It seems like everybody is trying to eat healthier these days. One recommendation from the USDA’s new MyPlate guidelines is to eat more vegetables and less processed foods. One meal in particular seems to have the corner market on refined sugars and starches: breakfast. As I thought about ways to improve my own breakfast nutrition, it occurred to me that vegetables are so often left out of our morning routine. But including vegetables with our first meal of the day can really jumpstart our energy by providing filling and healthy doses of protein, fat and carbohydrates. Here are my best ideas for adding vegetables to your breakfast.

• Savory oatmeal is my favorite way to add vegetables to breakfast. Take regular cooked oatmeal, spread it onto a plate and top with parmesan and hot sauce. Then add sautéed onions (I sometimes just cook up a bunch and keep them in the fridge to add to any dish), fresh diced avocado, and salt & pepper. I prefer this to sweetened oatmeal any day of the week.

• Smoothies are always a sneaky way to include vegetables. Add a handful of fresh spinach, a stick of celery or even a carrot to your blender with a banana, yogurt, a bit of milk and some berries and no one is the wiser. But my personal smoothie secret weapon is to add a couple tablespoons of avocado. The healthy fats in the avocado add a smooth texture, but more importantly, they’ll keep you feeling full until lunchtime.

• Add last night’s stir-fry veggies to your morning omelet or scrambled eggs. I love me some sautéed mushrooms, onions, peppers, asparagus, broccoli, or even cabbage. Whatever I have on hand is usually a great add-in to my sometimes boring eggs. I also have a killer mini quiche recipe that bakes muffin-sized quiche in 20 minutes. Look for it on my website.

• By the end of the summer we get creative with our zucchini, so we’ve discovered that adding a shredded zucchini to our regular pancake batter doesn’t change the flavor of a yummy breakfast, but it does add important fiber, healthy fats, and vitamins. When zucchini isn’t in season shredded carrots can also be added easily. You can also try adding shredded vegetables to your favorite muffin mix for breakfast.

• I love avocado, so when I came up this this breakfast idea, it made my mouth water. Take a piece of wheat toast and smear mashed avocado top, then top with a luscious tomato slice and salt and pepper. Brilliant, right?

• What about hash browns? My husband loves them, but a healthier version includes sweet potatoes, which is rich in beta carotene and many vitamins and minerals. For a recipe, look on my website under the breakfast tab.

I’ve only listed some of the vegetable options for a healthy breakfast. Just looking through these ideas makes me hungry! Try any of these out to improve your dietary health. I know you’ll feel better knowing you started your day with quality nutrition and I bet you’ll even feel the difference in your energy level throughout the day.