The Breakfast Club

Here's a basic fact of life for a hard-core night owl like me: in the mornings, I would always rather sleep than eat.

Which means that I often sacrifice a warm breakfast eaten off proper dishes while seated an actual table for a few bites of something easily grabbed and eaten on the fly.

What can I say. Being an extreme night person is not a choice. 

But this fall, I've been trying to bring balance into my morning routines, and I decided to challenge myself to make a healthy and interesting breakfast for twelve days in a row - with no repeats - and enjoy it in a relaxed and orderly way.

Wanna see what I came up with?

day 1 | frittata with tomatoes, spinach and eggs
day 2 | mango chunks, halfpops and orange juice
day 3 | chia seed pudding made with almond milk, fresh strawberries
day 4 | peanut butter on whole wheat, apple slices

day 5 | chicken sausage and pear
day 6 | air popped popcorn with olive oil and parmesan cheese
day 7 | fresh tomato sandwich on whole wheat
day 8 | naan with fresh tomato and parmesan cheese, toasted, and fresh peach

day 9 | banana bread, red grapes and turkey sausage
day 10 | english muffin with cream cheese and blackberry preserves
day 11 | granola with almond milk, topped with dried cranberries and dried mango
day 12 | breakfast burrito with eggs, turkey sausage, red and yellow peppers, onion, and salsa

* * * * *

Yum. 

I must admit that starting off my day with a delicious breakfast is a habit that agrees with me.

I must also add that the creative process of planning my meal, styling my plate and taking all these pictures was at least as much fun as polishing off the actual food. 

I had a lot of fun with this challenge. 

But I'll also be honest enough to confess that after the twelve days were up, I did not keep up my routine to the same high standards. More often than not, I'm back to eating a handful of grapes as I run out of the house, or holding half a peanut butter sandwich in my left hand while I drive with my right.  

My morning meals will probably never this pretty again.

Still, I'm glad I took this challenge on. In my opinion, I'm now a full-fledged member of the breakfast club, and I couldn't be more proud.