Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day - and the most neglected. Author Mary Emma Allen shares with us tips on serving up healthy, easy and tasty morning meals, including recipes for coconut toast and spicy oatmeal.
Breakfast boosts!
Breakfast boosts a person into orbit and keeps him/her working throughout the day with lots of energy. Also, youngsters should have a nourishing meal before they start the day... whether it's school, summer camp, or simply a busy day of play.
But breakfast fare so often is neglected in the general rush of getting started for the day that our families soon begin complaining about eating the "same old thing"... of cereal and toast, orange
juice, bacon and eggs, milk, tea or coffee if they eat any breakfast at all.
Breakfast a Century Ago
A hundred years ago or so, breakfast was truly a hearty, filling meal. The menus, especially for farm or factory folk, contained dishes such as oatmeal (often cooked all night on the back of the wood stove), bacon or ham and eggs, pancakes, fried potatoes, and hot breads such as
biscuits, muffins, rolls or corn bread.
Some farmers, particularly in New England, topped off their breakfast with a piece of pie, with apple being a favorite. Although such large meals may still be common with farming folks,
particularly if they've done practically a day's work beforehand, those who haven't been out-of-doors yet won't have such a large appetite. So smaller, yet tasty meals, are usually the order of the day.
Breakfast Doesn't Have To Be Boring
Breakfast, too, can be a favorite meal with tasty palate pleasers. As long as Dad and Mom, Brother and Sis get a nourishing meal, why not vary the morning menu to make this "starter" meal most appetizing, and also give yourself a chance to reveal your culinary talents?
This morning my daughter whipped up some blueberry muffins made with fresh berries she got when shopping yesterday. They made a delicious treat (and she used a lower fat recipe) along with a dish of fruit salad. (We enjoy a variety of cut-up fruit in season for these salads.)
If someone wanted a heartier breakfast, they could have toast with peanut butter or scrambled eggs in addition.
Toast Treat
For a toast treat that substitutes for coffee cake, try coconut toast: Combine 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cream, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, 1 cup shredded coconut.
Brown bread on one side under broiler; spread with coconut mixture on untoasted side and return to broiled until mixture bubbles.
(You can toast both sides of bread beforehand, if you desire.)
An Oatmeal Variation
Stir up some spicy oatmeal for the hot cereal eaters. Bring to a boil 4 cups water with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 chopped medium apple. Stir 2 cups
rolled oats into briskly boiling water and finish cooking as usual. Serve with sugar and milk or cream.
(My mom used to make oatmeal with raisins in it for a treat from the plain oatmeal. Usually she alternated oatmeal and cream of wheat for breakfast. Occasionally she served cornmeal which was good with raisins cooked into it, too.)
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