Monday, January 24, 2011

Healthy Breakfasts For Teens

Breakfast can include vegetables served with cottage cheese and whole grain bread.


A nutritious breakfast for teens should be easy to eat in a hurry. The ideal breakfast should include servings from at least three different foods groups. For example, quick-cook oats, breakfast sausages and milk can represent grains, proteins and dairy. Breakfast ingredients can include small portions of leftovers such as a cup of a rice casserole mixed with scrambled egg to add variety. Foods from different cultures can also mix together at your teen's breakfast table. If you are the parent of a teen, ask him for suggestions for foods you can prepare for him, or he can prepare for himself.


Hearty Start


Taking a few minutes to boil oats or corn meal can make a nutritious breakfast without the excess sugar of processed cereals. Diced unpeeled apple, pear or dried fruit can add vitamins and fiber. Time permitting, wheat berries soaked overnight and cooked for hours can be a breakfast cereal as well as a soup or casserole addition for the week's meals. On a cool morning, a cup of hearty stew and a slice of whole wheat bread can keep a teen warm and energetic.


Cool Breakfast


Smoothies blended from fruit, yogurt and juice can refresh on a warm day.


Create a portable and vitamin-rich breakfast in a cup with a fruit smoothie blended from frozen yogurt, frozen or fresh mixed berries, and orange juice. A fresh fruit salad with cool cottage cheese or other dairy products can also refresh. Whole grain toast or a small, whole wheat breakfast bagel adds fiber.


Portable Breakfast


For the teen on the go, a handy breakfast can include a banana rolled in a whole wheat tortilla with a favorite non-sugar bread spread. A mini-bagel and an individual portion of yogurt topped with a favorite sliced fruit can also provide a portable breakfast.


International Flavors


Food inspired from other cultures and other meal times can help a teen start the day. A few tablespoons of mixed vegetables, a scoop of rice or pasta, and a hard-boiled egg simmering in a cup of water or broth can make a breakfast soup. International flavors can include adding teaspoon of miso, a fermented paste used in Japanese cooking, to the simmered ingredients before serving.


Weekend Treat


Sliced fruit can top pancakes, waffles and crepes.








If schedules allow, a more leisurely weekend breakfast can include hearty breakfast favorites such as pancakes or waffles. Instead of syrup topping, other delicious substitutes can include sliced fruit, yogurt or peanut butter. Other nut butters can include almond, hazelnut or macadamia. An English muffin split and layered with sliced ham or a scrambled egg can make a tasty breakfast without a trip to a fast-food restaurant.

Tags: whole wheat, blended from, breakfast include, breakfast without, cottage cheese, fruit yogurt