‘You’ve got to eat your breakfast – it’s the most important meal of the day!’.

Many of us remember some version of this coming from a parent or caregiver when we were kids.  Now that we’re adults saying the same things to our children, we’re here to share why.

Breakfast, which comes from ‘Breaking the Fast’ of the night, is a way to kick start your day by refuelling your body.  It can steady your blood sugar giving you greater energy and a better ability to concentrate during the day.  When you have more energy, you can expend more energy, and more movement has many positive effects on the body.

While a beautifully balanced breakfast involves protein, wholegrains and fruits or vegetables, many people still aren’t excited to wake up to our favourite meal of the day. We’re sharing our two favourite breakfasts today in the hope of changing that.

Overnight Oats

Perfect for people who are short on time. Overnight oats can be prepared the night before or on the weekend for the week ahead.

Overnight oats are simply oats soaked in the liquid of your choice overnight or longer.  We like to stick to a ratio of double the liquid to oats (for example, for ½ a cup of oats we’d use 1 cup of milk).  You can enjoy them cold or microwave them for a minute or so for a hot, porridge-like breakfast.

Some of our favourite combinations include;
- Soaking  with chopped berries, almond milk and a little pure maple syrup.
- Soaking in half water half apple juice and a frozen spinach cube thrown in (which you can stir through or heat through in the morning).
- Soaking with milk, almond meal, cinnamon and a ripe grated pear (add the pear to your liquid measurement).

In the morning it’s as simple as adding some fruit, a dollop of yoghurt (we love switching it up between dairy yoghurt and coconut yoghurt) and some crunchy, nutritious seeds. 

Smoothie Bowls

We think there’s a smoothie bowl for everyone. That favourite smoothie you get from the local juice bar?  That could be your breakfast!  Here’s a few tips on taking it from take-out drink to a nutritious eat-in meal.

Thicken it up
Try adding banana, frozen fruit (we love frozen strawberries and mango), frozen yoghurt (we like to freeze ice cube trays of plain or coconut yoghurt to pop in) or even grated, raw zucchini (yes, really - when combined with fruits you won’t even notice it) to thicken it up and turn your favourite smoothie combo into a more satisfying, nutritious meal.
Top it off
Sliced fresh fruit, yoghurt, nuts, nut butters, seeds, puffed rice, granola ( our Roasted Almond Chia and Honey Crunch is also a great  option).  The possibilities are endless.  Get the kids involved by decorating their own bowl and you might get a taste of what it’s like to have them make their own breakfast!

Prepare
If making smoothie bowls every morning sounds like all too much, try prepping the ingredients on the weekend and storing them in individual containers in the freezer.  All you have to do is tip them into a small blender in the morning with a dash of liquid to loosen it, blend and serve.
Left over smoothie bowl ingredients will never go to waste either, as they make a perfect addition to the liquid for your overnight oats.
Of course you can always have our delicious Roasted Almond, Chia and Honey Crunch Cereal.