Top 5 Quick & Healthy Breakfast Ideas

"Mad morning" that's how we can describe the "start of our days" - #dailyhustle - be it waking up early to go to work or getting the kids ready for school, in the rush we either tend to skip out on our breakfast or end up having unbalanced, sugar or fat loaded meals.

#didyouknow , that a balanced breakfast helps to boost your metabolism and reduces your food cravings? - this helps you to make better food choices and in turn helps with a healthy weight. Not just that, it also helps to boost your brain power (concentration as well as energy) and is responsible for 1/4 th of the total nutrient intake of the day.

But how do we make the breakfast hassle free + nutritious + fun + easy + balanced + soo many other things together? - It seems like a #bigtask doesnt it? So let me make it Super simple for you. here are 5 super quick, balanced breakfast options that can be prepared in less that 10 to 15 minutes.

1. Overnight oats : This ranks Number 1 when it come to a super quick & balanced breakfast option. All

you have to do is take 1 cup of milk of your choice (skimmed milk / oat milk / almond milk, etc) and pair it with a couple of tablespoon of roasted oats, a cup of your favourite fruit of your choice and 1 tablespoon of nuts (almonds / pista / walnut) and seeds (flax or sunflower). Want to change it up? Swap the milk with curd or swap the oats with chia seeds or murmura (muri) or khoi or roasted flakes (chiwra, bajra, jowar). you can mix and match and make a minimum of 8 to 10 combinations with it.

2. Smoothies & Shakes : The perfect #onthego breakfast option for the rushed mornings. Chop up a

cup any fruit you love, pair it with curd, a couple of table spoons of seeds (pumpkin or sesame) and blend it all up. Pour it in a travel mug and you are all set to go. Keeping this basic formula in mind you can make more that 7 to 8 varieties of smoothies. if you have more variations, you can add in a couple of spoons of oats or roasted flakes. or increase the protein by adding in a scoop of your favourite protein powder or you can simply add in some dark chocolate and make it more flavourful.

3. Sandwich & Bruschetta : This is another super quick breakfast option which you can pack and take

for your lunch as well. When it comes to sandwiches the possibilities are endless. Take a couple of slices of toasted bread - for the base you can use hummus or peanut butter or pesto or green chutney, add in sliced or grated vegetables of your choice. then top it up with a protein you love - sauteed mushrooms, sprouts, grilled chicken, egg, paneer, etc. Just keep in mind to choose whole wheat bread or multigrain bread or sourdough bread over white and brown bread. For bruschetta, toast up the bread slice with olive oil and pair it with sliced or pickled vegetables and add protein of choice on top (like mushroom, paneer, eggs, chickpeas, etc)

4. Cheela, Dosa & Pancakes: This is one of those foods which can be made in under 10 minutes. For

dosas, you can make a big batch of batter and use small portions at a time (use brown rice or oats or quinoa for the batter). For instant dosas and cheelas use millet flours like ragi, jowar, bajra or sooji and add

equal parts of besan, sattu or any roasted dal powder. To make it more balanced, add grated vegetable in the batter before making the dosa or cheela. Pair it with tomato chutney or green chutney. If you prefer sweeter options like Pancakes & Crepes, you can make the batter with oats, quinoa or millet flour and add milk of your choice (skimmed milk / oat milk / almond milk, etc). Pair it with a fruit like banana, berries, etc. You can even mash up the fruit and add it to the batter. Enjoy it with liquid jaggery or freshly prepared berry pulp on the side.

5. Parathas & Wraps : Parathas are one of the most commonly consumed breakfast in all parts of India. It takes a little bit more time to prepare when compared to others on the list, but its very mush worth it. On top of that, you can make it as nutritious as you want with very small variations and pack it for lunch as well. To your regular dough, you can add stuffings of besan, sattu or mashed dals along with mashed

vegetables like sweet potato, palak, carrot, etc. Pair it with tomato, pudina or coriander chutney. To make it even more simple, you can add the sattu, besan or mashed dal along with grated or mashed vegetables to the atta while kneading the dough. You can also pair it with tomato, pudina or coriander chutney. For Wraps, you can use the leftover roti from last night and pair it with sliced or pickled vegetables and proteins like sauteed mushroom, sprouts, shredded chicken, boiled egg, etc. Just keep in mind to use whole wheat atta or millet atta (ragi, jowar, bajra, etc.) to make the parathas & rotis instead of refined flour (maida).

5 Quick tips to ensure that you don't miss out on breakfast :

• Plan out the week's breakfast well ahead.

• Ensure that your kitchen is well stocked and plan your breakfast accordingly.

• Opt to pre make the food as much as you can, the night before - this will reduce the preparation time by quite a bit while you are rushing in the morning. For example, you can knead the paratha dough with all the ingredients the night before - that way, in the morning you can just simply roll out the dough and make the paratha.

• Keep easy to prepare foods for the weekdays (like overnight oats, smoothies, etc) and the more time consuming ones for weekends (like stuffed parathas, idli, etc.)

• On weekends do try take he time to sit properly and have breakfast at leisure with your loved ones.

Now enjoy your breakfast to the fullest !!!

- Authored by

Nikita Mitra, Senior Nutritionist