Do you find yourself struggling for time in the morning and skipping the most important meal of the day – breakfast? Well, you are not alone, in fact alarmingly one in three mums regularly skip breakfast and a staggering one in six adults never eat breakfast1.

That’s why HGCA’s Shake Up Your Wake Up campaign has teamed up with mum of three Melinda Messenger to challenge you to eat a healthy breakfast for five days during Farmhouse Breakfast Week (22 – 28 January 2012). Plus there’s £1,000 of holiday vouchers up for grabs towards 2012’s family getaway. 

On average, mums have nine tasks to do every morning before leaving the house so it is no wonder you tell us that breakfast often gets missed. But it shouldn’t as breakfast is such a vital part of a morning routine as it benefits your mood, physical and mental performance, weight and health. In other words starting the day with breakfast can help make you healthier and happier!

Melinda said: “I’m a mum myself, so I know how it feels to not have enough time in the mornings to do everything, but I make sure I eat breakfast every day. It need only take a few minutes and there are real benefits to starting the day with a healthy breakfast. By taking part in the Breakfast Week Challenge I hope many more mums begin to recognise this. I will be on hand to help throughout the week with a daily blog and all you need to do is make sure you eat breakfast each day, tell us what you had, how it made you feel and if it changed your eating patterns at all.”

Melinda added: “There are so many easy and tasty breakfast choices. Whether it’s something as simple as Tasty Toast Toppers or a bowl of cereal we should all make time for breakfast. And for those times when you’ve got a little bit of extra time to spend on breakfast there’s loads of great choices like my Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Egg Breakfast Tortilla (below).”

HGCA’s consultant nutritionist Therese Coleman supports the initiative and encourages all mums to get involved: “Eating breakfast can have numerous positive benefits on our whole wellbeing but all too often people don’t realise the difference it could make to how they feel. Taking part in this challenge will help you identify and appreciate these benefits and give you the incentive to make long-term changes to your morning routine.”

You can visit www.shakeupyourwakeup.com/challenge from November 2011 and pledge to take part in the challenge. All registrations received before Sunday 22 January will be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win one of twenty copies of Melinda Messenger’s Family Cookbook. The challenge itself runs from Monday 23 – Friday 27 January and we will be providing daily breakfast ideas to help you. At the end of the week, simply tell us what you ate each day and how it made you feel (e.g. did you have more energy, did you snack less and did you feel happier?). Don’t forget you could win £1,000 in holiday vouchers, so register now!

- Ends -

For further information about Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2012 (22 - 28 January) please visit www.shakeupyourwakeup.com, follow @breakfastweek on Twitter, like us at www.facebook.com/shakeupyourwakeup or contact a member of the team:

David Gough
Ceres
T: 0118 947 5956
E: david.gough@ceres-pr.co.uk

Karen Levy
HGCA
T: 024 7647 8735
E: karen.levy@hgca.ahdb.org.uk

Editor’s notes:

•  Farmhouse Breakfast Week is organised by HGCA, which is the cereals and oilseeds division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) www.ahdb.org.uk
• *HGCA aims to deliver a world class arable industry through independence, innovation and investment. It funds research, marketing, export and promotional activities for the cereals and oilseeds sector in the UK. Find out more at www.hgca.com
• HGCA is a financial supporter of the Red Tractor quality assurance scheme www.redtractor.org.uk
• Visit www.shakeupyourwakeup.com for more ways to Shake Up Your Wake Up
• NB: www.shakeupyourwakeup.com/challenge will be live from 1/11/11

Melinda Messenger’s Breakfast Recipe: Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Egg Breakfast Tortilla

Eggs and smoked salmon are a really good combination for breakfast but adding caramelized onions gives this a really different twist – great if you fancy something a little bit different. You can roll the mixture up in soft tortillas or simply serve on top of slightly toasted ones.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves 4

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 small onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 125 g (4½ oz) smoked salmon, cut into small strips
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan
• 1 tbsp chives, finely chopped
• 4 tortillas, warmed

First start your onions. Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the onions and cook, stirring, for approximately 10 minutes, until they are soft and golden. Take care not to burn them.

Now add the balsamic vinegar and the sugar and cook for a further 10 minutes over a low heat. Add a pinch of salt.

Place the salmon pieces into a frying pan over a medium heat and stir until they start to crisp up. Then add the beaten eggs and cook until they just start to set. Stir gently and when the eggs are cooked the way you like them, sprinkle over the Parmesan and chopped chives. Remove from the heat.

Warm the tortillas in a pan over a low heat or in the microwave. To serve, divide the egg and salmon mix between the tortillas and top with the caramelized onions. Season to taste and roll or fold as you like.

Recipes and images from Melinda Messenger’s Family Cookbook, (New Holland Publishers)

Terms and Conditions for Breakfast Week Challenge

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Only open to legal residents of the United Kingdom, who are at least 18 years old at the time of entry and have at least one child under the age of 16 living at home.

Registration begins on 1st November 2011. The challenge begins on Monday 23 January 2012 at 0:00 and ends on Tuesday 31 January 2012 at 23:59. Administrator’s computer is the official time keeping device for this challenge.

For Official Rules and prize descriptions, visit www.shakeupyourwakeup.com/challenge

Sources

₍₁₎ Yungheng MA et.al (2003) Association between Eating Patterns and Obesity in a Free-living US adult population
Several studies have shown that children who skip breakfast in the morning perform less well in problem solving tasks. Verbal fluency, creativity and the ability to recall newly acquired facts are similarly affected. 

Other studies show that adults who ate breakfast tended to work faster, made fewer mistakes in logic tests and had better memory recall compared with breakfast skippers. Study by Cognitive Drug Research, in conjunction with HGCA 2004.

Studies carried out at the University of Bristol examined the breakfast habits of 126 volunteers between the ages of 20 and 79 and assessed their mental health, found that those who ate breakfast everyday were less depressed, less emotionally distressed and had lower perceived levels of stress compared with those who skipped the first meal of the day. Smith 1998

Studies have also shown eating breakfast to be associated with better school performance and attendance among children (e.g. Rampersaud et al. 2005). Rampersaud GC, Pereira MA, Girard BL et al. (2005) Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight and academic performance in children and adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 105: 743–60.

A study of 13-20 year old students in Germany found that male students reported feeling more positive after consuming breakfast, compared with the fasting condition. Widenhorn-Müller K, Hille K, Klenk J, Weiland U. Influence of having breakfast on cognitive performance and mood in 13- to 20-year-old high school students: results of a crossover trial. Pediatrics. 2008 Aug; 122(2):279-84

₍₂₎ IGD March 2010, Meal Occasions 1061 consumers