Picture: Flickr
Mexican food is such a fun and delightful food style, and bringing a little bit of that vivid colour and punchy taste to your breakfast can really brighten up your mornings.
Scramble a couple of eggs, add some black beans, a sprinkling of cheese (go Scottish with Arran cheese) and then layer on some salsa, before wrapping in a wholemeal wrap.
You can make these overnight too, so it's just a case of popping them in the microwave for a minute before heading out.
Protein from the eggs and black beans will keep you fuller longer and the spicy salsa will give the burrito a zing of flavour.
Picture: Youtube
Although eating an apple or a banana can be an easy and convenient morning snack on your daily commute, it's hardly inspiring. Smoothies are a quick and easy way to have a filling breakfast, get your daily fruit fix and they taste great and are easy to carry around - just use and old juice or water bottles.
The beauty of smoothies are they really are so versatile that mixing any combination of fruit can create new and interesting flavours. Try adding peanut butter or yoghurt to create even more filling smoothies. Freeze your fruit drink overnight and blend in the morning for a refreshing pick-me up.
Tip - Why not try Health food blogger Kezia Hall's easy-to-make and super healthy recipe for a Chocolate and Ginger Smoothie.
Picture: Flickr
Store bought cereal bars can often be often be full of sugar, fat and just be generally unhealthy. Making your own can be a fun way of combating this and of course, you can also customise them with flavoursome ingredients that appeal to you (be they nuts, dried fruit or even - as a treat - marshmallows).
Start with plenty of oats, add nuts (you can choose, but almonds work well) and some dried fruit (again your choice but we like blueberries) then mix in peanut butter and honey (or maple syrup if you're vegan) and place the mixture on shrink wrap in a square tray.
Best of all, there's no need to bake, just leave the tray in a fridge overnight to set, then cut into squares to and take them with you for work.
Tips - toast your oats before adding to the mix or cover your mix in Greek yoghurt before putting it in the fridge for an extra hit of flavour.
Mango Blueberry Breakfast Muffins. Picture: Flickr
Easy and quick to make, muffins can be eaten at any time but are a real treat at breakfast. Usually associated with fruit or chocolate, savoury muffins can also be delicious.
Make your muffins oat or egg based, pack them with healthy vegetables, sweeten with raisins or other dried fruits you have the perfect healthy breakfast or snack.
Use smaller muffin tins to make them easy to carry and eat as a breakfast snack.
BLUEBERRY AND LEMON CRISPY TOPPED MUFFINS
Ingredients:
• 12oz/340g self raising flour
• 6oz/170g caster sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 2oz/55g butter, melted
• 8fl oz/225ml milk (semi-skimmed works as well as full fat in this)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8oz/225g blueberries
• finely grated rind of 1 lemon (well washed and dried before grating)
• about 1 tablespoon demerara sugar
Method:
Sieve together in a bowl the self raising flour and the caster sugar. Add the salt.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the cooled melted butter, the milk and vanilla and mix this into the sieved dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly.
Stir in the blueberries and grated lemon rind. Line a 12-inch cake tin with paper cases and divide the blueberry mixture evenly between them. Scatter a small amount of demerara sugar on top of each and bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4/bottom right in a four-door Aga, for 25 to 30 minutes.
They should be golden brown and crisp on top. Cool for a minute before lifting out each muffin on to a wire cooling rack. When cold, store in an airtight tin and warm up for breakfast the next morning.
If you want your family or guests to come downstairs in the morning to the smell of freshly baked muffins, get the ingredients prepared the evening before but only mix the liquid and dry ingredients just before baking.
You would need to have been under a rock for the past five years not to have heard about this 'superfood', quinoa (pronounced Keen - wa) is a delicious and healthy foodstuff hailed for its nutritional value.
A great way to use it as part of your breakfast, is to create mini breakfast quiches (aka Quinoa bites). In a bowl, mix a couple of cups of cooked quinoa, a couple of eggs, and some left-over veg - of your choice - some shredded cheese, and season with salt and pepper.
Bake the mixture using a mini muffin tray and bake at 180 C for around 15-20 minutes. Easy to carry, just dump them in a small tupperware tub and delicious hot or cold.
