Quick and Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Unfortunately, many of us neglect breakfast.  And there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that your body and mind will suffer unless you have a healthy breakfast each morning. 

If you are the type to skip breakfast, here is a solution to starting the day with a good breakfast which will help you keep hunger in check as well as give you the natural energy boost to start your day.

1. Porridge – This food makes a good hot meal that contains lots of filling fibre to keep you from getting hungry later on in the morning.  Depending on your taste, you can take five minutes to fix it on the stove or use the microwave for instant porridge.  Kids tend to like the variety of flavours that come with instant porridge.  The night before, put together a container of add-ins like dates or sultanas, strawberries and bananas that can be tossed on top for a bit of antioxidant power.

2. Fruit smoothies – These are good any morning but particularly on a hot day.  You’ll have to blend the ingredients together in the morning, but the prep work can be done at night.  Cube your fruit and place it into a container.  Instead of frozen yogurt in the morning, use a cup of plain yogurt.  Add ice cubes, a little water and blend.

3. Egg sandwich – The eggs can be cooked the night before and placed in a sealed container if you think you won't have when you get up although I prefer to get up 10 minutes earlier so they can be freshly cooked.  In the morning, warm up the eggs in the microwave.  If you want, scramble the eggs and add some chopped veggies or shredded cheese.  Serve on toasted wholegrain bread.  The night before, place loaf of bread next to the toaster.  Then everyone can toast their bread as they get up, warm their egg and enjoy their breakfast.

4. Yoghurt with muesli and fruit –Yoghurt is a healthy option for breakfast, but by itself won’t keep you from being hungry.  Add some muesli and a few blueberries to the mix.  This makes a great breakfast idea for those mornings when you are running late.  Keep small bags of muesli and blueberries in the fridge next to the yoghurt so you can grab them and run.

5. Pancakes with fruit - Pancakes are easy to make and keep in the fridge for a few days and can be frozen for up to two months. They are quickly warmed in the microwave and can be topped with fruit and a dollop of yoghurt for a delicious breakfast.  They are also good topped with creamed corn or baked beans and a sprinkle of grated cheese.

6. English muffins - A toasted wholemeal English muffin can be made into a sandwich (perhaps add your egg to it) or topped with tomato and cheese, cheese and Vegemite, peanut butter, baked beans, creamed corn, spaghetti, leftover stew or casserole - whatever  you like. While the muffins are toasting you can have your topping warming and breakfast ready to eat in under 5 minutes.

7. French toast - Not really French at all but good, quick and easy all the same.  A great way to use stale bread, French toast takes under 5 minutes to put together and cook and can be eaten as is or with baked beans, grilled sausages or bacon and eggs for something more substantial.

If you are not in the habit of eating breakfast, start today. Set the alarm just 10 minutes earlier and you will start your day the right way.

Rhubarb and Apple Sponge

It may be high summer but the rhubarb is thick in the garden and the apple tree is laden with rosy red apples, both of them just crying out to be used in this yummy dessert.  Don't think it's just for winter though.  It's great hot, with a little ice-cream but it's equally as yummy cold with a little cream or custard poured over it.

Ingredients:
500g rhubarb cut into 2cm pieces
2 medium apples, thinly sliced
¼ cup castor sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
¼ cup water
2 eggs
1/3 cup caster sugar, extra
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp self-raising flour

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Combine rhubarb, apples, sugar, lemon rind and water in a large saucepan. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until tender. Pour hot rhubarb mixture into deep, greased, ovenproof casserole dish (6 cup capacity). Beat eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until thick and creamy, about five minutes. Gradually add extra sugar, beating until dissolved between each addition. Sift flours over egg mixture, fold through gently. Spread mixture evenly over hot rhubarb mixture, bake for about 30 minutes until the top is golden and the sponge set.

Getting stain into all the corners

Getting wood stain or varnish into the tight corners and crevices of that unfinished bookcase or table that you are re-finishing can be difficult and downright frustrating.  You can make a really simple and very inexpensive crevice tool for staining in just a couple of minutes and using two common household items.  Just cut a strip from the leg of a pair of old, clean pantyhose and wind it around the end of a chopstick, skewer or icy pole stick. Secure it with a rubber band and you're good to go - or get staining as the case may be. Dip the end into your stain and simply push it into all those tricky nooks and crannies for an evenly stained finish.

Take a Shopping Trip and Save

If you live in a rural area where shopping options are limited you may be wise to travel to a larger town or city once every 6 - 8 weeks or so to do a large shop for staples and items that are noticeably more expensive at your local grocer.  I did this regularly when we lived in the country, travelling 120km each way to stock up on basic grocery items and those more exotic ingredients I couldn't source locally.  Even with the fuel and a whole day for the trip we saved a lot of money. You will need to do your sums and make sure you really are saving money and don't forget to factor in the cost of fuel and time.

Super shiny hair

Lemon juice has long been recognized as a wonderful rinse for blonde hair, but it gives any colour a gorgeous shine and makes it soft and manageable too.

You can make your very own lemon shampoo at home, right in your kitchen, using just three simple ingredients.

You will need:
1 bar pure soap - choose a good quality natural soap
Juice 2 large lemons
Cool water

To make the shampoo:
Grate the soap, using the zester side of the grater, so it is a fine powder. You can grate it in your food processor if you want to, but doing it by hand only takes a few minutes.  Add the soap to a medium saucepan and cover with water. Slowly bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the soap. The mixture will bubble up, keep on stirring to dissolve. Add the lemon juice. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more water and stir. Repeat until it is the consistency of shampoo.  Store in a clean pump bottle. Use as you would your regular shampoo for soft, shiny hair.

Don't get conned by the spiel

We've all seen the adds and heard the spiel:  It's tax deductible so why not buy it now, it's my money, I can spend it all if I want to, only poor people need a budget, consolidate your bills and save money, you have to spend money to make money, you need to use credit cards to build a good credit rating, why not buy it now, it's interest free, I'll pay the credit card off when the bill comes in, I deserve a treat.  Don't get caught in these traps, they'll only add to your debt, keep you tied to the debt round-about and increase your pain. You can be smart with your money. Before you buy anything stop and ask yourself:

    1. Do I really need this?
    2. Do I really want this?
    3. Do I have the cash to pay for this right now?
   
If you've answered no to any of those questions you have your answer: no. Ignore the spiel and keep your hard-earned right where it should be.

MOO Pancakes

There’s nothing quite like fluffy pancakes from scratch for brunch on a weekend morning or for an afternoon tea treat.  We even have them for lunch when there is no bread. Here’s a recipe to help you whip up some great comfort food for breakfast. These don’t include a lot of sugar because the addition of syrup as a topping adds plenty of sweetness.

Ingredients:
2 cups SR flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups milk
¼ cup vegetable oil

This recipe makes approximately 14 pancakes.

Step 1: Preheat a large frying pan

Preheat your pan to medium high heat. If it is not non-stick, add a little butter to keep pancakes from sticking.

Step 2: Mix dry ingredients

Add the flour and sugar to a large bowl. Whisk until well combined and lumps are removed.

Step 3: Mix wet ingredients

In a medium bowl, whisk the  eggs, milk and vegetable oil until fully combined.

Step 4: Combine wet and dry ingredients

Add the wet ingredients to the dry.

Whisk until combined, but don’t worry about removing all the lumps as this will cause you to over mix the batter.

Step 5: Time to cook

Wipe a little butter over the bottom of your frying pan to grease it. Then, using a ladle, spoon about ¼ cup of batter per pancake on your pan or griddle.

Your pancakes are ready to flip when they become firm on top and lots of bubbles appear.

Once you’ve flipped your pancakes, they will only take a minute or two to be done. Make sure you don’t over brown them.

Serve the pancakes warm and top with MOO pancake syrup, butter, stewed fruit or whatever suits your fancy.

These pancakes freeze well and are a nice addition to lunchboxes. Butter them and spread with jam or lemon butter and sandwich two together, wrap in clingwrap and freeze. Then just pop one or two into lunchboxes, straight from the freezer. By lunchtime they will be thawed and just right for eating.