Rise and shine

Day breaks and morning is here. It’s time for your first meal of the day.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This meal jump-starts your metabolism and gets you ready for your day of work or relaxation.

Breakfasts on the go are usually high in fat and simple carbohydrates. It’s easy to make unhealthy dietary choices when it comes to breakfasts eaten out.

Some restaurants are now offering versions of these classic favorites but adding a healthy twist to them. These restaurants are also offering more exotic, but still healthy, breakfasts as well.

We’ll take a look at these alternative breakfasts, and the places where you might find yourself enjoying the most important meal of the day.

The Settler’s Inn, located across from Bingham Park in Hawley, PA always has a sophisticated, eclectic and fresh menu. As at most restaurants, you can still enjoy fresh eggs with toasts and meat, but The Settlers also offers healthy versions of your favorites. Whole grain pancakes with fresh berries is served with a local maple syrup. Granola (a mix of four organic grains), organic yogurt and fresh berries are also a healthy way to start your day. The menu also includes seasonal fruit and cereals and fresh baked muffins, breads and scones. Expect to smell the delicious aromas of espresso, mochaccino, café latte, cappuccino or tazo teas. The Settler’s Inn also allows you to dine indoors in its magnificent restored craftsman-style building dating from the 1800s, or outside in their gardens.

The Water Wheel Café, located in the Upper Mill in Milford, PA, also entices a diner with a creative breakfast menu. The café sits alongside a brook whose water still turns the wheel that generated the power for the old mill.

The Water Wheel Café has on its menu wholegrain pancakes served with fresh fruit, wholegrain oatmeal served with seasonal fresh fruit, bagel and lox, vegetarian and egg-white omelettes and Bloody Marys or Mimosas as a drink choice. In the higher-cholesterol category, they also have homemade scones, croissants, pastries and Danishes, fresh eggs benedict, Challah French toast with fruit, and sirloin steak with eggs. The dining room faces the creek and when you’re done eating, you can take a tour of the mill and the waterwheel after which the café is named.

Located on the main drag in Narrowsburg is The Main Street Café. The colorful and newly restored café also offers healthy breakfast alternatives—along with some of our fatty favorites. The café’s menu changes frequently to provide diners with the freshest produce. Main Street Café offers fresh baked rolls, croissants and muffins with an international flair, stuffed with Italian and Spanish ingredients.

Breakfast sandwiches, pancakes and smoked salmon are also available at the café. A view from the back deck includes the entire Big Eddy of the Delaware River. It’s a beautiful view to accompany the breakfast.