Whether it's for personal reasons or you're entertaining a guest who follows a kosher diet, it's not too difficult to create a kosher breakfast menu when you have a good understanding of the diet guidelines and remember to skip the bacon and pork sausage. The kosher diet is a religious diet followed by those of the Jewish faith. The diet restricts the consumption of specific types of meat, such as pork, and doesn't allow the mixing of the kosher meat with dairy.

The rules of the kosher diet come from the Bible, which divides foods into three categories: meat, dairy and pareve. Kosher meat includes mammals that chew their own cud and have split hooves, such as cows, deer and goats. Kosher fowl are also considered meat and include chicken, turkey and duck. All dairy products are kosher but cannot be served with any kosher meat. Pareve includes all other foods such as eggs, vegetables, fruits, grains and fish with fins or scales, such as salmon or tuna.

Sometimes referred to as Jewish eggs Benedict, lox and bagels make a perfect kosher breakfast, especially if you prefer a breakfast meal you can prep ahead and serve buffet style. If you're not familiar with lox, it's salmon that's been cured in a salt-sugar brine and is served thinly sliced. To complete the menu, add cream cheese, sliced tomatoes, chopped red onions and capers. Don't limit your menu to plain bagels; add "everything bagels," sesame, poppy seed and whole-wheat bagels to your spread.

Like the lox and bagels, crepes with fillings can also be prepared ahead of time. Keep your precooked crepes in the refrigerator for up to three days. Separate each crepe with a slice of wax paper and wrap tightly in foil. Reheat in a 300-degree Fahrenheit oven for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Offer a variety of fillings such as warm blueberry compote, sliced strawberries with whipped cream, chocolate hazelnut spread, ricotta cheese with spinach or scrambled eggs with cheese. Traditionally, crepes are made with milk, but you can replace the milk with water and serve a savory meat filling with your breakfast crepes such as chicken and broccoli or ground meat with onions.

As a pareve, eggs can be served with meat or dairy. For example, you can create a menu of scrambled eggs (prepared without milk) and served with chicken sausage, turkey bacon, toast and hash browns. When using chicken sausage, check the label to make sure it's kosher. Or, create a menu with made-to-order omelets filled with cheese and veggies and serve with fresh fruit salad. Quiche also makes a good breakfast food item for a kosher menu. Make one filled with cheese and spinach and one filled with chopped chicken, onions and peppers.