Breakfast is Served.

Ah, breakfast. 

It's how you start your day. It sets the tone for your day. It's what gets your energy up or brings it down (depending on what you eat). It's what kick starts your metabolism. It's one of the most important meals of the day. 

DO NOT be that person who skips breakfast. If you don't eat breakfast your chances of gaining weight increase drastically. Start your day off right by eating something to fuel your body. Your body does a considerable amount of work repairing and rebuilding during those hours while you're sleeping. Replenish the nutrients it burns while you're dreaming with a solid breakfast. Your mood will be better, you will last longer and be be able to keep your concentration at work, you will work harder during the day and you will lose more weight.

My breakfast usually takes about 15 minutes top to prep, cook and eat. If you're not eating breakfast now, you don't need to get up hours early to add it to your day. For my breakfast I will usually eat a protein, vegetable and a healthy carbohydrate. And of course, the most important part of my morning meal: COFFEE. I have recently changed my coffee up. I used to drink 1/4 mug of Coffee Mate Hazelnut Creamer and 3/4 mug of dark roast coffee. I did this even when I cut all other sugar out of my diet. And even though the creamer was the only sugar I allowed my self, it was adding around 25 grams of sugar and about 175 unneeded calories into my diet. In addition to that, it was setting the tone for my day. When I started my morning with that much sugar, it made it harder to say no to all the other sweets I was trying not to eat. I knew for a while that I wanted to stop using the creamer but I couldn't bring myself to do it. 

I finally got brave and stopped cold turkey. It has been the hardest cut I have made to date. Out of all the fats, white flours, refined sugars, salts, mash potatoes, and processed foods...the coffee creamer caused the biggest uproar in my mind and body. For several days after the removal of the liquid gold poured down from Heaven like Manna, my appetite became insatiable. No matter how much food I ate, I was ravenous immediately after. My body wanted that sugar back in the most obnoxious way. 

Sugar is just as addictive as drugs people. I was going through withdrawals. 

Now I'm back on track. As far as coffee goes, I still drink my dark roast every morning but it looks like this: 1/4 of my mug is filled with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and the other 3/4's, dark roast coffee. Took a bit to get used to, but it works. The monster inside of me has calmed. 

As far as food is concerned, here are a few examples of what my breakfast usually looks like: 

Scrambled Egg Whites & Salsa Served with Vanilla Scented Oatmeal & Steamed Brussel Sprouts

Brussel Sprouts: Clean brussel sprouts (cut about 1 cm of the bottom off. Do not cut too much off as it will take the leaves with it). Cut in half. Add to a pan with 1/2 inch of water. Cook covered for 3 minutes. 

Eggs:  Add 2 Tbsp of salsa to 3 egg whites and scramble with a fork. Spray a small frying pan with coconut oil spray (Trader Joe's) and heat to medium. Add eggs and use a spatula to stir until all liquid is gone. 

Oatmeal: Add 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats, 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk to a pot. Heat on medium high and boil. Stir occasionally. When it boils, turn down heat and cook until it looks like what oatmeal looks like when it's done.  

Basted Eggs Served with Sweet Potato Cakes

Eggs: Heat a small pan with about 1/2 inch of water in it on high heat. When water boils, which happens very quickly, crack two eggs into it. Cover the pan with a lid. It will take the eggs about two minutes to cook to over-medium (slightly runny yolks but cooked whites). You will need to watch the pan because the water tends to want to overflow and push the lid off. If that happens, just turn the heat down. When done, use a flat spatula to remove from pan and serve.

Sweet Potato Cakes: I take already baked sweet potatoes and add an egg. Depending on how many you need, I would add one egg to every two potatoes. As an additional binder, I add about 1 Tbsp of buckwheat flour per two potatoes. You can season it any way you want. I like them with cinnamon but you can make them savory by adding garlic powder and onion powder instead. When you have all ingredients together in a bowl, mix. Heat 1 tsp coconut oil in a pan on medium heat. Spoon the potato mixture into the pan in small piles. Flatten the pile down with the spoon to make a pancake shape. When cake is golden brown on one side, flip and cook until golden brown on the other. If you make them with cinnamon, drizzle with honey or pure maple syrup when served. If you make them the more savory way, serve with salsa and a small dollop pf plain greek yogurt on top (greek yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream in ANY dish. Make the switch). 

Vegetable & Egg White Frittata with Vanilla Scented Oatmeal

Vegetable & Egg Frittata: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 inch cake pan with non-stick spray and add whatever diced vegetables you want. I added my vegetables in raw. The only thing I pre-cooked was the spinach. In this frittata I added: onions, green peppers, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli and feta cheese. In a separate bowl, add 8 egg whites and 2 whole eggs. Scramble. Pour egg mixture over top of the vegetables in the cake pan. Bake for 18 minutes.

Scrambled Egg Whites & Salsa Served with Steamed Broccoli. 

Broccoli: Cut broccoli into desired sized pieces. Add 1/2 inch of water into a frying pan. Add broccoli and cover pan with lid. Cook for 4 minutes. When done, broccoli should be crisp, not limp, and bright green, not dark green. Do not overcook your veggies. The more it cooks, the more nutrients you loose. And if you're daring, you can do what I do. Pour the liquid left from cooking into a glass, let it cool and drink up!

Hope this gave you some great ideas! And no, broccoli and brussel sprouts are not weird breakfast foods. I promise! Now go and EAT!

-RB Xx