Breakfast, the main meal in our house.

Jared returns home from work at different times every day – anywhere between 5:30-7pm. The boys can’t cope with dinner much later than 5pm, so mostly the three of us eat early and then I sit with Jared once he gets in. Breakfast has accidentally become our main family meal time – without a school run, and with Jared working just over a mile from our home, it is a very laid back affair. We usually sit down together (although I’ve realised that for some reason I always stand?) and more often than not we have some music playing.

I’m not sure how I’m going to cope when I have to be out of the house at a specific time every single day – seriously going to have to pull my socks up in a years time, but for now I’m going to enjoy our slow mornings. I love food, I love breakfast, and I often think about what I’m going to eat when I’m in bed at night (hope I haven’t revealed too much there). As a school goer and uni student I would often forgo breakfast, but these days I can’t get away with it – I just get so hungry.

Jared is gluten intolerant, so other than pitta bread for the boys in the freezer we don’t do bread (unless we’re out and about), and because of the amount of sugar in almost all widely available cereals, I refuse to buy them. It honestly makes me so angry. For a treat, yes, but every day – no way!

Eggs and bananas are the minimum we need to have a decent breakfast, but other essentials are oats, natural yoghurt, nut milk, buckwheat flour (that we buy in bulk twice a year) and frozen berries. Frozen berries are so much cheaper than fresh, they defrost quickly and whizz up in a smoothie perfectly. Aldi and Lidl both have lots of varieties. Nuts, seeds, granola and honey would come under ‘fancy’, rather than essential.

Breakfast bowl

I’ve tried making these in the past only to get so bored half way through, but recently I’ve perfected it thanks to the homemade granola I discovered in Get the Glow. It keeps for a couple of weeks in an airtight container and really is delicious.

I start off with natural yoghurt at the bottom, followed by the granola, fresh (or frozen) berries, half a banana sliced, chia seeds and a drizzle of honey (optional).

The granola can also be eaten like cereal with milk over the top.

Buckwheat pancakes

I love pancakes and buckwheat ones are really yummy. They taste different to regular pancakes, but it’s a taste I’ve come to love – it has more depth and is slightly nutty. Books say to make them with milk, but we use water and they taste fine.

Banana pancakes

I’ve forgotten about these recently, but they are definitely worth knowing about. To create the mixture you need to whisk one mashed banana, two eggs and a pinch of cinnamon together. Fry a small amount of mixture in the pan to create thick American style pancakes. Serve with berries and/or honey.

Porridge with coconut oil, banana and nut butter

I used to eat porridge every day because it was cheap and easy, but I was never excited by it. Since adding a mashed banana, a tablespoon of nut butter and a teaspoon of coconut oil to the pan, plus berries on top it has become something I look forward to. Porridge is definitely Rufus’ favourite and he often ploughs through any leftovers too.

An omelette with avocado

Some mornings I can’t face eating anything with eggs in, but other times it’s all I can think about. I usually do a two egg, spring onion and pepper omelette with salad leaves, olives (if I’m feeling fancy) and avocado. My boys won’t touch egg at all, or cheese for that matter, so they are really missing out on this one.

Breakfast smoothie

I discovered this fairly recently and I’m so glad I did. It’s called ‘Best Ever Breakfast Smoothie’ in Deliciously Ella – it’s so filling and super delicious. It contains avocado, banana, oats, nut milk, two dates and frozen berries. It can be made the night before and popped in a Kilner jar if you know you won’t have chance to make something in the morning.

What do you look forward to eating in the morning?

E xx