Starting with a good breakfast

To start may day right, I need to have a good breakfast... a good foundation to help me feel good and be productive throughout the day.

I may not always have time to make a great meal, but I at least try to get some protein and whole grain carbs, plus a 1/2 cup of strong Italian coffee with a 1/2 cup of soy milk. Adequate protein gets me through the entire morning with lots of energy and able to think sharply.

Listen to your body...
to learn what the ideal breakfast is for you. It's strange that my husband doesn't need protein at all in the morning. His ideal breakfast is a bowl of steelcut oatmeal (McCann's is his favorite) with blueberries and coffee with milk. That gets him through to lunch, but when I eat that I'm totally starving my mid-morning and unable to think clearly until I eat.

In this photo the cheese on the rye/whole grains bread is Cowgirl Creamery's signature MT TAM cheese. The artisan cheesemakers are women and I visit their creamery in Pt Reyes Station, California, about once a year to taste and treat myself to some of the best local cheese in my area.