Eating a Healthy Breakfast

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

I am not much of a breakfast person; I do not like to eat breakfast until about 10am or later. When I have breakfast I like crispy bacon, 3 over easy eggs and crunchy hash browns with whole wheat toast and pulpy orange juice. Of course that was before the high blood pressure and high cholesterol diagnoses and medications. I still do not like breakfast but it has been made clear to me that I must eat at breakfast time. It helps me get past the horrible taste of the medications; it helps me to eat less during the rest of the day and eating the right stuff can help lower the bad cholesterol.

Initially, I ate only oatmeal. I understand the best is the old fashioned stuff made by boiling the oatmeal - seems to take forever. So I found some substitutes made by the same company. I just add boiling water and I have the oatmeal. I often add a spoonful of honey to give it some taste. I have tried the oatmeal preparations with pre-added spices and raisins but did not care for them.

As you can tell by the above paragraphs those breakfasts are so boring! I started a search for something I will actually eat in the early morning and something easy.

First some variants on my hot cereal:
Liven up porridge or oatmeal with a sprinkling of brown sugar, a spoonful of honey, chopped dates, raisins or almonds. Oat-based cereals have a low glycemic index, which means they are gradually absorbed and digested by the body. So, having a bowl of your favorite oatmeal or porridge in the morning will keep you energized, and stave off hunger until lunchtime.
Porridge (113 calories, 2.2g of fat) topped with blueberries (20 calories, less than 1g fat) and one glass of orange juice (45 calories, no fat)

Smoothies:
Nothing tastes better, first thing in the morning, than a fresh fruit smoothie. All you need is a blender, fruit juice, fresh fruit and some optional ingredients like yoghurt, protein powder or dried fruit. (Courtesy of Torr’s visits we actually have a smoothie maker made by BillaWare.) First, pour 12 oz orange, apple or pineapple juice into the blender. Add a quarter pound roughly chopped fresh fruit (bananas, peaches, pineapple, mango, berries and apricots work well). Add 3 tbsp yoghurt, a few dates, and a spoonful of raisins or your favorite protein powder to the mix. Blend until thoroughly mixed, and drink. Once you have the technique mastered you can prepare your smoothie in about five minutes.
My Fav: 1 banana
4 oz crushed pineapple
2 oz mango pieces
1 diced peach
1 glass skimmed milk

Tom Baker