I really love snow, and last weekend Northeast Ohio got more than a foot of snow, a real snowstorm. My neighbors reported that their dachshunds’ morning walk was extremely challenging, and the roads weren’t passable until mid-morning. I myself spent a lot of time shoveling snow, so I needed to eat a breakfast that provided more fuel than usual. Today we’re talking about breakfast.

What’s for breakfast? In one word? Protein. In two words? Nourishing fat. In three words? No stripped carbohydrates. I will share some of my favorite ideas for breakfast, both currently and many years back, when I was young and traveling.

As a member of a student choir singing our way through the Rhine Valley in Germany one winter many years ago, we filled our breakfast plates with all manner of sliced cheeses, fruits, cured meats, hard boiled eggs, and rye bread with a variety of fruit jams and butter. When I lived in Israel, I ate soft white cheese, cucumber-tomato salad, roasted eggplant, and pita every morning. On a trip to Cairo, Egypt, at the youth hostel I visited with my new husband just a few months after we were married, we were served bowls of mashed fava beans. Room and board was 60 cents a night.

In places and times where refrigeration is less common, people are more likely to eat dinner leftovers for breakfast. You, however, probably have the option of opening your fridge and selecting whatever strikes your fancy. Food categories high in protein include meats, poultry, eggs, fish, beans, nuts and dairy.

Eggs are one of my absolute favorites, whether boiled, fried, scrambled, or poached, and you have probably had most of these at one time or another. Another wonderful way to cook an egg is to crack it into a little ramekin with a spoonful of pesto, put the dish into a water bath (a loaf pan with 2 inches of water), and bake it in a toaster oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes. If you put it in the toaster oven right when you wake up, it will be ready when you’re finished getting dressed. If you love pesto, get ready for an extraordinarily delicious recipe. It will keep you satisfied all morning.

You could heat up a drumstick, or eat a few meatballs left over from dinner. In the Midwest, a typical breakfast 150 years ago might have been a pork chop and a cup of coffee with cream. There was no diabetes epidemic then. Something more exotic? Check your fridge. Chopped liver, perhaps? Anything goes, from aspic to venison. Or veal, if you prefer.

Fish is another nourishing food source, and there are many choices. Last weekend I ate lox for breakfast on Saturday, and kippered salmon on Sunday. There’s smoked whitefish, tuna (probably canned), sardines, leftover trout, cod, catfish, shellfish and so much more. Chances are slim that you’d find leftover lobster salad. But you never know.

For really busy people, nuts can be a mainstay of a healthy breakfast. When my children were young, particularly the one who would not typically appear until just a minute before the bus arrived, I would run a spoon along the surface of the peanut butter and hand him a “peanut butter lollipop.” A short time later, on my way out, I would collect the empty spoon from the mailbox at the top of the driveway. You could also try almond or cashew butter. It’s more expensive than peanut butter, but you’re probably not planning to eat it every single day.

There are also nuts themselves. Keep a bag of nuts in the car if you’d like to eat a handful en route to work. This is the easiest way to eat breakfast if you don’t have time to eat at home. Options include peanuts, almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, pecans, walnuts, macadamias, pine nuts, hazel nuts and more. Try a different kind each time, or make trail mix with a few choices plus some raisins or other dried fruit. The more the better. Raw or roasted nuts, salted or unsalted (if you have salt-sensitive high blood pressure). To protect their fragile oils and increase shelf life, I suggest storing them in the refrigerator or freezer though, truthfully, I don’t always do this. If you have a nut allergy, try sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Some grocery stores also carry sunflower seed butter, also known as sun butter.

Beans are another excellent source of protein, and definitely one of my personal favorites. Maybe you have some leftover lentil soup, or three-bean salad. You could heat up refried beans in the microwave, maybe with a slice of melted cheddar on top. Hummus and tahini are great choices for breakfast. I like to dip slices of cucumber, celery sticks, carrots or even apple. Of course, you could eat a bowl of mashed fava beans, like we did in Cairo. 

You could roll a burrito. Or make a bowl of brown rice (or other grain) with any number of inspired fixings. A whole-grain tortilla makes a delicious breakfast. My guidelines for eating grain at breakfast: If you are 1) diabetic, 2) pre-diabetic (at high risk), or 3) more than 20 pounds overweight, I would recommend that you limit grain at breakfast and, instead, increase the amount of nourishing fats in the form of nuts, olive oil, eggs, avocado, fish, seeds. If none of these categories applies to you, feel free to eat whole grains for breakfast.

I also encourage plenty of produce at breakfast, especially vegetables. Veggies give you a huge nutritional boost. Whereas the only place you find veggies in an American breakfast is a Western omelet, breakfasts around the rest of the world typically contain lots of veggies. Also, if you add  vegetables to breakfast, it’s a lot easier to reach your total daily number of recommended servings.

Lastly, let’s discuss dairy. Yogurt is a great choice, as long as you add your own fruit, vegetables, nuts, vanilla extract, honey. Whatever you like, whatever your heart desires. I do not recommend commercial brands that contain corn syrup or artificial sweeteners. 

Milk and cheese are also on the menu. What kind of cheese? Your choice, as long as it doesn’t contain the words “processed” or “food.” If someone has to tell you it’s food, it isn’t. Less commonly known, but just as good, are kefir, clabber, and other fermented dairy products. Goat milk is certainly worth trying if you feel adventurous.

So what did I choose to fuel my morning of snow shoveling? I ate a slice of toasted pecan-flour bread covered with almond butter, then prepared a plate with two slices of tomato and a piece of leftover salmon, drank a cup of black coffee, and ate a banana for good measure. Then I went outside to shovel all the walkways, feed the chickens, and appreciate the quiet whiteness of winter.