Open-minded breakfast: easy, whacky, fancy. Part I – Easy

This series of breakfast posts is long overdue as breakfast experiments inspired me to start this blog in the first place, hence the blog’s name!

Once you ditch the processed boxed cereals, the question of “next breakfast” becomes a daily challenge.  But with a bit of practice it will be as automatic as opening a box of cereal, you just need to re-program your breakfast mind!

We have been brainwashed to think that breakfast needs to contain certain “breakfast foods”, it is bullshit! It can contain anything you like!

Over the years we have built up a virtual library of breakfast ideas that can be super quick, or may need planning in advance, or might even require artistic skills – we choose based on time available, inspiration and ingredients in the fridge

First I’d like to share super easy breakfasts we like. These are so simple, they don’t warrant a recipe – the ideas are not new or original, but I am hoping they will serve as a reminder that there is life outside of a box.

This video is another cool way to wake up your breakfast imagination!
Breakfasts around the world

Lets start with eggs – natures fast food, comes pre-packaged and takes minutes or seconds to cook depending on the method you choose. Egg contains all of the essential amino acids that we need (true story – look it up:) )

1. Egg and sourdough bread soldiers

when we don’t make our own sourdough bread, we are lucky to be able to get really good one from a supermarket, I described what we look for in bread in this post

I have two ways to make a soft boiled egg, not sure yet which is my favourite : egg into cold water, wait until water boils then time 2.5 minutes  OR egg into boiling water, time 4 minutes.

And we make sure to butter those soldiers up real thick to get all the benefits from grass-fed alpine butter! Grass-fed butter benefits in a nutshell:

• CLA, or conjugated linoleic acid, which helps reduce belly fat, protects against cancer and encourages muscle growth
• Vitamin A to help maintain thyroid, adrenal and cardiovascular health
• Vitamin K2 to support bone density and possibly reverse arterial calcification
• Vitamin A, D and E, all key anti-oxidants that are essential to good health
• Key health supporting nutrients and minerals including lecithin, selenium, magnesium, zinc, copper, iodine and more

Source: Dr Frank Lipman “Butter me up”

2. Scrambled eggs

possibly decorated with flourish or thrown sleepily into a first bowl that fell on my head out of the cupboard … mornings vary

This is THE FASTEST breakfast – takes about 30 seconds, takes longer to describe than to make – break eggs into a bowl, whisk to combine egg yolks and whites, a splash of milk or water, pinch of salt, pour into a preheated buttered (with ghee) small pot, stir until cooked.

4. Hard boiled eggs and creme fraiche

this is how I used to eat hard boiled eggs back in Ukraine, no idea where this comes from – our whole family is creme fraiche crazy. I understand now that creme fraiche balances the chalkiness of hard boiled egg yolks with its creamy texture and a mild sour taste, plus its a one ingredient-ingredient, which we like a lot – no nasties there!

Swiss organic creme fraiche is made from grass-fed milk due to strict organic regulations here and naturally cultured which gives it a super long fridge life (literally months – ignore the expiry date, just look and smell).

5. Omelette

Need I say more? a multitude of possibilities: cheese, herbs, onion or or or plain!

6. Cucumber open “sandwiches”

Our favourite no-bread sandwich. Trivia fact that you will never ever need – cucumbers in Switzerland seem to be the same diameter as large eggs 🙂 I often boiled 4-5 eggs and keep them in the fridge for quick snacks, breakfasts like this or salads for dinner. top with ham, smoked fish or cheese or those perfectly matched eggs.

7. Cheese on toast (with mushrooms and onions?)

An English classic that is supposed to be an elaborate cheese sauce on toast, but a slice of raclette cheese melted on sour dough bread is much less hassle and delicious! Add toppings (or botommings) of onions, bacon, capers, tomatoes, worstershire sauce, mustard or anything you like really can be added or subtracted depending on your mood and time.

If you dont eat bread – no sweat! Melt the cheese on top of mushrooms and chopped onions for 5 min in a hot oven while you are running around trying to find a library book or sport shoes – kind of a breakfast fondue/raclette thing 🙂

8. Raw vegetables and fruit with or without dips

My daughter often asks for “something raw” for breakfast. She challenges me more than I do her food wise…

And why not have cucumber, carrot and grapes for breakfast? Who said it should be porridge or coco-pops? (I know who)

Hummus and carrot sticks, a mango, a cucumber, a beetroot even- these are all whole foods and  nourish much better than anything processed.

9. Avocado

Yep, half or the whole if the monsters are hungry. I normally do a criss cross cut and sprinkle some spicy salt on it, sometimes no cutting and no salting (also good for a school snack – cut in half, rubber band around, pack a spoon)

10. Last but not least – DINNER LEFT OVERS!

Seriously! why not? Chicken soup, risotto, refried mashed potatoes, steak slices, roast chicken with a side of sauerkraut can all nourish you and your family in the morning with a minimal effort of just warming things up!