Tag: breakfast

25 delicious Christmas Day breakfast ideas

Christmas Day is a real feast day from start to finish. For us Christmas Day breakfast has always been a tricky one. Christmas dinner is such a huge meal, but we tend to eat it late on, so we favour a hearty breakfast, a skipped lunch and a giant Christmas dinner later; followed by nibbling our way through leftovers, festive chocolates; cheese and biscuits and so on, and on, and on again.

It can be good on high days and holidays to mix things up and put your normal toast and cereal breakfast to one side and have something a bit different. Smoked salmon and eggs in various forms often make a good Christmas Day breakfast, but it’s Christmas and all rules go out of the window. I have a good friend who has a pork pie for her Christmas Day breakfast, do what you want, it’s Christmas!

25 delicious Christmas Day breakfast ideas

If you’re struggling for ideas, I’ve got 25 ideas for Christmas Day breakfast for you and your family to enjoy.

CHRISTMAS DAY BREAKFASTS

  • Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on a muffin/bagel/toast
  • Pancakes, bacon and maple syrup
  • Cinnamon buns
  • Smoked salmon and cream cheese on a bagel
  • Croissants filled with ham and cheese and warmed in the oven
  • Black pudding sausage rolls
  • Eggs Benedict and smoked salmon/ham/wilted spinach on a muffin
  • Potato cakes with fried eggs
  • A full English!
  • Crumpets with lashings of butter – you can get them in festive shapes now, like Christmas trees
  • Toasted panettone
  • French toast with berries and maple syrup
  • Bacon butties
  • Kedgeree
  • Eggy bread and bacon
  • Danish pastries with jam and butter
  • Nigella’s Christmas morning muffins
  • Pork pie and pickled onions
  • Yoghurt and fresh fruit
  • Brie and cranberry bagels
  • Waffles with fruit and maple syrup
  • Avocado on toast with a poached egg
  • Staffordshire oatcakes and bacon with cheese
  • German pear pancake
  • Blinis with smoked salmon and cream cheese
  • Sausage butties
  • Porridge with festive dried fruits stirred through it
  • Heuvos rancheros
  • Mincemeat flapjack slices
  • A selection box

What are you having for Christmas Day breakfast? Please do comment below…

25 delicious Christmas Day breakfast ideas

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

One of the best parts of a night or two away in a hotel is the breakfast. At home I rarely eat breakfast and if I do it’s usually just toast or cereal. A hotel breakfast is a real treat, and like most people I like a big breakfast to set me up for a day of shopping, sightseeing or adventure. This week we were invited to the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club to try out their award-winning breakfast.

In November 2016 the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club was voted as having the best breakfast in the North West by Trivago. We were invited down to put their breakfast to the test. It was a great excuse for a proper family breakfast to see us right for a wintery walk later that day.

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

Breakfast is served at the Grill in the Park from 6:30am -11am on weekdays, or 7am – 11am on weekends. Hotel residents can add for £10 upon check in for breakfast. For those not staying overnight, breakfast is available at £16 for the buffet and £12 for continental.

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club includes a selection of continental meats, cheeses and smoked salmon; fresh fruit and yogurts; muffins and pastries; cereals, toast and hot cooked breakfasts with a choice of freshly cooked eggs, local sausages, bacon and all the trimmings. They also have a chef on hand to whip up a fresh omelette for you and freshly made waffles, more of which later.

The Grill in the Park is a comfortable but stylish setting for breakfast, and on Saturday morning it was busy with families and couples having breakfast with plans to visit the nearly Trafford Centre, or Legoland, or like us got for a long walk in the country.

Breakfast is self service, though a friendly waitress offered us tea and coffee and the small boy had a hot chocolate. The service was efficient, with waitresses clearing plates away and generally being very helpful. I chatted to the chef whilst he cooked my omelette and he and the waiting staff were great to chat to if you needed some advice about things to do locally.

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

Breakfast began with a selection of juices and fruit. Hubs went for a very lovely looking porridge with jam and bananas.

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

The small boy loves fruit, so he had a big bowl of his favorites with some yoghurt. They also had a good selection of cheeses, meats and smoked salmon; as well as bread, muffins and pastries for those wanting a continental breakfast.

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

I’d heard that the omelettes were excellent. They’re one of my favourite things, so I had to give them a try. There were about 8 different fillings to choose from, but I opted for cheese and tomato – all freshly cooked in front of me. When I got back to the table there was such omelette envy, we had to go back and get another for the boy.

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

My husband opted for the more traditional fry up. He particularly enjoyed the sausages and the poached egg. I had a slice of fried bread with baked beans – a rare treat. It was so delicious I was sad to finish it. The small boy, true to form opted for a side of sausages to go with his omelette. He said they were the best sausages ever!

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

A special mention must go to the freshly cooked waffles. I love waffles but I rarely eat them. I’m so glad I insisted we share a waffle and maple syrup (for breakfast dessert). It was the lightest, airiest waffle I’ve ever eaten. It was a joy. If you go to the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club for breakfast, you must try the omelettes and the waffles.

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

We’d eaten and eaten well. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, we all felt that the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club had nailed it. It was very, very good, with lots of choice and everything was well made and well cooked.

I can see why the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club won best breakfast in the North West. If I was staying in the hotel I wouldn’t hesitate to book myself in for breakfast, but it is the kind of place we’d pop in to fuel up for the day if we were passing on our way to another adventure. Delicious.

For more information about breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club, visit their website.

Breakfast at the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

We were invited guests of the Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club and our breakfast was complimentary. All images and opinions are our own.

Brunch at Neighbourhood in Manchester

Weekends are made for brunching. After a busy week of work, one of my favourite things is to go out for brunch with my boys, or meet some friends for a catch up over a plate of good eggs, endless coffee and maybe a breakfast cocktail or two. I was invited to a blogger brunch by Neighbourhood in Manchester, to try out their new brunch menu and sample a couple of breakfast mimosas. 

Arriving early on a rainy Saturday morning, my fragrant friend Liz and I were ushered to a table near the bar. Neighbourhood was busy and buzzing, during the week I suspect it’s busy with ladies who lunch, business lunches and people going for after work drinks. It’s known for being a celebrity hang out and whilst we were there I did spy a couple of familiar faces from the TV. 

We ordered drinks, tea and coffee and a couple of breakfast drinkies (rude not to) on offer were Bellinis and mimosas. We were there for a bloggers breakfast where some of the key dishes from the brunch menu were being showcased. 

Neighbourhood

The first brunch item we tried were the buttermilk pancakes with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. The chocolate sauce was so glossy Mary Berry would have wept with joy. The stack of four buttermilk pancakes were smothered in the sauce and came with a small (too small?)  dollop of whipped cream, the pancakes were sweet and good and I know my son would have gobbled them all up and then wanted to lick the plate clean afterwards.

Between pancakes and brunch we were brought a Breakfast Sandwich to sample which consisted of a toasted muffin, sausage, bacon and fried egg. The chef kindly made a vegetarian version for me which contained a nice crispy fried egg, spinach and mushrooms, although I can’t eat mushrooms so I had to take those out and give them to Liz. We both particularly enjoyed our crispy eggs and my spinach was well cooked and seasoned and was not watery.

Neighbourhood

We ordered our brunch proper, Liz plumped for the Full English which came with bacon, scrambled egg, black pudding, sausages, tomato, baked beans and toast. One of the failings of the brunch menu for me is the lack of vegetarian options, thankfully the kitchen were happy to specially make me my own veggie brunch which consisted of two buttermilk pancakes, scrambled egg, tomato, baked beans, spinach and mushrooms.

Neighbourhood

There were some very lovely elements to my breakfast. The scrambled egg was among the best I’ve had, I loved the sauteed spinach which was perfectly seasoned. I found the pancakes an unusual addition, but actually they worked well but could have perhaps done with a dab of salty butter on them. The beans were beans but served in a pot to appease the “don’t let my baked beans touch any of my food” crowd. I was slightly less keen on the tomato, which although it was perfectly cooked, had a garlicky aftertaste which seemed to throw off the balance of flavours on my plate a little.

I had to give my mushrooms to Liz because they make me poorly, she was not unhappy with this. There was a really interesting mix of mushrooms on offer, they’d been well cooked and seasoned and smelt so good. Shame I couldn’t eat more than a tiny nibble.

Neighbourhood

Neighbourhood is a bustling busy place, and the staff were just the right amount of friendly, chatty and helpful. I think the new Neighbourhood brunch menu is solidly interesting, with some crowd pleasers on there. I’m a little disappointed that there isn’t a vegetarian option listed on their menu, I know you can always ask for them to make something for you, but if it’s not on the menu then as a vegetarian I’d probably be put off by that. It’s such a shame, especially as the veggie brunch I had I would happily order again.

Neighbourhood is located on The Avenue North, Spinningfields, Manchester. Their brunch menu is available on weekends 10am to 2pm. Visit their website for more information or to view their menu.

We were invited guests of the restaurant and were not asked to pay for our food or drink. Nevertheless, all images and opinions are my own.

7 different ways with Nestlé Cereals for Breakfast Week

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and for the last week we have been celebrating Breakfast Week, a week in which we were challenged to “Shake Up Our Wake Up”. I have been Instagramming a new breakfast each morning, all made with Nestlé Cereals, and all have been delicious and a good healthy and balanced start to the day. They’ve also been pretty fun to make and eat too.

We started off Breakfast Week with Nestlé Shreddies Pancakes, made with wholemeal flour, agave syrup and sultanas, these were surprisingly filling and very tasty.

On Monday, we went off to work with our bellies filled with a couple of Shredded Wheat with some seasonal rhubarb which had been roasted in manuka honey and the zest and juice of an orange.

Tuesday we breakfasted on the hop, so a couple of Shredded Wheat and blueberry muffins were the order of the day, and very nice they were too! These were the most popular breakfast of the week with the boys, and I’m getting constant requests to make another batch, so these will be a regular part of our breakfast menu.

Wednesday brought a Cheerios trifle – a layer of Cheerios, topped with thick yoghurt and layered with fresh fruit – a delicious start to the day.

It was back to basics for me on Thursday with a bowl of Shreddies and dried fruit, but served in my own hand-painted breakfast bowl (you can read about our pottery painting experience here).

Friday was breakfast treat time with these Cheerios Crispie Slices, fat-free and full of wholegrains and dried fruit, you can pretty much forgive the marshmallow “glue” I used to stick it all together.

Saturday, the final day of Breakfast Week brought a chocolatey treat – Nestlé Nesquik cereal in Nesquik chocolate milk. Double chocolate and a rare treat to get the weekend going in style!

Breakfast Week has been fab. We’ve all made a special effort to have a proper breakfast each day. What we’ve really loved has been trying out more interesting ways of eating our Nestlé Cereal than just in a bowl with some milk. By adding our own twist, some fresh or dried fruit, chocolate milk, or baking tasty but healthy treats with them, we’ve really managed to shake up our wake up this week.

Looking at the #BreakfastWeek hashtag on both Instagram and Twitter it’s clear that so many people have been making an extra effort with their breakfasts this week. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I think Nestlé Cereals and Breakfast Week has spurred people like me on to make the effort to have a proper breakfast, not to skip it altogether or grab something unhealthy on the hop.

I do feel livelier and more alert because I’m making the effort to have something sensible for breakfast every day and I’ve noticed that with the wholegrain in the Nestlé Cereals I’ve been eating I’m feeling fuller for longer. They boys have loved mixing things up and if I take one thing away from this, it’s that Shredded Wheat muffins can make 5 year old boys very happy indeed.

things to do with cereal

= In collaboration with Nestlé Cereals =

Breakfast Week: Our Mystery Day Out with Nestlé Cereals

Rather excitingly Sunday marked the start of Breakfast Week 2016 (24th-30th January) and I am finally able to spill the beans (or in this case, Cheerios) about what we’ve been up to with Nestlé Cereals.

Last weekend we were told to be up and raring to go by 9am, a courier would arrive with a box and some instructions and we just needed to go with the flow. We were all excited and a little nervous about what Nestlé had planned for us, I’m not very good with secrets so this was a little out of my comfort zone, but if you’d like to see what we got up to please watch our vlog below…

As you can see from the vlog we had a fantastic time at Pottery Corner in Chorlton. We loved the surprise and we all enjoyed painting our new breakfast bowls and getting our handprints done. It was nice to sit down with a cuppa and chat amongst ourselves. We’ve never been to Pottery Corner before and it was so warm and welcoming, we’ll definitely be back to complete our dinner set.

breakfast week

breakfast week

nestle 1

breakfast week

And then we had our family hand-prints done as a lovely reminder of the day.

breakfast week

nestle 2

During Breakfast Week Nestlé Cereals are inviting everyone to Shake Up Your Wake Up and try something new. Cereals are a great way to start your day, fortified with vitamins and minerals, and each bowl contains one of your recommended 3-5 portions of whole grain a day. I know that sending my son off to school having had a good breakfast means he will start the day the right way.

There are so many different Nestlé Cereals to choose from; from much-loved favourites such as Shredded Wheat and Shreddies, kids favourites like Cheerios and modern classics like Oats & More, Cookie Crisp, the delicious Curiously Cinnamon as well as Nestlé Gluten Free Cornflakes. During the next week I’ll be giving my boys a new breakfast every day, so please follow me on Instagram to keep tabs on what the boys are breakfasting on this week!

Will you be doing things differently this breakfast week?

= In collaboration with Nestlé Cereals =

Shake Up Your Wake Up! During Breakfast Week 2016

This January we will be celebrating Breakfast Week (24th-30th January) and Nestlé Cereals have challenged us to Shake Up Our Wake Up! It’s so easy to wander sleepily into the kitchen and just pour some cereal or milk into a bowl and have that, but during Breakfast Week we’ll be daring to be different, mixing things up a bit and making our standard bowl of cereal sing!

I am excited to announce that during Breakfast Week we will be in partnership with Nestlé Cereals who have a surprise planned for us (more news on that as it happens) and I’ll be making a vlog of our mysterious trip out (subscribe to my YouTube channel here).

breakfast week

There are so many different Nestlé Cereals to choose from; from traditional favourites such as Shredded Wheat and Shreddies, kids favourites like Cheerios and modern classics like Oats & More, Cookie Crisp, the delicious Curiously Cinnamon as well as Nestlé Gluten Free Cornflakes.

Nestlé Cereals contain essential whole grains and are fortified with vitamins and minerals designed to help get you off to a good and nutritious start each day. The classic Nestlé Cereal, Shredded Wheat is made from 100% whole grain. Whole grain provides a range of vitamins, minerals, fibre, starch and other nutrients and it is recommended that we eat 3-5 portions of whole grain each day. Breakfast cereal is a great way to help get your day off to a flying start. Look out for the green tick on Nestlé Cereals, this tells you that your bowl of breakfast cereal contains a minimum of 8g of whole grains per serving.

My Nan drummed it into me that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and that time should be set aside each morning to sit down and eat breakfast and mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead. I find that taking ten minutes out first thing to collect my thoughts, jot down my to do list, have a coffee and a bit of breakfast can make a big difference to my productivity that day.

During Breakfast Week I’ll be doing my bit to Shake Up My Wake Up by trying a different breakfast each day, and discovering some new ways to eat my Nestlé Cereals.

breakfast week

Breakfast with Nestlé Cereals

Breakfast, especially at the weekends is a pretty big deal in our house. I like the boys to go out and face the day with something in their bellies and I like the simple act of sitting down as a family and starting the day together. Admittedly this doesn’t happen that often during the week, the boys tend to shove a bowl of cereals down themselves before dashing out of the house, leaving me to stack the dishwasher with their dirty pots. Weekends are a very different thing indeed, with pots of coffee, nice juice and something a bit special.

Monday to Friday the boys tend to eat Cheerios, I like Cheerios because I think they provide a pretty balanced breakfast, with some complex carbohydrates and added vitamins, it’s a good start to the day. At weekends we like to mix things up and try new things. We were sent a selection on Nestlé Cereals to try, so we planned a buffet breakfast of cereals. Which one would we like best?

We tried the following Nestlé Cereals:

  • Nestlé Cheerios
  • Nestlé Shreddies
  • Nestlé Cookie Crisp
  • Nestlé Shredded Wheat
  • Nestlé Curiously Cinnamon

Nestlé Cereals

We began our Nestlé Cereal Challenge by each selecting a cereal and pouring a small bowl (we had five different cereals to sample, we didn’t want to overdo things). The small boy thought he’d like the Nestlé Cookie Crisp the best (with it being wholegrain cereal disguised as little chocolate chip cookies), but ended up choosing the Nestlé Shreddies. I really liked the Curiously Cinnamon, but ultimately plumped for the Shreddies as my most favourite, whilst hubs enjoyed the simplicity of the Shredded Wheat but fell for the charms of the Curiously Cinnamon.

The Curiously Cinnamon is a bit different and a really great cereal if you like cinnamon, which can be a bit of a love/hate flavour. I tend to eat my cereals as a late night snack so these really hit the spot when you need something a tiny bit sweet but filling.

Nestlé Cereals contain essential whole grains and are fortified with vitamins and minerals designed to help get your day off to a good and nutritious start.

It was a really lovely way to start the day, and helped turn breakfast into a fun little challenge. It’s a good way to try new things and find new favourites. I know we’ll be adding the Curiously Cinnamon to our shopping list and I’ve rediscovered my love of Shreddies, so they are well and truly back on the menu. Thank you Nestlé for spurring us on to try new things. I think a buffet breakfast challenge will be on the cards again one weekend soon!

Note: We were sent a selection of Nestlé Cereals free of charge for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Breakfast with Mummy at The Hard Rock Cafe

On Mother’s Day it is the law that no mother anywhere should have to cook her own breakfast. Breakfast in bed, or at the very least a morning cuppa is essential, but being taken out for breakfast is a really lovely treat. This year the boys and I went to “Breakfast with Mummy” at The Hard Rock Cafe, in The Printworks, Manchester, which was a fine way to kick off our Mothering Sunday celebrations.

We arrived at 9am with empty bellies and a thirst for coffee. We were quickly sat at our table, each Mum receiving a goodie bag comprising some Hard Rock goodies and some pampering treats from Clarins. The tables each had a lovely flower arrangement on which you could buy for a £5 charity donation.

The small boy had never been to The Hard Rock Cafe before and he was fascinated with all the musical instruments on the walls, he didn’t understand that they were once played by famous people, but that didn’t matter to him.

Once we were settled, coffee and juice was brought round by the lovely waiting staff and we were invited to go and be served our buffet breakfast. Being veggie I went for grilled tomatoes, baked beans, hash browns and scrambled egg, while the boys added sausage and bacon to their plates. Hubs had extra mushrooms too, a rare treat as I’m allergic to them. There was toast, cereal and fruit available too, so no one left with an empty belly.

Hard Rock Cafe

The staff at The Hard Rock Cafe were incredibly lovely and friendly, re-filling our coffee mugs and making sure we were happy, nothing was too much trouble. We were first in line for the face painter who was fantastic, the small boy got a spider on his face which was the nicest looking spider I’ve seen, he was really proud of it and kept looking in the mirror.

There was also a balloon modeller who worked the room, making everyone a special balloon to take home, I got a lovely flower balloon to wear on my wrist and the small boy got a zebra. One lovely touch was there was a photographer who took informal family portrait of each family as a little keepsake for everyone, which I thought was an especially lovely thing to do.

Attending one of the “Breakfast with…” events at The Hard Rock Cafe in The Printworks is a lovely way to start the day, especially a celebratory day. I think next time I’d plan it better and go off and do something afterwards, like visit the cinema, go shopping or visit a museum.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I did leave The Hard Rock Cafe feeling pampered and spoilt, which is as it should be on Mother’s Day.

The Hard Rock Cafe run regular “Breakfast with…” events, the next one being “Breakfast with Bunny” on 4th and 5th April. Tickets are £9.50 per adult and £7.50 for children. More information can be found on their website.

Note: We were invited guests of The Hard Rock Cafe and were not asked to pay for our breakfast. All images and opinions are our own.

Ready for School with Ready Brek Easy Sachets Porridge

Autumn is here and there’s a definite nip in the air. I want to send my boys out for their busy days with something warm in their bellies, something which will give them energy and keep them full and fuelled until lunchtime. Ready Brek are launching two new flavours which are part of their easy sachets range. They sent me both flavours for us to try, their new gingerbread and chocolate flavours as well as the traditional original porridge.

The Ready Brek Easy Sachets are very simple to make up, just tip the sachet and the required amount of milk into a bowl and microwave for 90 seconds. It’s really quick and easy, ideal for busy mornings and the race to get ready and out of the house without being late for work or school. Cards on the table, I’m not a porridge fan but the boys are, so I had two very willing expert testers and I even dipped my spoon in to sample.

Ready Brek Easy Sachets

Chocolate flavour – this was an all round big hit, it’s tasty Ready Brek but chocolate flavour. It’s delicious and feels more like a treat than a porridge. The boys loved this, even I finished my bowl, which shows just how moreish the chocolate flavour is.

Gingerbread flavour – The boys liked the gingerbread, it wasn’t too gingery for the small boy and it had a delicate ginger flavour. I think this is the perfect porridge for autumn and the run up to Christmas. Personally this wasn’t gingery enough for me, but I like a strong, strong ginger flavour, for me this would be excellent with a little drizzle of stem ginger syrup.

The Original flavour – This is the traditional Ready Brek we all remember from our childhoods. The flavour and consistency haven’t changed, it’s just much, much quicker to make. They boys variously enjoyed theirs plain, or with a dollop of jam, a drizzle of honey, or a spoon of nutella. I like that with the original you can dress it up whichever way you like.

I like that a warm, tasty breakfast is so quick and easy to conjure up, and I like knowing that the boys are leaving the house in the morning with something warm inside them, which should hopefully set them up for the day.

Five things that make mornings easier

Now the small boy is at big school, mornings are a bit of a kerfuffle. Husband drops him off at school on his way to work which is a massive help, but mornings often feel like a Generation Game style challenge. There are a few things which make the rush in the morning easier to cope with.

Here are our five morning wins…

1. The small boy wakes up well rested and in a good mood. This makes everything exponentially easier. He’ll do almost everything you ask with hardly any fuss if he’s fully topped up with sleep.
2. Opening the wardrobe and finding that what I want to wear is clean and hanging up, not crumpled up on the “that’ll do another day” chair, or worse, festering in the laundry basket.
3. Someone in the household has had the presence of mind to put a pot of coffee on. The smell alone is enough to gladden the heart.
4. The small boy eats something for breakfast. He’s gone off virtually everything bar scotch pancakes and Belvita biscuits. And he eats them so slowly. Eat your breakfast or we’ll all be late!
5. We get a kiss, cuddle, or a backwards glance as he runs to his friends in the playground. Goodbye son, have a good day…oh.

Morning win

Belvita biscuits are a bit of a godsend to be honest. When the small boy refuses to sit and eat breakfast, we can’t force him so we often nibble a little packet on the way to school, or they go in my bag for when we get peckish later in the day. I think of them as a healthier biscuit, like a treat but filling us up and giving us that slow release energy that kids (and their parents, let’s face it) need.

What are your morning wins?

This post is an entry for #MorningWin Linky Challenge sponsored by belVita Breakfast. Learn more here.