Breakfast is a must eat meal of the day and the quality and quantity of the meal is also very important to the health and wellbeing of every individual just like the popular saying “In the morning, eat like a King, afternoon like the Queen and at night, like a Pauper”. Unfortunately, I sometimes skip breakfast because I am usually in a hurry to leave for the office or little or no appetite to eat and then when I get to the office, I am hungry.
My kids are used to eating very early…most times at early as 6:15am and I usually encourage them to drink some juice or eat fruits and a small meal. It was challenging at first when they started school but now, they are used to it and do well finishing their meals without blinking.
A good breakfast gives the child a good start for the day, promotes mental alertness and aids concentration in class.
In Nigeria, I think that breakfasts are usually difficult to put together. Imagine you have to get out of bed at 4:30am and there is no electricity, no idea for what to prepare and then the time is not waiting for you to think through. I find myself in this crazy situations some mornings….especially those days when I have deadlines left, right and center and I totally forget about my meal plan.
Having a meal plan helps you plan your family’s meals depending on your budget. Planning ahead saves you a lot of time, energy and money especially with the economic situation in the country. On a good day, I love to experiment with my breakfast; fruits, sauces with protein (eggs, fish, chicken), staple (bread/toast, yam, potatoes) and cereal (oats, corn flakes).
To make breakfast a lot easier to prepare, always have a bowl of sauce or two bowls of different types to last you for the week in your fridge. the sauce could be deboned (for the kids) fish sauce, chicken sauce, liver sauce, tomato sauce or egg sauce.
Another tip is to always have fresh spinach and fruits in your kitchen’ from one week to the other.
And instead of just putting just bread and tea on the table, here are 5 alternatives to bread for the entire family:
1. Roasted plantain, fish and spinach sauce and fruits
2. Boiled potatoes, liver and spinach sauce and fruits or smoothie
3. Moimoi (steamed beans), oats and fruit juice
4. Roasted potatoes, eggs and spinach sauce with juice
5. Boiled plantain. chicken and spinach sauce served with fresh juice
Alternating the sauces and juices brings out the creativity that the whole family will look forward to.
Always remember that thinking and planing for breakfast the night before will help you to achieve the aim of having a beautiful, well planned and a healthy breakfast.
Ciao!
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