Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Healthy Breakfast

One thing I’ve learned early on is that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. The trick is to find what will work for you, and it’s different for everybody.

Here’s a few Breakfast ideas that I use regularly:

Steel Cut Oats

1 cup of uncooked steel cut oats
4 cups of water
Pinch of salt
1 cinnamon stick

1- Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan.
2- Add the oats, the salt and the cinnamon stick. Reduce the fire and simmer for a few minutes, until it starts to thicken.
3- Remove from the fire, cover and let sit overnight.
4- In the morning, take out what you need, and heat up with a little milk and whatever add-ons* you want in there.
5- Place the rest in a Tupperware and keep in the fridge for several days taking out what you need every morning.

Note: My favorite add-ons are sliced banana, raisins, sugar-free syrups (not too much!) or honey. I’ve also put a little pumpkin puree and pumpkin spices. You put whatever you want in there and let me know if you find something great!


Frittata (or Egg Pies as I call them)

1 whole egg
3 egg whites
Very thinly sliced onion or shallot
Shredded carrots
Minced garlic clove
½ tsp cumin,
¼ tsp chili powder,
¼ tsp turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped cilantro for serving

1- Lightly beat the whole egg and the egg whites together, add the spices and combine well.
2- In a 8 inch nonstick pan, sautéed the onions and carrots for 2-3 minutes, add garlic, sautéed for an additional minute. (note 1)
3- Lower the fire and add the egg mixture. (Note 2) Cook until almost completely set. In the meantime, pre-heat the broiler.
4- When the frittata is almost set, cover the pan handle with foil (to protect from the heat) and put under the broiler until completely set.

Any mix of vegetable and spice would work. Cheese would certainly work also I’m sure. You can make this the night before and keep it in the fridge. Makes a good “take along” lunch also.

Note 1: I like to remove the veggies from the pan, put in the egg mixture, and then “sprinkle the veggies in so that it looks prettier.

Note 2: You could also cook the veggies, put the egg mixture in muffin cups, add the veggies and bake until almost set, then put under the broiler, to make mini-frittatas.


Open Egg Sandwiches

2 slices of light whole wheat bread
2 slices cheese (I don’t eat cheese, but bet it’d work)
2 slices Canadian bacon
2 eggs poached, or fried
Salsa

1- On a plate, put the two slice of bread, top with cheese, Canadian bacon, egg and then salsa.

Note: It’s messy, but it’s good, and really quick to put together.
A variation of that is to have hard boiled egg, and mash them in a bowl, and then spread them over the Canadian bacon before topping with salsa.



Those are my quick throw together breakfasts. I know there are tons of other great ideas out there. Leftovers also make a great breakfast in a pinch.

The only “rule” about breakfast is to have one. It starts your day right, boost up your metabolism, and make sure you aren’t ravenous by lunchtime!

1 comment:

shonokin said...

I want to say that I think what you're doing is great! I'm very proud of you for taking the time and effort to put your learning experiences out there for others to read. If there were more people in the world putting their energy into wanting to share with and help out others, it would be a much brighter place to live in.

I'm glad and proud to see you doing your part!