-go. Enjoy!
I hope everyone enjoyed this blog post today, and was inspired to maybe try some new things for their weekday breakfasts. I know a lot of people end up skipping breakfast, like I said above, myself included, but we all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day! So it definitely shouldn’t be forgotten. Until Friday! Xo.
