Apparently, my brain is firing when it comes to lists. I was thinking this morning as I prepared breakfast that I struggled with finding decent, easy, and tasty breakfast recipes to prepare before work. Plus, will the kids eat it? There is no way I am making two meals for breakfast when I need to get three kids to school along with myself looking professional.
Thus, this list comes about. I hope you find something you can adopt into your weekly menu planning.
1. Eggs in a "Basket" Redo
I'm still searching for the original site I located this recipe from. If you know teachers, we have this "beg, borrow, and steal" motto when it comes to getting teaching strategies and tricks. Well, that extends to other areas of my life. When I can give credit to whomever created this, I will do so...but I can't recall. I renamed it Eggs in a Basket, probably, in an effort to simplify the recipe name for my kids without lengthy "Mommy's on a diet, kids" speech.
All you do is take a muffin tin and spray it with cooking spray. I take thick-cut bacon and cut about 1.5 inches off the end. I take the longer piece and wrap it around the edges of each muffin section and place the 1.5 piece as a "bottom," thus making a "basket." I drop in a large egg into the basket. Typically, I bake it for about 20 minutes (I'm thinking at 350, but I have an old gas stove that tends to have two settings, mainly muffin is okay if you take it out 8 minutes early...and someone ticked off the devil in hell hot, so please forgive me if I mess that up).
I'll make 2 for each person, and since only my eldest child is interested in that "Oh, I smell bacon, what are you cooking? Can I have some?" way (and Daddy has rotating schedules), I most often cook 4. Meanwhile, I get lunches packed as it cooks and give the other children another breakfast option that they prepare (that typically involves carbs and the microwave). When it's done, I put salt and pepper on each and serve. Usually when I'm trying to remove the bacon-wrapped delights, I realize the importance of the cooking spray (for those times I was too sleepy to realize I had forgotten it).
2. Google searching the Eggs in a "Basket"
Google is my friend. I found that there are many other Eggs in a Basket recipes that include Portobello mushrooms and deli-sliced ham as the basket. I have something new to try. There were others where the cup was hash-brown (of course, who wouldn't?) but that's not low-carb. I can have potatoes, but then I sabotage my own weight loss efforts and what's the point?
3. Breakfast Tacos
I don't know how far out of South Texas you have to get before breakfast tacos are not a thang, but I do know traveling out of state has proved disappointing. I like breakfast tacos for several reasons. One, I can prepare tacos for the family (which pleases them mightily) and I get a fork out and leave off the tortilla. It's instant low-carb adaptation without extra work. Other times, I'll buy La Tortilla Factory's Low Carb Tortillas (10g of fiber) or a corn tortilla.
I do my best to focus on protein-rich fillers. Carne guisada and barbacoa tacos are some of my favorites. I do not get bean-anything tacos once I learned that one half-cup serving of pinto beans (which become refried beans) has 5g of sugar in it. Half a cup really isn't that much. Often, our restaurant plates have one to one and half cups (15g of sugar? I'll pass!).
This morning, I took chicharones and softened them in butter in a skillet. Then I scrambled eggs with them and added my iodized sea salt and some pepper. It slid real easy onto a softened corn tortilla. My husband loaded his up on his flour tortilla. Everyone's happy in that "eat it your way" ease.
My sister Mary told me of one restaurant in town that offers Nopalitos (cactus) and Eggs Ala Mexicana Taco. You're getting a good dose of veggies, then. I like Nopalitos and I've made it as part of a meal you'll read about in #4. She emphasized that having the taco "ala Mexicana" meant it'd have more flavor because onions and other spices were added. It's on my to-do list to try. Occasionally I'll have a flour tortilla for my breakfast taco, usually when we're traveling. It's not often (if I did it often, I'd feel more symptoms).
4. Grilled Meat and Eggs
I love it when any man in my life BBQs. My husband and brother keep me well stocked and when I get a pan of steak off the grill and I know there's too much for one meal, I become psychic and can predict what breakfast is gonna be! Steak with over-easy eggs!
I'm not picky. It can be pork chops, too. It's high protein and most of the cooking is done, I just have to reheat in a skillet with some butter to keep it from getting tough.
To add veggies, there are several options depending on your taste and you know me, they all take little time. One is sauteing nopalitos (cactus) and sliced onions in butter (if preparing is separately). I tend to use the same skillet by preparing the nopalitos either with the steak or in the leftover steak juices. Another alternative is slicing an avocado in half, adding lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt and give the other half of the avocado to my husband. I've taken a steak tomato and cut it into slices, splitting it with my honey. That's not to mention the times I chop up some Portobello mushrooms and saute those bad boys (I've always had an affinity for mushrooms). My husband likes it if I slice onions in there because the sauteed mushroom-onion mix goes on top of his steak.
I really like how this meal is quick, but it seems like I'm doting on my husband because I swear the man starts purring. Gosh, I love it when things are that easy! With three kids, a demanding job, and all that laundry that never seems to be finish, couples don't always get to show love because time is so short and there's so many pressing duties. To me, this takes care of that issue.
5. CarbQuick Pancakes
My mother introduced me to CarbQuick, and I quickly run out of it. I need to order some more! I haven't found it in local stores yet, but the box makes some mean pancakes! Now, when it comes to syrup, there are more sugar-free/insulin-resistant options available. Walden Farms has many products out, from mayo to syrup to BBQ sauce (all of which is calorie free, fat free, sugar-free, everything free) and my girls really like the blueberry syrup. Also, don't shy away from Agave syrup, which is easily found in the baking aisle of grocery stores. Agave is a very sweet tasting syrup that has a low glycemic number (39) so it's effect on blood sugar issues (i.e. none) is quite favorable. You don't need as much of it as you would using a refined-sugar product, so use a little bit and taste it before adding more.
6. OATMega Bars
OATMega bars are my new fav. They don't necessarily fit in the "low-carb" genre (21g) but they do fit in the low-sugar (5g), non-wheat (0g) non-soy category. I was really upset when I was reading labels off of the available sugar-free and low-sugar protein bars (which I was only eating because of traveling and/or my on-the-go lifestyle) and found out there was soy lecithin in them. I can't have soy. It causes my thyroid such hell. OATMega bars use sunflower lecithin to bind ingredients and I simply stay away from the peanut-flavored one because peanuts make my thyroid act like it's allergic to itself (it's just so much fun when it swells and talking and swallowing are painful).
Initially, I first saw OATMega bars when I was at a workshop in Houston and I had stopped at a health food store to locate something I could eat (it is really rotten traveling and locating foods I can eat). When I returned home, I searched that part of HEB and was even tempted to speak to the manager about ordering some...and low and behold, it was on that shelf. I don't know how I missed it before or if it's a new addition, but it doesn't matter: it's in my life now. I haven't tried all the flavors because our HEB carries 4 flavors (the website shows at least 10). I'll get around ordering some other flavors to try someday...when buying school supplies and whatnot doesn't make me so broke. :)
7. Low Carb Breakfast Burritos
Again, forgive me when I forget sources, but there is one recipe where you make a scrambled egg mix of your choice (say chives, shredded cheddar, diced tomato, cilantro, salsa, whatever) and wrap portions into medium-sliced ham or several deli-sliced ham to prevent breakage. You then put the ham-wraps into the skillet and give each side a good scalding for 5 more minutes. Serve. It's about 10 minutes total.
8. Muffins
You'd think muffins would be off the menu when you need to go low-carb and limited sugar because of health issues, but rethink the flour and sweetener you're using. When I've used The Coconut Mama base recipe and added other flavorings, I have to hide muffins for myself so I can actually have one later. It uses coconut flour and agave syrup. I mentioned The Coconut Lemon Muffins and George Stella's 1-Minute Cinnamon Muffin in a previous post, but they are dreamy breakfast choices that don't take that much time. George Stella usually provides carb counts for each dish for those who diligently count carbs (I don't, but my Momma does).
The Coconut muffins (of any variation) take maybe 5 minutes to mix and another 10-15 to bake into golden loveliness and George Stella's recipe title itself lets you know it takes one minute to nuke. There are many recipes out there, and here are two sources that can get you started on other recipes. Thing is, if you make a batch (or two in my house), you have an easy grab-on-the-go snack or breakfast. You can add chopped nuts and flaxseed for fiber and protein. Most of these recipes have a good amount of eggs in them, so you're getting that natural, good-fat protein that shuts up the cravings.
9. Omelets
If you can dig into an omelet, but often get bored with the same flavors, you might want to check out Dana Carpender's 1001 Low-Carb Recipes. You will find 26 omelet recipes. In fact, that book has enough recipes to set you up for quite awhile. My Momma purchased it for me and you'll find crock-pot recipes, wheat-alternative breads, dips, soups, entrees, and even alcohol beverages (it is tricky to have alcohol when the yeast in beer makes you sick and the sugar in most other drinks make your body react as if it's your own personal date-rate drug). I most certainly suggest this book not only for the plethora of recipes, but each recipe doesn't have an overload of ingredients and it's rare for me to find an unknown ingredient. That makes new territory (recipes) easier to navigate because I know what I have in the pantry and where to find it in the store. If it's intimidating and sounds like it'll take too much work, that cookbook isn't going to be used.
10. Leftovers
I'll be the first to tell you I have my lazy streak just like anyone else. If I'm awake at 4am like I usually am, I'm not gonna cook. I want my alone time where I chill out before the day gets really crazy for the next 14 hours nonstop....but then my tummy is rumbly. I've been known to eat my mom's leftover low-carb meatloaf or a bowl of my cabbage-enchilada casserole as my breakfast. I know it's not technically "breakfast" foods, but I try to make extras when I cook for just those moments. I know that's one of my weaknesses. I don't wanna cook and I feel like a petulant child with her arms crossed...but to become our most healthiest selves, we have to be honest with ourselves and know what our weaknesses are. We admit "ok, I do this and it makes it harder for me to be healthy...because yeah, nuking pizza rolls at 4am is way easier than making an omelet."
We all have the ability of being our own worst enemy. So, admit what sabotages your efforts, then brainstorm, google ideas, ask others who are online (health websites like Spark People or even ask me), or discuss solutions with loved ones. Then set a game plan into motion. Eventually, you'll have many game plan strategies...but it has to start with one strategy and you work that strategy like nobody's business and it becomes habit. If I want leftovers of my muffins, I know to make double the recipe and then hide a container for myself. It's wonderful that my family wants to eat these healthy foods, too, but I know myself at 4am...and that rumbly tummy is really annoying.
I think I just made myself hungry talking about food...time to make lunch!
No comments:
Post a Comment