Century eggWhile most of us wake up to cereal, eggs, pancakes, or oatmeal, many others around the world wake up and open their rice cookers. Breakfast food is incredibly diverse. Imagine starting your day with huitlacoche, a black fungus that grows on corn. It's a breakfast delicacy in some parts of Mexico. Or rice porridge with century eggs -- eggs fermented to a dark amber color. That's a traditional breakfast in China. 

Check out some of these surprising breakfast foods from around the world.

We have a saying in our home: I am not a short-order cook. That means if I make pad Thai for dinner, we all eat pad Thai for dinner -- no get out of jail free card, no special requests for mac & cheese. But breakfast is different. You want your eggs scrambled, over-easy, sunny-side up? You got it. Well, up to a point.

Even on the weekends, you probably don't want to whip up pancakes for one kid and eggs for another kid. That's why I love the kinds of breakfasts that are flexible enough to please a wide range of palates -- but without making the chef crazy. Here are my favorite customized-breakfast ideas.

What a blizzardy week! Who else is craving soup right now? But not just any soup -- something a little spicy. I love all the smoky, spicy, and tart flavors in tortilla soup. And I love all the textures, especially the crunchy tortilla chips with the creamy avocado. Chilies and chicken broth are just what the doctor ordered to keep those winter colds away.

This recipe calls for a whole, dried pasilla chile. You can find these at specialty Mexican markets or in the ethnic foods section of your grocery store. If pasilla isn't available, just about any other dried chile will work, like ancho. For a vegetarian version, use vegetable stock and tofu instead of chicken stock and cubed chicken. Now have a toasty, tasty weekend!

Winter sets in and most of us think of cozy casseroles and soups. Me, I think of meatballs. Doesn't that just bring up all sorts of warm, fuzzy feelings? "On top of spaghetti, all covered in cheese ..." You know that song. Meatballs. They're meaty, but not too heavy, and they turn your spaghetti and sauce into a party.

Forget the fancy recipes with four different kinds of meat including veal -- meatballs can be easy! And if you're lucky, you have an Italian grandmother with the perfect meatball recipe to hand down to you. I am not so lucky -- so today I'm borrowing someone else's grandma's recipe! 

I love me some taco night. The kids are happy, mom is happy, the dog is super happy when cheese falls on the ground. It's a big win. Of course, taco night is not the healthiest meal to enjoy on a regular basis. But when you have such a crowd-pleaser in your rotation, it's really hard to give it up.

Which is why I've decided you shouldn't have to give up taco night. Not for any health reasons, anyway. Instead, there are three little things you can change that can turn your less healthy meal into something acceptable to Jamie Oliver.

Here's how to turn taco night around.

Here's to more time hanging out, less time working in 2012! After all, it's much more fun to sit down with your family than to race around the house getting it together while shouting at them to wake up already. So in the spirit of making life easier, and a heck of a lot more pleasant, let's start with breakfast.

I definitely love a big breakfast of bacon and eggs. Throw in some waffles and I'm way ready to go for the day. But we all know that's not realistic, especially if you're cooking for a crew of people who need to get to school or work. So instead, rotate these make-ahead breakfast dishes into your routine and your family will be well-fed and relaxed at the beginning of the day.

We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day (you've heard this before, right?). We also know that sitting down together for a meal with your kids is crucial to staying connected, informed, and close. After all, everyone's defenses are down as they stuff their faces with delicious food.

Even though breakfast can be a rush job when you're trying to get everyone out the door, you have enough time to bond over bagels. You just need to know the right questions to ask your kids in order to get the most information in the shortest amount of time. If you're looking for a quicker, better, more entertaining way to communicate with those guys, try these five questions out on your kids at breakfast tomorrow.

For many families, especially Italian-Americans, Christmas Eve is the Night of 7 Fishes. That's 7 different fish dishes for dinner, if you follow tradition strictly! Or maybe just one as the main course. Either way, the idea is you celebrate the night Jesus was born by refraining from eating meat. But that doesn't mean the dinner can't be extra special!

So many fishes in the sea, so many different ways to cook them. You've probably had the baked cod and the pasta in clam sauce, the fried calamari, and the anchovies. Maybe you're even brave enough for the octopus salad. But why not try something unique this year? I've found 5 festive fish dishes to spice up your Christmas Eve dinner.