A bowl of cereal is an easy thing that you can eat for breakfast before class, but it gets boring and is usually laced with sugar and unnecessary additives. There are plenty of other things you can eat for breakfast that are just as simple to make, taste way better, and offer more nutrition.
1. Oatmeal with peaches, maple syrup, and pecans
Add some frozen peaches to your oats before you microwave them. Once they’re cooked, sprinkle a couple pecans and drizzle some maple syrup over the top. It tastes like peach cobbler.
2. Oatmeal with berries, pecans, and cinnamon
A twist on the peach cobbler oatmeal: add some frozen berries instead. The heat will make them gooey and delicious, just like berry pie. The almonds add some crunch, and the cinnamon ties it all together.
3. Cold oats with almond milk, blueberries, cinnamon, and almond butter
This is one of my go-tos if I’m running late or need to make breakfast ahead of time. Put some raw oats and milk in a sealed container with toppings of your choice (I’d recommend berries and nut butter!). After an hour or so the oats absorb the milk and it tastes kind of like muesli.
#SpoonTip: You can let them soak for as long or as little as you’d like – more time leads to softer oats.
4. Oatmeal with apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and walnuts
Slice up an apple into little cubes and add it to your oats before you microwave them. Then add some spices and nuts and you’ll have apple pie oatmeal. YUM.
5. Oatmeal with bananas, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves
The key here is to add all of the toppings after cooking your oats. The banana will melt and get a little bit sticky as you stir it around in your bowl.
6. Greek yogurt with granola and fruit
This is pretty simple and very foolproof.
7. Avocado toast
Use a fork to mash about 1/3 of an avocado onto a piece of toast. Sprinkle some salt, chili flakes, and lemon or lime juice over the top. If you want to make it more substantial, you can top it with a fried egg. You’ll feel like you’re in a trendy coffee shop, without the overpriced lattes.
8. Eggs and veggies
Make eggs however you’d like – omelet, scrambled, fried, poached. Sauté some veggies, maybe add some goat cheese. Eat them together. Having veggies at breakfast makes you feel mature, but more importantly, it tastes awesome.
9. Egg sandwich
Who doesn’t love a bacon, egg, and cheese? Make two pieces of toast, a bagel, or an english muffin and stuff them with scrambled eggs, cheese, and a pat or two of butter. Extra points if you add a slice of bacon.
10. Pancakes with maple syrup and berry compote
Pull out some Bisquick or other pancake mix. While the pancakes are cooking, microwave some berries with a very small splash of orange or lemon juice and a pinch of brown sugar for about two minutes or until they look like pie filling. Pour your compote over the top of a hefty stack of pancakes.
11. Chocolate chia pudding with almonds, honey, and blueberries
Soak chia seeds in milk overnight. In the morning, stir in cocoa powder and honey, then top with almonds and blueberries. This will keep in the fridge for about a week, so you can make a bunch ahead of time.
12. Peanut butter, mocha, banana smoothie
Put a small spoonful of peanut butter, about a quarter cup of almond milk, about a third cup of black coffee, one banana, some cocoa powder or chocolate chips, and a handful of spinach in a blender. You’ll be surprised how incredible it tastes, plus it has caffeine so you kill two birds with one stone.
13. Peanut butter toast
Pretty self-explanatory. Make toast, add peanut butter. Garnish with seeds and fruit, and sprinkle on cinnamon or a drizzle of honey to taste.
14. Homemade granola with milk
Mix oats, maple syrup, olive oil, salt, cinnamon, nuts, shredded coconut, and sunflower seeds in a bowl and microwave for about a minute. Stir it around upon removing from the microwave so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the bowl. Pour milk over the top and enjoy!
#SpoonTip: Get really fancy and make your granola in a big batch in the oven.
15. Cantaloupe or honeydew, spinach, coconut water smoothie
Put frozen, cubed melon, a handful of spinach, and plain or flavored coconut water in a blender. It comes out kind of like a slushy and it’s incredible.
16. Oatmeal latte
Replace the water in your oatmeal with black coffee and then pour some steamed milk and a bit more coffee over the top so it’s more liquid than regular oatmeal. Tap some cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg over the top to add a little more depth.
17. Coffee yogurt
Stir a couple spoonfuls of instant coffee into plain Greek yogurt and sweeten to taste with maple syrup. This is way better than store-bought flavored yogurt because you can control how much sugar goes into it.
18. Pumpkin pie oatmeal or yogurt
Stir canned pumpkin into oats before cooking them, then add maple syrup, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and walnuts after they’re done cooking. Or stir canned pumpkin, maple syrup, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg into plain Greek yogurt.
19. Broiled grapefruit
Slice a grapefruit in half, sprinkle with brown sugar, broil until it starts to caramelize or turn brown on the top.