If you are into vegan, skipping breakfast because of monotonous meals can be a real problem. Yet breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day. Nothing powers you, kicks off your metabolism, and nourishes you with key nutrients like a hearty breakfast. Skipping breakfast in children is known to be a source of behavior problems. In adults, it is closely linked with obesity
So what can you do to make your breakfast fun for you and your kids? Try the following suggestions:
Mixing up the grains
If you mainly eat grits and oatmeal for breakfast, you can make the switch to amaranth, quinoa, steel-cut oats, and cous cous. Since it takes longer to cook these grains, make sure you take time on a weekend or weekday evening to prepare a pot of grains for that week’s breakfast. In the morning, you will only need to warm it to be ready.
When you need breakfast, go to the fridge and bring out the cooked grains for warming. You can mix your oatmeal with dried fruit, fresh fruit, flax meal, chia seeds, or soy, cashew or almond milk. Add cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg spices to make it even better.
Getting creative with oatmeal
One of the reasons you should stick with oatmeal is its high nutritional value. It contains vitamins, proteins, and fiber. Don’t ditch it just yet. Try serving it as part of a mix-up of several ingredients. Any of the following combinations will do.
- Soy milk, sliced peaches, crushed toasted cashew nuts, and ginger.
- Cinnamon, unsweetened applesauce, almond milk, and nutmeg.
- Shia seeds, dried cherries, brown sugar, and ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Sliced bananas, maple syrup, and peanut butter.
You may want to use this technique on different grains used for breakfast.
Spicing up smoothies
Take a short time to prepare a smoothie. With a banana, some frozen fruits, and ice cubes all you need is a mix of some vegan milk and you will have a healthy breakfast in no time. If you toss in rib-removed greens such as spinach and kales. If you start finding your smoothies boring, it’s time to spice things up. Try the following:
- Mixing and matching fruits. Use cherries, frozen mango, pineapples, and raspberries in place of bananas.
- Adding some protein. This could be chia seeds, flax meal or peanut butter. The nutty taste is what you need for a fun meal.
- Going chocolate. Simply add some cocoa powder in the mix in the blender.
- Getting spicy. Try nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger.
Having fun with toast
Who said all you can do with toast is add jam? You might want to use fresh fruits or nut butter. You want your breakfast to be something you always look forward to. The following combinations of toast toppings should work for you.
- Banana and cashew butter.
- Sliced fresh strawberries and tahini.
- Apple butter and peanut butter.
- Thinly-sliced apple, cinnamon, and almond butter.
The fact that you are on a vegan diet doesn’t mean it should be boring. Take steps to spice things up.