Good morning! I worked with a coaching client last week, and we strategized ways to improve her family mornings. She is very health-conscious and creative, but does not feel creative early in the morning (who does?). So we applied some menu planning strategies to Breakfasts. It was such a great idea that I just had to write about it this week!

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. It gives our body fuel and sets the tone for the day ahead. And why do we menu plan? To eat well, save time, make healthy choices, save money. Hmmmm…, yep, all of those work for Breakfast just like dinner!

Menu planning helps us to live better, and you can take this opportunity to improve your day. We have two big challenges in our house. First, I am a stickler for a balanced breakfast, supplying good energy and focus through the day.  We all operate best with a blend of fruits or veggies, good and complex carbs, and protein, but a balanced breakfast is not always a quick breakfast. Second, our morning schedule is crazy with 5 different wake times and 5 different start times for school or work. We need to have quick and healthy options that my teenagers can make for themselves.  So here is our plan!

With any menu plan, we start with our schedule. List the days, then list the events, activities or ideas you already have for those days (this is cobbled together from my client call and my life):

• Sunday: Bagels from a nearby bakery
• Monday: Smoothie with fruit from Sunday’s Farmers Market
• Tuesday: Build Your Own Breakfast
• Wednesday: purely portable, early morning meeting
• Thursday: Build Your Own Breakfast
• Friday: Dad’s late morning, he’s making omelets!
• Saturday: Pancake Morning

Build Your Own Breakfast Ideas: A few years ago I put a spreadsheet on the fridge, to help my boys make healthy choices in the morning. The idea was to take one item from each category to build a better breakfast. The categories are:

• Fruits: grapes, apple, banana, melon, orange juice, strawberries
• Protein / Dairy: milk, yogurt, protein shake, peanut butter, bacon, sausage, omelet, hard-boiled egg, cheese stick
• Good Carbohydrate: toast/bread, bagel cereal, pancakes , waffle, granola bar, breakfast bar

Other Tips to Make a Better Breakfast Happen

• My kids love staying in hotels and hotel breakfasts. Take a cue from your favorite breakfast bar. We choose foods with our senses. Present good and healthy choices, and that is what your family will choose.
• Our freezer is stocked with pre-cooked bacon (Costco), microwaveable turkey sausage patties, mini pancakes or French toast sticks (Market Day).
• The bread basket holds whole wheat mini bagels or raisin bread for toasting.
• The fruit basket has apples, bananas and oranges.
• The snack basket has granola bars and protein bars (Nature Valley) and cereal bars (Special K)
• The fridge holds leftovers (yes, I had tuna salad every day for breakfast last week), peeled hardboiled eggs and cut up cantaloupe.
• If I am feeling really kind, I make a breakfast egg and bread casserole, and the boys will warm up a piece.
• I made a coffee cake this evening for a school event, and my oldest son announced he loves that coffee cake and would eat it every day. So, note to self, throw together more coffee cakes and muffins, even healthy ones, and he and his brothers will eat them!

So, pick just one or two of these tips to try this week, to Build a Better Breakfast and start your days right!