Muffins

I get those home magazines, too — the ones with full-color spreads of beautiful breakfasts and happy families sitting down to eat their healthy morning meal. I wonder where these miraculous families live, with their combed hair, packed backpacks and square meals, all happy and ready for the day. Unfortunately, reality often looks like yoga pants and cold Pop-Tarts eaten in the car, grabbing backpacks and briefcases in a desperate attempt to not be late, again.

This fall, though, I’m trying to make life imitate art (or at least marketing) a little more. I want to eat breakfast with my family — not only because it starts my day on the right note, but because life is too short to spend it wolfing down protein bars in the car.

This fall, I want to give myself the extra minute to savor, enjoy and relax with my family, so that even a 6 a.m. workday can feel just a little more like the weekend. I’m hopeful that maybe my kids will remember those mornings more than the inevitable frantic scramble, and that maybe my Tuesdays can feel like the gift they are and not just another day before the weekend.

Here are some easy recipes I’m using to make my workday mornings a little more filling, and I hope they inspire you to make your weekday mornings bright as well.