The following is part of an Organic Living Journey Guest Post Series now written by Mariana who has a mother’s heart and scientist’s brain.

Don’t you love life’s little surprises? Last week, we talked about getting a good, healthy start each day with breakfast. We learned breakfast is important to eat, breakfast feeds your brain, and your body is pretty sensitive to what you eat in the morning, so make it count! This week, we’re talking about recipes for a good, quick, manageable breakfast within our budget.

Seven days ago, my plan was to spend a whole week baking, cooking, experimenting and preparing some awesome kitchen-approved recipes for you to try. Six days and 8 hours ago, I injured my shoulder. This put a damper on my baking and cooking abilities. So…I wasn’t able to do as much as I had planned. Therefore, I’m tweaking this week’s plan a bit.

 Today, we are going to focus on FAST breakfast ideas. We’re talking quick, [practically] no cooking or baking, grab it and go nutrition. To review, there are a few basic nutritional goals at breakfast time: good protein, carbs (whole grains, fruits, or veggies), and healthy fats. Sadly, after exhaustive research, I couldn’t find any reliable sources that recommend chocolate croissants as part of a healthy breakfast. If you have one, let me know. :)

I asked my friends to share their typical grab and go breakfasts: instant breakfast shakes, pre-packaged muffins, low fat yogurt, pop tarts, handful of trail mix, slice of leftover pizza…the usual “I’m in a rush and need to eat something, and this is better than stopping for doughnuts”. They are so busy – moms of newborns, working parents, one friend with 3 kids of her own plus an additional 120 high school seniors to teach. As I thought about the average grab and go breakfast, I found it’s pretty easy to cross one of those breakfast nutritional goals off the list, usually the carbs. However, it’s not easy to get all three. All three in one healthy little bundle? A challenge. Luckily, I happen to love a good challenge. Let’s do this.

The number one way to eat well on the go and on a budget is to plan ahead. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a grab and go breakfast? Yup. But, if you’re reading this article, it’s because you want to find a way to get more organic, natural foods in your daily life. Maybe you can’t plan ahead every day, and that’s a-ok. (See my “delicious irony” section below.) Every day makes a difference. Add in more of the “good” and eventually the “bad” will phase itself out. With that in mind, let’s look at a few quick breakfast solutions… Read More→