Breakfast can be a total pain. When you dont plan ahead, and you leave the house without breakfast as I did three times this week (because I was working at 7am), you have so little in the way of choice of something that will fill you up and still be healthy and low calorie. On Friday I decided to have a cheat and had raspberry scones with jam and clotted cream. It was absolutely amazing. But you cant have that every day, right? So what to do?
I put together a list of breakfast options that are high protein, not hugely packed with calories, and a mix of 'loads of time' breakfasts and simple, easy, day to day options. Ive linked to recipes where needed.
This is as much for myself to get back on track with my breakfast eating habits which have not been great. The other thing to say is that I have a green drink for breakfast at around 7.30am every morning except on the weekends, so I usually will eat something from the below menu at around 10am, because I dont find a green drink keeps me going until lunch.
Option 1: Porridge
Ive had a blog post about my love for porridge before. I have eaten porridge every morning, more or less, since forever. I love it, but sometimes you need a break. I'm on a low-carb kick at the moment, so am looking for high protein options for breakfast.
Option 2: Porridge substitute
You can make any of your favourite porridge breakfasts with a number of different porridge substitutes, like millet, buckwheat, or any other grain. One great substitute is quinoa, which is a grain with an incredibly nutritional structure. Its a brilliant high-protein breakfast option, and its a complete protein, meaning it contains all 9 amino acids. Its also high in iron and other minerals and vitamins, and is a bit of a powerhouse of a grain. You can just eat it with maple syrup and a nut butter, which is my favourite thing. You can add nuts too - pecans are amazing with the maple syrup. Add a touch of cream if youre not watching your fat intake :) This is something you will need to prepare the night before. What you can do is on a Sunday, make a massive batch of quinoa, then pop it in a container in the fridge. You can then portion it out during the week (and use it for savory dishes and as part of your lunch/dinner too).
Option 3: Desert for breakfast - Chia seed pudding
Chia seeds are little nutritional powerhouses too, full of protein, omega 3s, and they absorb 10 times their size in liquid, making a kind of tapioca/semolina pudding consistency. Dont knock it till you try it.
2 cups unsweetened almond milk (You can also use coconut, soy, or regular milk)
(*For a thicker pudding, replace 1 cup of almond milk with 1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt or non-dairy yogurt of your choice)
1¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons good quality maple syrup
Pinch of salt
Suggested Toppings:
Orange segments and pistachios
Mixed berries and lemon zest
Sliced Bananas with cinnamon and almond butter
Blueberries, toasted almonds and maple syrup
Place the chia seeds in a medium bowl. Add your almond milk, yogurt, and liquid ingredients. Cover with cling film and pop in the fridge overnight.
During the summer this makes a great cold alternative to warm cereal, and chia seeds are nutritionally amazing.
Option 4: Eggs
I always used to see people talking about having eggs for breakfast, and who the hell has the time for that sh*t? You know who? Everyone. Because they take hardly any time to make. You can have a scrambled egg on toast in 3 minutes, tops. You can have an omelette or a poached egg in 4-5 mins. Preparation is key for anything 'involved', so the night before, you can chop any ingredients you'd like to have in your egg - making a basic breakfast omlette, I'd chop one chilli, 1 clove garlic, 1 small onion, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and mix with 2 eggs, salt, pepper, oregano, and a drop of milk/almond milk. Pop this in a frying pan first thing in the morning and youve got an amazing breakfast. Serve with sliced avocado, a squeeze of lemon juice, roasted tomato and a slice of spelt bread. You can serve regular scrambled eggs the same way, or a perfectly poached egg. On the weekends, I add vegetarian sausages and fried onions.
Option 5: Pancakes
Ive given a recipe for protein pancakes before, but you can make any pancake healthy by substituting white flour for wholemeal, gram flour (chickpea flour), coconut flour, spelt, or any other kind of alternative to white flour which is nutritionally empty and fat-making. Keep your recipe simple, 2 eggs, 100g of any flour, 300ml almond, coconut or other dairy alternative, and add anything else you like - chia seeds, flax seeds, etc. Fry with coconut oil or EVOO, and top with chopped banana, nuts, maple syrup and nut butter. Yum! Using a blender, it takes approx. 10 minutes to make a stack of pancakes.
Option 6: Fruit and yoghurt with a protein shake
If youre pushed for time, a great breakfast is simply a pot of 0% greek style yoghurt, poured over a punnet of blueberries, raspberries and a sliced banana (or any fruit of your choice). You can supplement the calories and protein by including a protein shake with this. I'm in love with chocolate protein at the moment, its like having chocolate milk for breakfast, and its delicious.
Option 7: Cereal
If you absolutely want to have a bowl of cereal, there are a few you can choose from. But all processed cereals are high in sugar, salt and sometimes calories. Dont fool yourself into having special K, you may as well have a bar of chocolate for all the goodness it gives you. You'd be much better off sticking with something as natural as possible - weetabix, all bran or museli. This is my last resort for breakfast as cereals are just pretty crappy when it comes to being healthy and filling a lot of the time. Read the side of the box before you buy and compare sugar and sodium levels!
Hope this is useful to some of you for whom breakfast can be tricky. Happy breakfasting :)
Starving!
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