Breakfast Idea Number 5 - Yoghurt and Granola.

Home- made granola served with banana yoghurt.  I had it with honey yoghurt today.  It is Christmas cranberry granola based on this BBC recipe.

I love this recipe - you can vary it every time and make new and exciting breakfast dishes.

Also, please visit this post and leave a comment to win a copy of Nigel Slater's Appetite.  This is a wonderfully inspiring book for any cook.  This giveaway is part of The Inspiration Chain which is a brilliant idea to get us all sharing our favourite cookbooks and trying something new.

Breakfast Idea Number 4 - Daring Cooks - Poached Eggs.

I am loving doing my challenges.  The Daring Kitchen is one of the most popular challenges for either cooks or bakers.  And, in fact, Shelley of C Mom Cook has included a couple of pictures of my boys in her latest Food Talk article on getting wee ones to help in the kitchen.

Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

I chose to do a version of eggs florentine for this challenge and was really chuffed at how easy it actually is to make a Hollandaise sauce and to poach fairly good looking eggs.  Usually I leave this dish to Steve to make but I guess I have no excuse for doing it myself now.  I LOVE spinach and this makes one of my favourite breakfasts.

Two eggs each for Mummy and Daddy and one each for the kids.  I will definitely be poaching more eggs from now on.  And without using the microwave and the plastic poacher thingy!

Breakfast Idea Number 3 - French Toast, Bacon and Maple Syrup.

One of my favourite weekend breakfasts.

Breakfast Idea Number 2 - Porridge.

It has to be porridge when, to get to work, you have to carry all your stuff up the track wading through thigh deep snow then spend half an hour digging before you can get the car going.  Or, you are at home with the kids and you have to drag the two of them up the hill on their sledge several times.  They just don't understand that Mummy feels old!

Obviously you can do anything you like with porridge.  These are what I have had in the last few days.

Sprinkled with demerara sugar.  The sugar melds together in the moisture to give a lovely caramelised topping.

Chopped apple, sultanas and cinnamon. Mmmm.

Honey and almond.

Banana and chocolate.

Although, my favourite is just plain simple porridge made with honey and salt - the way my Granda used to make it.  Although I very rarely make it properly anymore - a quick blast in the microwave is much more convenient.

Here's another picture of the kids out on the sledge.  Yes the one that the above porridges have fuelled.  Can't wait til they are old enough to pull their poor old mother on the sledge!