9 Healthy Grab-and-Go Breakfasts

Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but sometimes in all the hustle and bustle of getting out the door, it's easier to grab a latte on the road or skip breakfast entirely.

Here's a better way: Plan ahead and stock up on homemade, healthy items that you can just grab and eat on busy mornings.

Here are nine quick and healthy breakfast ideas that can help start the day off right.

Breakfast Idea #1: Muffins and quick bread

Surprised to see muffins on a list of healthy breakfasts? Homemade muffins aren't anything like the flavorless sugar bombs at some coffee shops and grocery stores. If you make them yourself, you control what goes in them -- which means you can load them up with healthy fruits, protein-packed nuts, and whole-grain flours that will help you feel satisfied till lunch.

There are hundreds of quick bread and muffin recipes out there, from apple-cinnamon to peanut-butter-and-jelly. Not a fan of sweet food in the morning? Look for savory recipes, like spinach-pesto muffins, cornbread with jalapeños, or bacon and cheddar muffins.

Quick breads and muffins use baking soda and baking powder for leavening (hence "quick," as opposed to the slow rising of yeast bread). Since quick breads and muffins use the same leavening, the recipes are pretty interchangeable. If you love the single-serving style of muffins, pour your quick-bread batter into muffin tins. If you hate washing a muffin pan, feel free to make your muffin recipe as one big loaf of quick bread. Just be sure to adjust the baking time, since muffins bake faster than quick bread.

Tip: Both muffins and slices of quick bread freeze and reheat beautifully: While they're still fresh (but cooled), store them in a zip-lock bag or a Tupperware container in the freezer. On a busy morning, pull out as many as you need, pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds or a minute, and enjoy.