I Like Breakfast Foods…Just Not for Breakfast

Waffles, pancakes, doughnuts, French toast, hash browns, bacon and sausage, these are all tasty breakfast items, and I like them…just not for breakfast. Most traditional American breakfast foods are just too sweet or too heavy for me first thing in the morning. Even things like yogurt or oatmeal (which tend to be your healthier options) are just not appealing to me.

Truthfully, I don’t think I thought too much about my breakfast options until I was in Japan. Growing up, I ate a lot of cereal for breakfast, and later, toast (and maybe an egg) with my coffee—and I was never really excited about any of these quick breakfast options. However, when I stayed at a traditional Japanese inn they gave everyone the same breakfast tray that had rice with nori, maybe a bit of fish and pickles, and miso soup. And I thought it was great—everything looked and tasted good to me, and I think it was then I realized that I’d been doing breakfast all wrong (at least for me).

Almost always, I want to eat something savory in the morning, and throughout this past winter I ate a lot of soup for breakfast. Perhaps at first glance that’s strange to some people, but I think it’s only because we’ve been conditioned to expect certain foods for breakfast. I like eating leftovers for breakfast because it’s fast and easy and tends to suit my savory appetite. Soup is great because it usually has vegetables in it (which I likely don’t eat enough of) and it isn’t too filling. Chicken noodle soup, butternut squash soup, minestrone, potato leek soup and ox tail soup have all been tasty starts to my day. [Pause.] Although with summer around the corner, soup probably won’t be too appealing; I may switch to salads…