Good Morning! How is everyone doing so far?
This morning I wanted to talk about breakfast- The most important meal of the day!
Breakfast is a vital key to a healthy lifestyle. According to the USDA only 44% of the population eats breakfast every day!
I thought we could share some of our best healthy breakfast ideas that get you going and keep you feeling full.
I try to have some kind of protein and some kind of fiber in my breakfast each day. It is no secret that I LOVE to have a smoothie for breakfast (even when it's below zero outside!) It's a great way to get a huge serving of fruits and vegetables, so add a little flax, or oats for some fiber, and some greek yogurt for protein, and voila! a perfectly balanced breakfast I can make and eat in about 5 minutes. My only problem is making enough for the kids who invariably ask for some :)
Here are a few smoothie basics for all you smoothie novices out there:
1. Most of our smoothies are a concoction of only a few ingredients: frozen fruit, sugar/honey (optional), skim milk and lowfat vanilla yogurt. This is a winner every time.
2. If frozen fruit isn't something you have on hand, 6-8 ice cubes can be thrown in the blender.
3. The key to a perfect smoothie is adaptation. If you have don't have frozen strawberries but still want it cold, mix with frozen orange juice concentrate. Want more fiber? Add some ground flax or grind up some oats first. If you don't have fresh fruit, try canned. Some unlikely things I have put in smoothies are: pineapple juice (saved from when I drain canned pineapple), coconut milk, applesauce, white grape juice, powdered milk, ground flax seed, nutella, and peanut butter.
4. Frozen fruit can sometimes be expensive. Freezing bananas about to go bad is a great way to have smoothies inexpensively. Our local store sells old bananas super cheap, I just chunk them and put them in a freezer bag in the freezer. Also the Dollar tree sells small bags of frozen peaches. A great deal! Costco is always a great place for berries and strawberries.
Here are some of our favorite recipes:
Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
2 bananas
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk
1-2 tablespoons honey (depending on sweetness preference)
6-8 ice cubes
Blend until smooth. Ice can be omitted if bananas are frozen.
Serves 4
Strawberry Orange Banana Smoothie
1 1/2 cup orange juice
2 cups strawberries
1 banana
6-8 ice cubes
Serves 4
Peach Orange Banana Smoothie
3/4 cup orange juice
2 cups frozen peaches
1 cup skim milk
1 banana
Serves 4
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie
1 cup frozen strawberries
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
2 tablespoons white sugar
6 ice cubes
Serves 2
Also, all of these smoothies can be made "green" by adding spinach, broccoli, or carrots! I promise you won't even notice the difference. Even my kids chug green smoothies like they are milkshakes.
What are you eating for breakfast?
I'm a cereal girl! My favorites are fiber cereals, Special K (sorry Greg), granola and love to combine them. However, I find when eating cereal I have to be very careful to measure so I don't overdo it, which is easy to do, and watch the amount of sugar there is because it can be very deceiving! I also try to choose the heartier cereals so I feel fuller longer and get needed fiber.
ReplyDeleteI also love hot cereal, especially oatmeal. I mix it up how I make my oatmeal - sometimes I cook it the normal way. I also like to eat it raw with milk. I usually put it in milk with raisins, cinnamon, salt, and a little sugar or sweetener in the fridge over night. In the morning it is tasty! I also add canned pumpkin to this with pumpkin pie spices - really yummy and adds pumpkin which has so many nutrients. Again though, I try to be careful about serving sizes because its easy to just keep eating:-)
Smoothie recipes look great, Heidi. I'll have to add those to my repertoire. My favorite go-to smoothie is 1/2 banana, 1 c. skim milk, 1c. frozen strawberries and 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. sugar or sugar substitute. We usually have green smoothies every morning. The only thing I might add other than what you mentioned is a small handful of almonds and some kale to go along with the spinach.
ReplyDeleteIf I want something other than cereal or a smoothie for breakfast, I will scramble up some egg beaters. I used one real egg and 1/4 cup egg beater at first until I got used to the flavor and consistency. Now I just use egg beaters.