The homemade granola Daphne Oz keeps in her purse at all times

Welcome to My Morning Routine, where Daphne Oz and other good-life gurus share their personal (frequently surprising, often healthy) morning rituals—to help you make your a.m.’s more awesome. 

Daphne Oz
Author, former host of The Chew, and mom of two—soon to be three!

My son, who’s 2 years old, gets up at 5 a.m. for some unknown reason. But before I get him out of his crib, I chug about 16 ounces of water. I’m one of those people who’s always thirsty, and I’m thirsty even more often now because I’m pregnant. I really like Aqua Carpatica water because it’s nitrate-free. Pregnant women know to stay away from deli meat because of the nitrate content, but not water. After I chug water and brush my teeth, I throw my bathrobe on and grab my son from his crib.

My son likes making breakfast with me, so that’s something we’ll do together while my daughter, who is 3, is still sleeping. My son is very FOMO and hates missing out on anything, so the way I get him to go to bed at night is actually telling him about what we’ll make together for breakfast the next day.

Right now, one of my favorite things to make the kids for breakfast is a super easy whole grain pancake blend with rolled oats. I pulverize the rolled oats in the blender then add eggs and a little bit of butter. My kids also love something I call “eggy Peggy,” which is 6-minute eggs cut up with a little salt, oil, and cut-up toast all tossed and mixed together.

Like a lot of moms, I tend to just take little bites of my kids’ food in the morning, but I always make an Americano. My first pregnancy, I was super-conscious not to have any caffeine, and then my second one I was less so. This time around I desperately need that one Americano every morning.

After breakfast it’s time for everyone to get dressed. If it’s not a day when I have to work early, I’ll throw on my sweatpants and make myself somewhat presentable. My daughter’s school is nearby, so my kids and I all walk there together. Then, my son and I will go have a little date. He’ll get a chocolate croissant and I’ll have my Americano, if I didn’t already have it at home. We usually walk to Central Park because he loves the animal bell that goes off every half hour by the Central Park Zoo.

Being pregnant, I definitely deal with fatigue throughout the day, but I always have a baggy with homemade granola on me to keep my energy up. One of my favorite blends is a mix of rolled oats, pecans, golden raisins, coconut, olive oil, butter, and maple syrup. You just throw the ingredients together and toast it. It’s seriously so good.

Speaking of granola, these are the healthiest brands. And if, like Oz, you’re pregnant, here are answers to what are likely your biggest questions.