Higher Levels of Vitamins & Minerals
Nutrients & minerals supplied in a healthy breakfast are top-flight maintenance for body & mind. By starting the day off with a well balanced meal, you provide an important percentage of your body’s daily nutrition.

Greater Energy
When rolling out of bed in the morning a body is running low on glucose, which is the body’s source of energy. If you don’t replenish it, the body begins to take glucose from reserves such as your liver & muscle tissue. Once reserves run dry, the body receives energy by breaking down fatty acids which, without carbohydrates, leaves you with low amounts of energy.

Starting Your Day Off on the Right Foot
Breakfast is fuel that will carry you throughout the day and one sure key to a healthy & happier lifestyle. Keep yourself in good condition by starting the day off right with a well balanced breakfast, your mind & body will thank you.

Today’s Topic: Breakfast!

Since this is part one, it makes the most sense to begin with breakfast. Across the globe different countries and cultures bring unique sensibilities to the table, when it comes to the staples of morning nutrition. While in Minneapolis we might be saddling up bleary-eyed to bacon strips, hash browns, a bowl of cereal & a tall glass of orange juice, our brothers and sisters halfway across the world are dreaming of a steaming bowl of “congee” and a tasty cruller.

Let’s expand our perspectives regarding this “most important meal of the day,” to open up exciting new tastes to our palette.

Breakfast In Egypt

Ful (pronounced ‘fool’) is a hearty yet very inexpensive breakfast eaten with plenty of flatbread. This traditional Egyptian breakfast is made into a soup primarily from fava beans and various spices. For many it is the largest meal until supper & is often referred to as “a rock in the stomach” for its ability to have you stuffed after consumption!

Fast Food Breakfast In China

Similar to a crepe, Jian Bing is made on a hot round ceramic surface. It’s intense just to watch somebody prepare it in front of you. Jian Bing starts with a thin batter and is filled with egg, cilantro, a light fried flour crisp, chili & hoisin sauce & all in under 2 minutes. If you’re on the run in downtown Beijing, be reassured that you can still make the 8:15 even if you stop by to pick up a Jian Bing.

Breakfast in South India

Idly is a round cake usually made from black lentils and rice. Its served with a vegetable based stew called Sambar for dipping. This would be a great way to start off the day before taking the train in to bustling Mumbai.

Masala Dosas are another common South Indian breakfast. Similar to the Jian Bing, a Dosa is a crepe-like wrap stuffed with spicy potatoes & served with a few different curry sauces.

The next time you’re looking for more variety in your breakfast or any meal for that matter, why not see what other parts of the world have to offer. Take a meal or two to appreciate the diversity across cultural bounds and discover the various influences behind their recipes.

Cereal and I go way back. As a kid I was utterly fascinated by cereal flotillas sailing on a sea of skim milk in my coveted plastic Tony the Tiger bowl. I lived for that morning bowl of Frosted Flakes.

I had a wholesome devotion to my favorite breakfast cereal brands, but sometimes made exceptions if the right color GoGo Gadget magnifying glass lucky-mood-ring came along with it. My mom was only too happy to sponsor my steady diet of bran cereals to promote regular bathroom visits, but the best ideas for breakfast in my mind, were the ones with cartoon spokespeople on the package. It was a glorious day when my mother would put away her coupon collection, overlook the ingredients and let ME do the cereal shopping for the newest addition to the pantry.

Weekends Were Made For Cereal & Milk

Saturday & Sunday were always highlight-reel cereal days. I’d wake up before anybody else in my family and sneak down the hall in my one piece Darkwing Duck pajamas, with two things on my mind: Apple Jacks & cartoons.

Back then a well “balanced breakfast” simply meant making it to the couch with a bowl full of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, a gallon of milk, and the remote control for morning cartoons. I can still hear my mom call from her bedroom, “Manny, don’t make a mess in the family room!” (Yes mom, I know,…don’t make a mess in the famly room)

Some of my fondest memories of friends center around some coveted box of cereal. My best friend Charles and I had a game that we would play whenever we ate breakfast together. We’d each take a cereal box and try to guess the other’s nutritional facts. It was a simple game, but to this day I can still tell you that Lucky Charms has 2.1 grams of protein in a serving. Who says that children aren’t concerned with the nutritional value of the things they eat?

At the prodigal old age of 9, it somehow boggled my mind that anyone could willingly reach for the healthy whole grain, low carb, high fiber, NO FUN bland bran. Now that I’m older my taste has changed…slightly.

I still pay attention to the nutrition facts, not for playing the patented nutrition label guessing game, but for breakfast cereal’s actual value in my diet. My childhood favorites will always have a place in my heart. I confess. Sometimes, when the sun rises just right, you’ll find me sneaking down the hall in my one piece CSI pajamas with two things on my mind: Apple Jacks & Good Morning America.