Quick and Easy Breakfast: Breakfast Sandwich

Another simple breakfast for when you're short on time and want something tasty and nutritious!  This recipe is from the Insanity nutrition guide.

Breakfast Sandwich

1 sandwich

Ingredients

1 whole wheat English muffin, split

2 slices turkey bacon

1 egg

 salt and pepper, to taste

1 T cheddar or mozzarella cheese, optional 

sliced tomato

Toast the English muffin to desired doneness.  Cook the turkey bacon.  Scramble the egg (you can add another egg if you would like more protein), add salt and pepper to taste, and cook on low heat.  Top bottom of English muffin with one bacon slice, cut in half.  Fold eggs over and top with cheese and the other slice of bacon.  Add tomato, if desired.  Put the top of the muffin on and eat!

I serve this with a side of fruit to have a complete breakfast.  Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Breakfast: Omelet

Eggs are such an easy food for breakfast because they don't take long to cook.  They are also packed with nutrients and protein.  Unless you have high cholesterol, you're good to eat the yolk, but you could just as easily make this with egg whites if you prefer.  I really like omelets (or omelettes, if you're fancy) because there are so many different combinations you can make.  Serve your omelet with a side of fruit for a complete breakfast!

Omelet

1 serving

Ingredients

1 t olive oil

1/4 red onion, chopped

1 c spinach

1 T feta cheese

2 eggs

2 T water (or milk, optional)

dash salt and pepper

Put 1/2 t olive oil into a non-stick pan and heat over medium heat.  Add onion and cook for a few minutes, then add spinach until wilted (I just throw in a big handful since it wilts down so much).  Remove onions and spinach from the pan.  Put remaining 1/2 t olive oil into pan and swirl it around.  Whisk eggs together in a bowl with some salt and pepper (if desired) and 2 T water or milk (optional).  Add eggs to pan and push back the edges to get any uncooked egg onto the pan.  Add cheese and vegetables, fold over the egg, and cook until warmed.

• There are so many options that you can do with an omelet.  You can use any vegetables you want:  bell pepper, broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes...whatever you like!  You can also change the cheese to any kind and make some really yummy combinations.

• If you're prepping this ahead of time, go ahead and cook the vegetables, crack and whisk the eggs, along with salt, pepper, and water or milk (if you wish) and that way all you'll have to do in the morning is cook the eggs and warm up the vegetables.

• You could add a side of turkey bacon and a slice of toast if you wanted to add another protein and a carb.

Quick and Easy Breakfast: Oatmeal with Berries

Good morning!  Today I decided to make oatmeal.  I find that when I'm especially hungry, oatmeal is a good thing to have because it fills me up.  This recipe also has protein powder and blueberries so I get my serving of everything I need to start the day right in one bowl.  I have been making this recipe for years, as it came with the Insanity workout program.  The nutrition guide is full of recipes for every meal (again, back when programs actually included useful recipes)!  Here we go!

Oatmeal with Berries

1 serving

I'll work on the presentation, I promise.

 Ingredients

1/2 c quick cook oats

1 1/2 T walnuts, chopped

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/2 c blueberries

1/4 c milk (optional)

Bring 1 c of water to a boil and add oats.  Return to boil and lower to medium-high heat.  Cook, stirring frequently, until most of the water is gone.  Pour oatmeal into a bowl and top with protein powder, blueberries, and walnuts.  If desired, add milk.  Enjoy!

If you want to prep ahead of time:

-measure out dry oats and keep in a container to cook in the morning.  You can also pre-cook the oats the night before, but I found that it gets kind of gluey in the microwave when reheating.

-measure blueberries and wash

-measure walnuts and protein powder and store together in airtight container 

Some notes:

*Milk is totally optional here, it's just used to add some liquid to the oats and cook them down.  You can use any kind of milk that you like. 
*Make sure you're buying raw, unsalted nuts.

*Remember, if you're using the portion fix meal plan, measure your oats cooked.

Quick and Easy Breakfast: Toast with Cottage Cheese

Welcome to today's breakfast recipe.  If you thought the last one was simple, we're getting even easier here!  This recipes requires NO cooking (unless you count making toast as cooking) and is tasty and simple to make when you're on the go!

Nut Butter and Preserves Toast with Cottage Cheese

1 serving

Please excuse the presentation!

Ingredients

1 slice whole-wheat toast

1 t all-natural nut butter (I used peanut)

1 t no sugar added preserves

1/2 c cottage cheese

1 c fruit

Put bread in the toaster and toast to desired crispness.  Top with nut butter and preserves.  Serve with cottage cheese (or you could have Greek yogurt) and fruit on the side.

If you want to prep ahead of time:

-take bread out of freezer and defrost in fridge overnight (if frozen)
-measure out cottage cheese and put in airtight container
-measure out and cut up fruit and put in airtight container
-you could even measure out the nut butter and preserves and put them in the same container so in the morning, all you have to do is toast and spread!

Quick and Easy Breakfast: Waffles with Yogurt and Berries

Good morning!  Breakfast can certainly be a challenging meal for a lot of people.  It's early, you don't feel like eating anything, or you just don't have time.  I used to hate eating breakfast!  I didn't skip it, but I would have to force myself to eat something.  Over time I've conditioned my body to be able to eat early in the morning so I can set the tone for the rest of my day with a delicious, nutritious meal. 

Here is a recipe from the Chalean Extreme nutrition guide.  This book is full of recipes (ya know, back when workout programs came with more than two recipes and "suggestions" for healthy foods) and I wish I had started using it earlier.  The program is challenging, but I really enjoy it and I wish I had gotten into it sooner!  Okay, without further ado...

Waffles with Yogurt and Berries

 Ingredients

2 whole wheat waffles

1/3 cup vanilla yogurt (I used Greek yogurt and added a little vanilla extract)

1 cup berries (I did 1/2 c each of blueberries and strawberries)

1 T walnuts, chopped

1 T maple syrup

 

Toast waffles, top with yogurt, berries, walnuts, and syrup.  Enjoy!

It doesn't get much simpler than that!  Here's what can you do if you want to prep ahead of time:  

-take waffles out of freezer the night before (if frozen) and put in an airtight container to defrost in the fridge overnight

-measure out berries, wash, slice, and push them in a container (I recommend doing this only if you're eating the berries the next morning.  If you're prepping for the whole week, don't wash or slice them until the night before.)

-measure out yogurt and put in container

-measure out walnuts, chop them, and put in container