Breakfast food that gets you off to a good start

It's a fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you're watching your weight, this is the time to spend your calories. You've got all day to burn them off. The funny thing is that good breakfast food ideally supplies you with protein, fiber and calcium, while being naturally low in fat and calories. Go figure.

Breakfast cereal manufacturers are offering a lot more healthy breakfast foods these days, probably due to consumer demand. When you're next shopping in the cereal aisle, take a few minutes to look over the food labels. The kid's favorite cereals are usually the ones with the most sugar in them. What you want to look for are those made with whole grains, with a high fiber content and the least amount of sugar. Some of the granola style cereals add bits of dried fruit, such as raisins, cranberries and blueberries. These add sweetness that is sufficient to satisfy the sweet tooth, but are much healthier than sugar. Honey is also a healthy substitute for sugar.

When you're in a hurry, don't skip breakfast altogether. You need that energy to get going in the morning. If you're into baking, this can be a very economical breakfast food – just whip up a big batch of muffins and freeze what you won't use in a couple of days. Again, whole grain flours are the best choice, especially if you need to monitor your carb intake. Bran muffins are excellent and you can add dried fruits or applesauce to make them a tastier treat.

Smoothies make a quick and nutritious breakfast food, ready in minutes and giving you a big head start on your quota of produce for the day. A cup of low fat milk, a banana, some fresh or frozen strawberries, blueberries or peaches make a great tasting breakfast food you can drink on the fly – bring it with you on your way to work or school. Instead of milk, orange juice and yogurt also makes a good power breakfast drink.

Make your own version of the fast food breakfast muffin, for pennies on the dollar. A whole wheat English muffin, filled with an egg, scrambled or fried, a slice of your favorite cheese and a slice of sandwich ham is a low-carb, high protein breakfast food. Using whole wheat pocket bread, you can make a one egg omelet for even more nutrition. An egg, your choice of meat, some diced sweet bell peppers and a bit of cheese fits neatly into the pocket, with some of those antioxidants added to the nutritive value of this easy breakfast food.

On the weekends is when we all like to indulge ourselves – that's what weekends are for, right? Blueberry pancakes topped with non-dairy whipped cream, strawberry crepes, a Monte Cristo sandwich, or eggs Hollandaise are some of my favorites. This type of breakfast food is not quite so healthy, but hey, it makes up for all those bran muffins you made the kids eat during the week!

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