Easy, Healthy Breakfast

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Microwave some spinach to wilt. Add diced tomato and one egg. Stir. Microwave until egg is cooked. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with cheese, capers. Enjoy.

 

[rousseau]

With such a simple breakfast I'd throw all that in a small pan on the stove. Just as easy, but better results with the egg.

These days I usually stick to a healthy cereal with milk, a small bowl of fruit (sometimes topped with natural yogurt), and coffee. It's become so routine now that it's usually over before I realize it's happening.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

By "healthy cereal" you must mean some type whole grain. Same here. For whole rolled oats you can't beat the stovetop. I find that 4 cups water and 1.5 cups oats is the best combo, and not what the directions recommend, which recommends less water. It makes a lot but keeps in the fridge so is an easy healthy grab. I tend to drizzle olive oil on everything. Some frozen fruit from the yard is a great topping.

I try to use the microwave more these days because it is much faster and causes less mess. It is absolutely perfect for steaming veggies or wilting spinach. If I could buy one that doesn't beep at the end that would be better. Why do microwaves have to beep.

 

[steve_bank]

For me-

Unsweetened bran cereal for fiber and bowl movements.
Eggs. Precooked boiled or fried. Easy to cook eggs on a non stick pan.
Reheated rice and beans or a small microwaved potato, about 4 minutes.
For carbs a slice of thick chewy multi grain bread.

Scrambled eggs with onions and peppers and beans. Add hot sauce.

Scrabbled eggs with squash, zucchinis, peppers, onion, ham.

I like Canadian Black Forest ham. Minimally processed. Add some ham. Take an English muffin and make your own egg, cheese, ham sandwich. It is also an easy lunch to take to work.

There are TV ads for things to cook eggs in a microwave.

 

[rousseau]

By "healthy cereal" you must mean some type whole grain. Same here. For whole rolled oats you can't beat the stovetop. I find that 4 cups water and 1.5 cups oats is the best combo, and not what the directions recommend, which recommends less water. It makes a lot but keeps in the fridge so is an easy healthy grab. I tend to drizzle olive oil on everything. Some frozen fruit from the yard is a great topping.

I try to use the microwave more these days because it is much faster and causes less mess. It is absolutely perfect for steaming veggies or wilting spinach. If I could buy one that doesn't beep at the end that would be better. Why do microwaves have to beep.

I grew up microwaving eggs, but these days prefer a pan. One with a small diameter is pretty painless - crack two eggs in a bowl, whisk, pour in pan, heat until done. Provides a much better texture than the microwave. We usually do that for breakfast sandwiches, but might be worthwhile throwing some veg in there for simple omelettes.

 

[Ford]

When I was a kid, I used to have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. You'd boil the water, stir in the oats, and there it was.

Recently I figured "I used to be thin back then...maybe I should go back to that?"

So I bought this brand of instant oatmeal that was "healthy" and prepared it the old fashioned way. It never quite came out right. So on a whim, I followed the microwave directions instead.

It turned out perfect. 90 seconds of nuking, stir a bit, and done.

 

[DBT]

Grains are tasty, bread, biscuits, cakes, cereals, but the problem with grain is that it spikes blood sugar even in healthy people. Which is not a good thing to have happening on a regular basis, especially if one's lifestyle is largely sedatary. Plus grains can be inflammatory for a certain percentage of the population.

 

[steve_bank]

I think it depends on the cereal. Rice Crispies are awful. A lot of surface area leads to fast digestion.

I like raisin bran. It does not spike my glucose any more than anything else. They are coarse and chewy. I check it if I don't feel right not daily. My A!C is well below the limit.

I usually do not eat after dinner and go to bed a little hungry. I wake up hungry and my blood sugar is us ally on the low end. From testing I know my before and after meal glucose levels are well within norms for what I usually eat.

Good old Quaker Oars in the round box. It was a staple as a kid. I believe they are whole rolled oats. Somebody told me rolled oats was originaly made for farm animal feed.

A good light breakfast is plain yogurt with banana and tea or coffee.

 

[DBT]

It's true that not all grains spike blood sugar in the same way or rate, but it is easy to test the effect of any given grain by using a blood sugar meter one hour after eating. Do each cereal individually without the addition of fats or proteins, which helps to slow absorption.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

I grew up microwaving eggs, but these days prefer a pan. One with a small diameter is pretty painless - crack two eggs in a bowl, whisk, pour in pan, heat until done. Provides a much better texture than the microwave. We usually do that for breakfast sandwiches, but might be worthwhile throwing some veg in there for simple omelettes.

Spinach and cheese omelettes are super good and super easy, a skillet is the only way. We have a small Scanpan that is perfect. After the flip I drizzle a small bit of water into the skillet and add the lid to melt the cheese on top.

 

[steve_bank]

If you can't cook eggs in a non stick pan you are in deep trouble...

 

[steve_bank]

If you are worried about blood sugar spikes take a look at the OJ or other drinks you have for breakfast...just sayin.

OJ, pineapple juice, cranberry juice, apple juice.

 

[southernhybrid]

My easy, imo healthy, cheap breakfast is a mix of dry cereal topped with blueberries. You can laugh and say my breakfast isn't healthy but I've been eating dry, brand name cereal since I was two, and I'm still healthy at 69. I'll be 70 next month if the cereal doesn't kill me. I exercise and my weight is good, so I'm not going to lose sleep over my carb intake. I'm not even afraid of sugar in moderation. That's how brave I am.

 

[DBT]

I suppose that some folks are more genetically tolerant to sugar than others.

 

[rousseau]

Depends on the cereal. As long as it's not lucky charms or sugar coated it's probably fine.

I eat bran flakes and top it with raisins and fruit regularly. Almost got out of the habit when my wife bought a few boxes of sweetened Chex for a trail-mix last Christmas, but now I'm back to the gruel.

 

[Rhea]

Just decided to try a baked egg, because I was having commercial potatoes (like mini-tots) that cooked in the oven and didn’t want to do two things.

Small oval dish, a little butter, a tablespoon of milk, cracked in two eggs, sprinkled with scallions (pre-cut, stored in freezer for days like this), a pinch of shredded parmesan and put in the oven next to the tots.

The recipe said 375F for 14 minutes, but my tots were at 425F. Still worked fine. Came out great? I could have reduced the time by 5 min and had a softer egg (next time) but it was nice to have them both happening in the oven.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Depends on the cereal. As long as it's not lucky charms or sugar coated it's probably fine.

I eat bran flakes and top it with raisins and fruit regularly. Almost got out of the habit when my wife bought a few boxes of sweetened Chex for a trail-mix last Christmas, but now I'm back to the gruel.

We ate a lot of raisin bran, cheerios, corn flakes, and rice krispies as kids. We weren't into the sugary ones, parents just didn't buy any. Breakfast cereal today is usually oatmeal, plain old-fashioned rolled oats.

 

[southernhybrid]

I suppose that some folks are more genetically tolerant to sugar than others.

That could be. My mother ate tons of sweets and her diet wasn't ever very healthy by my standards, but she is 93, and until the age of 90, when she started having symptoms of dementia, she was always extremely healthy. Age is the biggest factor in the development of dementia, so I doubt her diet contributed to it. She has lived far more years than anyone in her family. She was always very active, and she continued to walk at least 2 miles a day until she was almost 91. There is plenty of new evidence that suggests exercise is more important than diet or weight. So, who knows....

I do eat lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fish at least three or four times a week. I eat lean meat in moderation several times a week. Maybe those things allow me to indulge in sweets and processed carbs, like rice, chocolate and cereal. I also count calories and try not to go over 2000 per day. I can eat a little more than that on the day that I do aerobic exercise. My BMI is about 20. I'm happy to have made it to my current age. I only care about quality of life.

My healthy suggestion is to eat more fiber if you're trying to lose weight. Only about 2/3 of the calories in fiber are absorbed. The rest are excreted by the bowels. I eat a lot of fiber. There are a lot of breakfast cereals that are high in fiber. I don't only eat high fiber cereals, and my cereals do have sugar in them, but I don't eat sugar coated cereal or add sugar to the cereal. I've added shredded wheat back in the mix, which is the only commercial cereal I've ever found that has no sugar added.

I don't think sugar is nearly as bad as people currently think, assuming they are able to control their intake of it. Some people can't, as it can be addictive. I would eat oat cereal for breakfast, but I'd be in the bathroom all morning if I did. My husband, on the other hand, eats oatmeal everyday for breakfast. He also indulges in a serving of high fat premium ice cream every night. He's not over weight but he does take a brisk walk of at least two miles every morning and does quite a bit of outdoor chores. He's had well controlled hypertension since the age of 32, most likely it's genetic. He also eats a bag of pistachios every week, a habit he probably got from his late grandmother. She was obese but she lived to the age of 95. Maybe we all need to eat more nuts!

I would agree that there is no perfect diet that works for everyone.

 

[Tammuz]

Oats porridge. Slightly more than a deciliter of oats, slightly less than 2 deciliters of water, a minuscule amount of salt, mix it, then 2 minutes in the microwave. Quick and healthy breakfast. Add milk or some replacement, and jam or berries (or nothing), depending on your preference.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Oats porridge. Slightly more than a deciliter of oats, slightly less than 2 deciliters of water, a minuscule amount of salt, mix it, then 2 minutes in the microwave. Quick and healthy breakfast. Add milk or some replacement, and jam or berries (or nothing), depending on your preference.

Oatmeal is the deal. It is so easy to make go with just about anything. Slice up a banana, add some healthy jam, toss on some nuts. It just works. Cook up 1.5 cups oats to 4 cups water, refrigerate and use whenever. I was never a fan of those prepared oatmeal packets.