So, you know you should eat a healthy breakfast every day, but those ready-made convenience foods — cereal, bagels, yogurt — make it so easy to load up on low-nutrient carbs that it’s hard to get out of that rut. But that rut is what makes you hungry again before 10 o’clock every morning!
Need a small step?
An easy baby-step away from that — and one that I relied on for years — is apple slices with sugar-free peanut butter. It’s also quick and easy, has a little bit of crunch (especially if you store your apples in the crisper drawer), a little bit of sweet — but also has some healthy fats and fiber to satisfy your hunger longer than the highly processed options.
(Tips for using natural peanut butter… Most brands will separate into a hard mass and a layer of oil. I start by turning the jar upside down for a few hours, then dump everything into a bowl that gives me enough room to stir. Stir it all together till well blended, then return it to the original jar (or put it in a wide-mouth container — easier to get at the last bits) and store it in the fridge to make sure it stays well mixed.)
Ready for more?
If you’re ready for a bolder step, here are five food groups I keep prepped and on hand to make a quick breakfast hash that I have almost every morning.
I only keep one food from each of the groups on hand at a time, unless I just happen to have leftovers from another dish. Rotating out the types of greens and the type of meat keeps it interesting.
For details on the how-to, read about “the hash method” here.
I usually use the meat more like a condiment — just enough for flavor. For more protein, I top the hash with one or two fried eggs, or incorporate it into scrambled eggs.
The small containers are just name-brand disposables I pick up at the grocery store. (See them here on Amazon.) The plastic tray they’re sitting in is made for fridge storage. I have several of them and I LOVE them! Having everything in this one removable tray means that I can just grab the whole tray and plunk it down next to the stove while I fix my breakfast, then return it all to the fridge when I’m done. You could also use any plastic box from the dollar store or wherever, but I like these because they’re designed so that the length of the tray fits the depth of a fridge shelf — making it easy to get to stuff in the back. If you’re going to get some, make sure you measure your fridge shelves before you go to the store! I recommend getting bins whose longest measurement matches the depth of your fridge shelves, front to back, but getting ones that are only half or one-third the width of your shelves, so that when they’re full they’re not too burdensome to pull out all the way and carry to the counter. I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond, but you can find similar ones at Amazon. Buy your big tray(s) first, then pick smaller containers that will fit in that.
[Links go to my Amazon shop. If you buy through it, I get a li’l bit of the total, without affecting your cost at all! Thanks for helping to support this site. 🙂 ]
When I’m not shooting photos of my breakfast tray, it usually doesn’t look this neat! And when I put it away for storage, I put the lids on the containers and turn them upside down so the contents are easy to see through the clear bottom:
I haven’t turned the Brussels sprouts upside down, because leafy greens stay fresher longer if you put a layer of paper towel in the bottom of the container to absorb excess moisture; that helps prevent the leaves from breaking down.
Why these five food groups? It fits the 5-point pattern I aim for in all my meals: a protein, a healthy fat, and three different kinds of veggies. Read more about my 5-star meal concept here.
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