Breakfast of Champions

Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?  I have no idea.  Depends on which fitness or nutrition blog or magazine article you happen to be reading.  I've seen the argument go both ways. Whether or not it is THE most important, or even important all is not for me to decide.  I think it makes perfect sense that eating breakfast, especially when trying to lose weight, will keep you fueled up and less likely to snack or dig into junk food because you're suddenly starving.  I think if you're going to eat breakfast it should be a good, healthy, not super sugary one with a decent amount of protein to keep you satisfied for a longer period of time.  Personally, I don't like to eat right away in the morning so I bring my breakfast to work.  I either bring my beloved Greek yogurt with berries and granola (which I now make homemade instead of store bought) or instant oatmeal (which I'm now making myself as well because of all the sugar in the store bought stuff) with almonds and flax seed.  On the weekends however, I'm up for an occasional pancake (I would never make for myself but if Nels is whipping up a batch, why not) or sometimes eggs.  Eggs are a super healthy food.  Gone are the days when it was believed that they increased your cholesterol (if you still thought that was the case, fear not, that's old news).  Why (or really "how") people eat egg whites only is a mystery to me.  I've never been a fan of the way they taste and the bulk of the nutrients are in the yolk anyway so you might as well go all the way.  So with all that said, I want to share my new favorite way to eat eggs on the weekend (especially if you're heading out for a while after breakfast or planning to get a good workout in!).  Poached eggs on avocado toast is where it's at my friends, and I invite you to try it out for yourselves.

Get yourself a couple of good eggs (no one likes a bad egg!) and half of an avocado (healthy fats are your friend).

Get a couple (or maybe just one if you're not that hungry) of slices of bread.  Try to be selective with bread.  I'm loving the Ezekiel bread, which is probably the best stuff out there (in the store) as far as ingredients and whole grains go.  Sometimes we buy Heidelberg bread which is made from real ingredients, no preservatives, no sugar (why do most store bought breads have sugar anyway?) and it's based in Herkimer, NY.  Whatever you do, don't be fooled by the names, like the Pepperidge Farms  Whole Grain bread which contains sugar, sugarcane, honey AND molasses (not to mention a few other questionables)! Why? Read your labels.

Ok, done with my bread rant (for today).  Get yourself a pot of water and heat the water until gently bubbling and try to keep it at that temp (not a full boil).  Give the water a swirl with a spoon...

and gently ease your egg into the water using a small bowl or measuring cup to keep it in tact. Set your timer for 3 min for medium (2 for runny, 4 for hard) and scoop out with a slotted spoon when the time is up.

Meanwhile, smash that avocado onto your toast (no butter needed) and season with a little salt and pepper.

Plop that egg right on top and add a touch more salt and pepper.

Oh man.....that is good.  Another variation we like is to add a little baby spinach under that egg. Yum.

Give it a try! It is really tasty and will have you ready to go to take on the gym or whatever else you have going on.

Breakfast Evolution

Some say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Is it?  Not sure, they're all pretty important as far as I'm concerned.  Some say that eating breakfast every day will help you to lose or maintain weight. Will it?  Not sure about that either, there are studies that go both ways on that.  I do know that if I don't eat breakfast, by 10:30 I'm totally crabby and likely to have a headache.  Then I'm also likely to eat the first thing I can get my hands on because I'm too crabby and headachey to make something.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets like this.  And that is one of the reasons for siting breakfast as an important part of weight management.  You really don't want to be stuffing down a doughnut because you're starving.

 I don't like to eat breakfast right away in the morning.  I get up about 6:00 am but don't eat until I've been at work a little while, usually around 8:30.  For the last several years I've been bringing the same food to work every day. An oatmeal packet, a yogurt and a banana.  Every day, a Quaker Apples and Cinnamon oatmeal which has now evolved into Nature's Path Flax Plus oatmeal because my tastes have changed.  The Quaker oatmeal seems way too sweet to me now but the Flax Plus has just the perfect distribution of salty and sweet. Seriously, I love it.  My yogurt has also evolved over the years.  I was into Activia vanilla for ages.  It was expensive and small and that too eventually started tasting too sweet.  There was a time when I thought it was the best tasting thing out there but now I can barely stand it.  A year or so ago, I wanted to switch to Greek yogurt which took some getting used to.  I finally found some Chobani flavors I really enjoyed like black cherry and passion fruit.  Well, with 17-20 grams of sugar (the total recommended daily allowance by the American Heart Association) I started to rethink that too despite the fact that I really, really liked it.  My latest and greatest breakfast yogurt is exactly what I wanted to share with you today.  I so love my new breakfast that I've been known to "Mmm" aloud at work while I'm eating it.

The current yogurt of choice is Fage.  I like that its 2% (can't seem to find full fat in the store).  It's not organic but at this stage of the game you can't win them all.  Eating is tricky business these days so you have to pick your battles sometimes.

I take about a half cup, or just shy of that, and put it in a to go dish when I get up in the morning.  (This could just as easily be done the night before but I'm just not that on top of it).

I get my bag of blackberries out of the freezer (they're in season for about 5 minutes so frozen is the way to go).

I also use frozen blueberries, these add sweetness to the plain yogurt.  Blueberries are a super food full of antioxidants and fiber.

I don't typically measure but for the purpose of this post I did.  I figure I use about a half cup total of berries or a touch more.  That's about a serving of fruit.

Next I throw on about a tablespoon of coconut, unsweetened.  Ever since I learned that the sweet stuff is made sweet using propylene glycol (aka anti-freeze) I stick to the unsweetened.  Creepy.

So then I just stick it in the fridge until I'm ready to head out to work.  But wait, there's more.

Chia, another super food to add to the list.

  Those are the seeds in the jar on the right.  I keep a baggie of them at my desk at work and add about a tablespoon to my yogurt every day.  There are so many good things to say about adding chia to your diet that I'll just let you read this Top Ten List for yourself.  I swear that they get the credit for my most fabulous HDL reading (67 thank you very much- anything over 60 is considered protective against heart disease).

I also keep a little baggie of granola at my desk.  When I don't have homemade I find this one to be quite nice.  This adds a little more sweetness and a fabulous crunch to the ensemble.  I use about a quarter cup of granola, maybe a touch less.

When I'm ready to eat, I just add the chia and the granola, by then the berries are defrosted but everything stays very cold. (no need to refrigerate it at work)

So just mix it all up and have at it! I couldn't take pictures at work, that's why this is in a different bowl.  This fabulous breakfast comes in around 330 calories and only 7 grams of sugar (half of which are natural sugars from the berries and yogurt).  This breakfast bowl keeps me so full that I usually don't need the oatmeal.  I still have a banana every day, an hour or two after I eat this awesomeness.  If I'm out of something or don't take the time to put it all together I stick with my trusty oatmeal.  But the yogurt is truly missed.  If you're looking for a nice, easy, healthy and filling breakfast, I highly recommend this one.