Breakfast is definitely a super serious and important matter. It’s the beginning of the day and as we all know beginnings are always hard, but it’s also the time when we all want to start off our day right and in a healthy way, just as we’ve promised ourselves! I bet you agree that the majority of our breakfasts are quite healthy –if we have breakfast at all- unlike dinners when we tend to go a little bit wild.. At least that’s what I do, for sure!

The conversations, posts and articles about breakfast and its importance are endless. But not many of us have the time to prepare and enjoy the perfect breakfast, at least not the way we see in pictures.. You know, all family members gathered around a beautiful table, all smiling and careless, spreading butter and honey on perfectly toasted bread.. As if time has completely frozen!

No rush at all, no sign of this morning madness that takes place in all households during breakfast, including ours! Jackets and bags all over the place, forgotten mobile phones, kids crying over cups of milk, school buses honking, burnt bread in the toaster, dogs wagging their tails, begging for a morning walk.. I bet you’re quite familiar with this image, and the list could go on! I might be exaggerating a little bit but I wonder, is reality much different? Not really, right?

Regardless of how a morning turns out, it certainly starts off with the best intentions. It’s obviously a difficult time, especially for moms. It’s the time when everyone starts getting ready for school or work, and they all need to be well supplied for the rest of their day. The process is demanding and hard to coordinate! Do not panic though, it happens to everyone, it has happened to you, to me and everybody else! We might not have kids at home anymore but the rest remains just the same.

My way of dealing with such difficult, early mornings was to make as many preparations as possible from the previous night. I did anything I could, from preparing my kid’s clothes for the next day at school and preparing snacks for everyone to planning the next day’s breakfast. And it was honestly very helpful. Still far from perfect but a lot more manageable!

That’s what I’m making today, something that might help you with your breakfast planning. I’ve been making variations of it for years and it really is lifesaving. It’s one of those things that can be on standby in your refrigerator and require no preparation at all. Healthy and nutritious, the perfect breakfast! Homemade Almond Milk Pudding, Chia Seeds and Dates! It’s been years since we quit drinking animal milk, so almond milk and other kinds of vegetal milks are included in our diet on a daily basis. There are many good organic ones on the market but none of them can be compared to the taste of homemade almond milk. I thought it was hard and complicated to make but when I tried it for the first time, I realized how simple it is. As for chia seeds, it’s the ultimate super food! Those popular, tiny seeds seem to have an extremely important nutritional value. A true nutritional gem! Very rich in fibers, chia seeds leave you feeling full and replete for quite a long time. The list of their benefits is long as they are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, metals and trace elements, organic protein.. And all that without any trace of gluten, for those interested! A bomb of antioxidants in your breakfast. Nutritionists recommend to soak chia seeds in water from the previous night. That makes them more digestible. They also form a sort of gel which is exactly what we want.

This nutritional bomb is intensified significantly by the use of dates. Imagine how important their nutritional value is that they used to be the first food people consumed after long periods of fasting to regain strength, recover and have a quick intake of necessary nutrients! In this recipe dates also determine how sweet our pudding will be.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can prepare it on the weekend and store your pudding in bowls in the refrigerator. You can also add any ingredient you like and decorate your bowls with different kinds of fruits, nuts, herbs, cinnamon, vanilla, honey, sesame paste.. Anything you like!

It’s also important to mention that kids not only love eating it but they also enjoy making and decorating it, and trust me, it turns out really beautiful and enticing. Let them enjoy the process and you won’t regret it. They’ll learn the value of all these ingredients through their own creations. Last but certainly not least, it can also be a great and very filling evening snack instead of a common –and not homemade- croissant!