3 Easy Breakfast Ideas to Energize Your Morning

This is a guest post by Adrianna Kamosa

Many of us strive to improve our health and put wholesome foods into our body. One of the simplest and easiest ways to do this is to start with a healthy vitamin-filled breakfast. But let’s face it, if we aren’t feeling well or are low on energy, sometimes we end up eating the same meal every morning.

Here are a few variations on breakfast ideas that will strengthen your immune system, provide a boost of energy, and mix up your morning routine. Plus, they are fairly simple and won’t use up too many spoons!

Yogurt Smoothie

Take your favorite yogurt whether it is Greek or regular yogurt and plop it into the blender. Add half cup to a cup of fruit. Strawberries and blueberries are vitamin rich options to help immune health. Blueberries are especially known to be high in antioxidants and offer a large serving of potassium, Vitamin K and C. Non-dairy folks, feel free to not add yogurt and instead alternatives like almond milk or non-dairy ingredients.

If you aren’t a fan of berries, kiwis and papaya are also good options for an immune healthy tropical fruit smoothie. Next up on the ingredient list is chia seeds, these small seeds are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, iron, calcium, and antioxidants. Adding a touch of honey can also sweeten your smoothie naturally, without loading it up on sugar.

Last, you may want to up the protein count in your smoothie to balance out fruit sugar. Adding collagen powder is an easy way to do this and it won’t change the taste or texture of your smoothie. We are fans of Further Food’s Collagen Powder, which dissolves completely in any liquid and has zero flavor which adding 8 grams of protein per scoop!

Healthy Oatmeal

Traditional oatmeal has many health benefits, besides being quick to make. You can use steel cut oats with no added sugars, or pre-packaged packets (though you will want to stick to traditional oatmeal vs. flavored oatmeal packets if you have issues with blood sugar spikes. Flavored packets of oatmeal tend to cause a quick rise in blood sugar). To add some extra flavor and goodness, adding fruit such as blueberries, or cut up apple or banana is a good option. You can also add other spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon, or sunflower seeds and collagen powder as mentioned above to increase the protein count.

Sprinkling in nuts into your oatmeal such as cut almonds, walnuts or pecans adds extra crunch to your morning meal. Other extras may include raisins, Craisins, chia seeds, honey and peanut butter to add to your morning porridge. Oats are a great source of carbs and fiber, which means they will keep you feeling full longer than other sugary breakfast options.

Oats may not be the best option for some people with lupus, but for others who can tolerate them well, they are an ideal breakfast option. If certain foods do not sit well with you, see if there are similar alternatives or take out the extra ingredient that may be causing any sort of harm to your diet. At LupusChick, we always recommend you keep a daily journal and jot down any symptoms you notice after eating certain foods. Once you see trends with certain items, it may be time to eliminate that food if the result is a negative symptom.

Granola Cereal

Instead of reaching for the sugary cereals or prepackaged generic brands, you can also make your own honey bunches of oats or raisin bran (here’s a great recipe from Genius Kitchen). All you need is some plain granola or oats. And just like the oatmeal, you can add sliced almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, Craisins, and then add honey, melted brown sugar to make the ingredients stick together. Dried bananas, mango or other dried fruit can add some crunch or chewiness to your mixture.

To help everything stick together and give the granola an extra crunch, spread your mixture on a cookie sheet that is either sprayed with cooking oil or covered with parchment paper. Then bake at a low temperature (325 degrees) bake the granola until golden., this can range from 15 to 25 minutes. The fun of this is you can add whichever nuts or fruit you would like to it. You can eat it as a cereal or as a snack or mixed in with yogurt.

We hope you enjoyed these healthy breakfast options. Each of them are great alternatives to super sugary breakfasts. What are some of your favorite breakfasts? Do you have your own version of any of these? Or any other ingredients we forgot to mention? We’d love to hear your favorite morning meals in the comments below.

Adrianna is a writer, artist, and marketer living in Virginia Beach. She enjoys spending quality time with family, with her pets, and in nature.