Breakfast Ideas, Avoiding Cereals & Other Nutrient-Poor Foods

My post last week about Cheerios' future at Whole Foods (because of impending labeling by the store of foods containing genetically-engineered ingredients) prompted a reader, Kelly, to ask for breakfast ideas other than expensive cereals, most of which are of dubious nutritional value. Kelly added two caveats: "1) It's got to be fast - I've starving when I wake up. 2) It's got to feed egg-hating toddlers."

With minimal advance preparation—and more importantly, if we stop thinking breakfast means nutritionless (and, I would argue, dangerous) refined carbohydrates (cereals, bagels, muffins, energy bars, etc.) that have been hypermarketed as the way to start the day—the possibilities are endless.

To start, consider these options, based on . . . real food:

• Fresh fruit (whole or cut), a chunk of cheese, a chunk of whole grain bread.
• Nuts, dried fruit and a chunk of cheese.
• Oatmeal (make it yourself!) with any of an array of toppings.
• Yogurt (plain!) with any of an array of toppings (dried fruit, nuts, rolled oats, cinnamon, maple syrup).
• Tuna salad sandwich on whole grain bread.
• Avocado with sunflower seeds or nuts sprinkled on top.
• Quinoa with chopped tomatoes, avocado and olive oil.

 Sure, the above ideas sound peculiar in the context of today's processed food environment, but consuming refined carbohydrates (white flour, white rice, etc.) that convert to sugar in our bodies and throw our internal insulin-regulating systems out of whack sounds bizarre to anyone not influenced by the junk food companies' modern marketing machine.