Breakfast Ideas for the Cold Season

Can you agree that the colder the temperatures outside, the more excited you are about a hot meal? Most people feel the same way here; after all, food can warm us from the inside. You can find out exactly what the benefits of a hot breakfast are and what a healthy breakfast can look like in winter in this article.

How does the body work in cold weather?

Before we dive into the benefits of a warm first meal, it's important to understand how the body responds to cold and what changes.

Basically, one of the important tasks is to keep the core temperature of the body , i.e., the temperature of the middle of the body, constant at about 37 degrees . In summer, the body must therefore cool down, which is noticeable through sweating. In winter, care must be taken to ensure that the heat remains in the body. The shaking of the muscles helps to produce heat. To perform these processes well, you naturally need energy in the form of food .

So if you are already eating a hot meal, the body does not need to expend any additional energy to warm the food to "operating temperature ", so to speak.

Autumn or winter also often means cold season for most people. However, this does not directly have anything to do with the cold per se. However, cold air is drier and thus offers ideal conditions for viruses to spread quickly. In addition, the body is less well supplied with blood when it is cold than when it is warm. As a result, fewer immune cells move around in the body, making it more difficult to intercept viruses.

That is why it is all the more important to counteract with the right diet and strengthen the immune system!

The benefits of a hot breakfast

Now that you know about the changes in the body, we want to go into more detail about how you can optimally support your body with a warm meal.

For example, Traditional Chinese Medicine , TCM for short, recommends a hot breakfast all year round! According to the doctrine, there is the so-called organ clock, whereby each organ has its periods of activity and rest. Since the stomach and spleen are in a high phase from 7-11 o'clock, the digestive process should be started here. This is best achieved with a hot breakfast: the body has to spend less energy or strength for digestion, and the vital energy is increased.

And no matter whether summer or winter, in general, some foods can be better absorbed in warm form or cooked. This is because the cellulose present in the plant cell walls cannot be broken down by humans. However, the cell walls break open when heated, and the polysugar can be absorbed.

Nutrition in winter

You may be wondering: What can I have for a hot breakfast? Well, basically there are no restrictions – the main thing is that your food is prepared warm. Dishes can be, for example, egg dishes, or generally dishes with eggs, waffles, or toast – just to name a few examples.

However, you should pay attention to one thing: Is your hot breakfast also healthy? Many hot breakfast ideas actually meet the criteria and are therefore ideal for your body in winter, but often contain too much sugar or cholesterol. Verival offers you a healthy alternative here: oatmeal for breakfast!

Hot breakfast with Verival

Oatmeal as a basic ingredient allows you to have a warm and, above all, healthy breakfast. Prepared as a delicious porridge, your first meal of the day is ready in a few minutes. Simply pour over hot water or (vegetable) milk and let it steep briefly – your warm oatmeal can be enjoyed.

But back to oats; after all, the grain contains a lot of vitamins and minerals that support you optimally, especially when it gets colder again. With a bowl of porridge, ¼ of all necessary vitamins and minerals are already covered.

For example, 1 serving of porridge contains 34% of your daily requirement of zinc, 27% of iron, and 38% of copper. All three minerals ensure a well-functioning immune system.

Among other things, zinc helps in the formation of certain cells that are necessary for the immune defense. Iron occurs in numerous functions in the body. Thus, it binds oxygen in the red blood cells (hemoglobin) and thus provides a large part of the oxygen supply. Copper supports some of the white blood cells that are used for immune defense. Your body also uses this trace element to fight off bacteria.

Delicious, hot breakfast ideas

As promised, we would now like to present our four simple breakfast ideas to spice up your oatmeal. Get inspired and discover the variety of warm porridge in winter !

Carrot or pumpkin?

Vegetables in porridge – can't it work? That’s incorrect! Whether carrots, pumpkin, or zucchini, vegetables can enhance oatmeal and make it even creamier.

For fall, we can recommend our Pumpkin Spice Porridge recipe. The preparation is not difficult at all, and the result is all the better!

Pumpkin Spice Porridge

Start the autumn with a warm oatmeal! So you can have a nutrient-rich breakfast in the cold season.

Total time 25 min.

Servings: 2

Accessories

• Blender

Ingredients

• 80 g Verival Classic Porridge optional oatmeal
• 300 ml plant-based drink
• 100 ml water
• 2 tsp Pumpkin Spice Spice
• ½ Hokkaido pumpkin
• 1 handful of almonds
• ½ apple optional
• Agave syrup optional

Pumpkin Spice Spice

• 3 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 ½ tsp ground allspice
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves

Preparation

• At the beginning, divide the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds, and then cut it into small cubes. Then boil in a saucepan for about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, you can bring the oatmeal to a simmer with the oat drink and the water. If necessary, you can add more oat drink or water – depending on how creamy the consistency of your porridge should be.
• After the pumpkin has been soft-cooked, you can drain it and finely puree it with a blender or in a blender.
• Then mix the pumpkin puree with the porridge and season the mixture with pumpkin spice.
• As a topping, you can garnish your porridge with apple slices and chopped almonds. A little tip: if you roast the chopped almonds in a pan, your porridge will taste even better!
• Optionally, you can sweeten your porridge with honey, agave syrup, or maple syrup.
• Done – Bon appétit!

In general, you can also add zucchini or carrots to your porridge. To do this, boil water or milk, stir in Classic Porridge and grated carrots or zucchini and simmer briefly. Since carrots are in season in winter, we recommend using them.

Warm winter fruit

Our next idea is a simple warm porridge topping. For this, you need either apples or pears – both types of fruit that you can easily get in winter.

Cut your favorite fruit into small pieces and sauté them in a pan in some coconut oil until the pieces are soft. If you want, you can also add chopped nuts of your choice and roast them. Then add some honey and caramelize briefly. Make sure you do this on low heat. If you like, you can refine your fruit and nut mix with some cinnamon.

Porridge Spice

Another way to spice up your porridge is with spices. The following extra ingredients taste particularly good when it gets colder again:

Can it be pissed off?

For those who prefer a hearty breakfast, Verival also offers two savory porridges. The flavors pumpkin tomato or broccoli also convince fans of sweet breakfasts and allow you to try something new.