Day 4.5: Better Breakfast Ideas

Friday, Friday, Friday, Yeah!

I woke earlier than usual today, which means I actually woke up with my alarm that goes off at the same time every day.  I just didn't  hit snooze.  Fridays give me a little boost of energy from knowing we made it through another week.

That meant I actually had enough time to heat the oven up to make a delicious breakfast:  Monster Pancake or German Pancake.  You know, the one that puffs up in the oven?  It makes a great high-protein substitute for regular pancakes.  It takes 6 eggs, 1 cup milk, and 1 cup flour, so it has a great protein to processed carb ratio.  Here's the recipe:

6 eggs (beat in blender for 3 minutes)
Add:
1 cup milk (I use skim) side note: unsweetened coconut milk has more protein and less milk sugars than even skim milk.  who knew? use that if you're feeling daring...it's yummy...in stuff.
1 cup flour (you could sub wheat for white)
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
Blend until smooth.
Pour 3 tbsp melted butter into 13x9 baking dish and pour egg mixture over that.
Bake at 450 deg for 15 minutes.

It is really yummy.  Mine sometimes puffs and sometimes doesn't.  I think it's my old temperamental oven, which hopefully I will be saying sayonara to on Saturday.  Yippee!

Eating mindfully is about making substitutions for better quality calories.  Eggs and protein are an automatic win as a sub for highly processed white flour pancakes, even if said pancakes are puffy and to die for.

Another protein breakfast I have been seeing a lot of is Egg Cups.  These are basically an egg+veggie+meatofchoice+cheese scramble poured into a muffin tin and baked, instead of scrambled in the frying pan.  The sky's the limit on what to put in these babies, so use your imagination and all your left-over vegetables from dinner that your kids didn't eat.  They'll eat them in these breakfast eggy-muffins.  Even better, throw in some kale, chia seeds, flax seed, or olive oil and make them a super-food vehicle.

Choose one thing today and swap it for something better!

Day 1.5: Breakfast Recipes and Ideas

Uh-oh.  It's Friday.  This is my traditional let-down day.  It's the last day of the school week, and of all the things I've accomplished, getting three girls ready for school and out the door on time 5 days in a row surely deserves something sweet.  NO WAY!!! I am NOT going to sabotage all my hard work and commitment this week by giving in to homemade baked goods, and pizza and soda for dinner.  This is where I usually give up, starting the slow slide into the weekend, spiraling into boredom eating, social eating, and reward eating, with a candy binge on Sunday night.

But not this weekend.

Because we are only on Day 5.  Of 10.  We are going strong and Thanksgiving is oh, so close.  I am finalizing my dessert plans today.  Yum.

So I'm going to share with you some ideas to break the food monotony and give you something else to eat besides a bowl of oatmeal with fruit, as delicious as it really is.

First:  Protein Pancakes.  I adore pancakes.  Here's a recipe that takes out empty flour calories and packs in the protein.  Enjoy them with a drizzle of sugar-free syrup.  P.S.  I really hope you are eating your oatmeal with a sugar substitute, like Truvia.  Even I can't eat oatmeal plain with fruit.  Blech.

Pancake 1: 2-Ingredient Pancakes
1 mashed banana
2 eggs
Mix and cook in frying pan, using cooking spray.

Delicious and sweet!  If you enter "Blogilates 2 Ingredient Pancakes" in myfitnesspal it's already there for you with calorie count and everything.

Pancakes 2: Blueberry Banana Protein Pancake
1 egg
1 scoop vanilla or plain protein powder
1 tbsp ground flax seed, or chopped up dry oatmeal
1 ripened banana mashed
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 tbps milk
Mix everything up, and cook in mini-sized pancakes.  Watch the blueberries, sometimes they slide off when you flip them.

These are SOOOO yummy.  Also in myfitness pal, for the stupendous amount of protein and healthy fruits you can eat the ENTIRE batch.  No lie, you will be stuffed.  And so happy and clean!

Protein powder note:  I detest vanilla protein powder.  So I buy chocolate for my shakes and bulk soy isolate protein in Smith's bulk food section.  It is flavorless, so I also add imitation vanilla to my recipes to add flavor without calories.

Second: Weird Food of the Week.  You have commented on my ability to eat anything.  I'm still not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not.  Hmmmm.  You also know how I feel about pumpkin pie.  But as I age I have started loving anything else with pumpkin in it.  I think for Thanksgiving I'm going to make a pumpkin pie layered toffee cheesecake.  I can't wait!!

And so on Wednesday I tried this "Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal" recipe.  I also cleaned up the recipe.  Here is the adjusted ingredient list:

Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal (adapted from Budget Bytes http://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/09/baked-pumpkin-pie-oatmeal/)

Ingredients

• 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin purée
• ½ cup no sugar added applesauce
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1  cup less 1 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 cup Greek nonfat vanilla yogurt
• 2½ cups dry old-fashioned oats

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking powder until smooth. Whisk in the milk (and yogurt if using).
2. Mix the dry oats into the pumpkin mixture. Coat an 8×8 (or similar sized) baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour in the pumpkin oat mixture. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, removing the foil after the first 30 minutes.
3. Serve hot right out of the oven or refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be eaten cold or reheated. Top with milk, maple syrup, whipped cream, or nuts.

This turned out perfectly.  Moist, and savory.  I will admit I had to add two packets of truvia for sweetness.  Not good cold, I'm sure the sugar-full version is to die for in any form.  The yogurt added vanilla flavoring and a huge boost of protein.  At a regular sized oatmeal portion, I will have 6 breakfasts of this.  I may have to freeze some.  It was a great change of flavor, and fun to try something new, and with the tweaks I feel really good about it, not like I'm just eating a dessert.  

Part of dieting is trying new things to break the monotony, but predictability is key.  One other hint to low-fat low-sugar eating is to use spices.  The pumpkin pie spice, which is basically cinnamon, adds depth and keeps it from being bland.

So try something new. Hunt new recipes. Clean them up by swapping applesauce and yogurt for oils and sugars.

Third: Quiche & Fritattas.  I have found a new, delicious way to eat protein and veggies:  crust-less quiche and fritattas.  I am the worst omelette maker ever.  So these baked versions are a snap. They work great for dinner and lunch, too.  My girls love them.  Remember, no crusts.

Basic Recipe:
4 eggs

1 cup spinach - if frozen, thaw and drain WELL

1 cup other veggies: mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, kale, tomatoes.

1-2 ounces shredded cheese - ANY variety

Salt and pepper to taste

Bake at 350 until done through, top will be brown, check for liquid underneath.

Top with salsa.  It is a true comfort food, without fat and carbs, full of protein, satisfying, and fulfilling knowing you ate your veggies.  

DON'T GET BORED!