Never skip breakfast

Ask any nutrition expert, including our own Delahna Flagg, and they’ll tell it’s bad for your health to skip breakfast. But for many of us, morning is a time of chaos. For those of us who have little time for scrambling eggs, never mind sitting down to indulge in warm plate of lovingly prepared whole foods, grab and go items are a staple. But the terms grab and go and healthy breakfast are rarely synonymous. In fact, I sometimes wonder if I wouldn’t be better off skipping breakfast than indulging in most of the vending-type options the American food processing industry has dreamt up.

My healthy breakfast alternatives

I’m always on the lookout for alternatives to the bruised apple in my purse or a sugary bar tossed in a pocket. It takes the mindset of a detective to unearth healthy breakfast options on the run. But they do exist. And most not only offer superior nutrition but also more balanced–and more complex–flavors than what you’ll find pushed to the front of you average grocery store shelf. Here are some of my favorite discoveries:

Tosi Almond Superbites

If you’re preference is for clean eating, you need not worry when you sink your teeth into these bars. Tosi Almond Super Bites are made from real food. The ingredient list is short and includes a blend of almonds with flax, sesame seeds, chia, cane juice and salt–that’s it. And since we’re all about feeding your libido, I should mention that most of those ingredients contain essential nutrients for supporting a healthy sex life. The bars also come in cashew. But I prefer the crunch and interplay of bitter and sweet from the almond bar. Although they’ll never replace sitting down to a balanced meal, they fulfill your nutritional needs for a healthy breakfast with a satisfying, roasted nut flavor.

For more information, visit the Tosi website.

Love Grown Oat Clusters

We’ve been in love with the all-natural goodness of Love Grown Foods granolas for several years. Their granola Oat Clusters are suited for topping yogurt or just eating from the bag. They’re non-GMO, gluten-free and vegan friendly and they’re flavored subtly to enhance the natural taste of oats, not disguise it.

But there’s more to Love Grown than just a healthy breakfast option. I’d carried their granolas around for years before I met the company’s founder, Maddy D’Amato. And in that meeting, she completely changed my picture of American food manufacturing. This vibrant (and tireless) woman is a visionary. She created a company that spreads love in more than the obvious ways. The drive behind Love Grown Foods is educating adults and kids that good-for-you-foods can be delicious.

To make their point, the Love team offers a school program. They go into America’s schools and teach kids about the importance of breakfast. They educate our youth on the role of good fats and the commitment to love yourself with healthy goodness. So when you buy Love Grown Oat Clusters in any of the 5 flavors, (my picks are Apple Walnut Delight and Cocoa Goodness), know that you are helping to share the love across the USA.

For more information, visit the Love Grown website.

Mixim Greek Yogurt

Yogurt is one of my favorite choices for breakfast on the go. But most yogurts sold today contain more sugar than nutrition. But what I love about Ehrmann’s Mixim yogurts are that they start with a base of plain, creamy, thick Greek yogurt. Then you add in the flavor from the attached topping compartment, as little or as much as you want. And Mixim’s toppings are heavy on real foods, like pure honey and real fruit. True, they also contain things like cookie bites and chocolate curls but like I said, you choose how much of a healthy breakfast you want it to be. And although it might exceed your cuteness quotient, I think the heart-shaped packaging is reason enough to buy Mixim.

To learn more about Ehrmann (a family-run company with a strong commitment to sustainability) and to find out where Mixim Greek Yogurt is available, visit the Mixim website.

Earnest Eats Superfood Baked Bars

In a taste test of over 25 traditional granola bars, I picked Earnest Eats Superfood Baked Bars as the best bar for balance of flavor, texture and nutrition. The bars are made just the way you’d make granola bars at home if you had the time. There are no unpronounceable, science lab words in the ingredient lists. The bars simply offer nuts, seeds, fruits and grains. The whole food bars are great for throwing in your bag.

And I can vouch that the approximately 200 calorie snacks provide you with ample energy replace a traditional, hot meal. I personally favor the Double Espresso, which offers the buzz of espresso powder along with the nutrition of almond butter, whole oats, pumpkin seeds and walnuts. No, it will never replace the civilized feeling of sitting down to an espresso and a soft boiled egg with whole grain toast soldiers. But it will give your body the healthy breakfast it needs in a very convenient package.

For more information visit the Earnest Eats website.

Vitalicious

If your idea of a satisfying breakfast is pastry, this is the option for you. Vitalicious manufactures a variety of muffin tops, cakes and mini loaves all loaded with fiber and fortified with essential vitamins and minerals. No, they won’t fulfill your fantasies of a freshly-baked, sweet cheese-filled fruit muffin with melted, golden, Irish butter. (That’s my breakfast pastry fantasy, anyway.) But they will satisfy a sweet tooth and curb hunger while feeding your body with a surprising amount of nutrition. Some of the products even offer a whopping 10 grams of fiber!

The Apple Crumb muffin tops are made with whole wheat flour and real apples, (a noted aphrodisiac.) They’re also thin enough to pop in a toaster while you lace up your shoes. The energy loaves offer 7 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein with only 6 grams of sugar. Not bad for a breakfast pastry! But I have to admit, my favorite is the chocolate cake. It doesn’t deliver the sustained energy of the energy loaf but it does offer 2 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. The texture is slightly crumbly, so I top it with a smear of cream cheese, which also adds more protein for sustenance. (At least, that’s my excuse!)

For more information, visit the Vitalicious website.