Power Breakfast for a Busy Day Ahead: Steelcut Oats

If you read this blog, there's no secret that I love, love eggs. Yes, I wrote LOVE twice because that's how much I love eggs...But, I enjoy oatmeal for breakfast a lot. Unfortunately, instant oatmeal varieties in the grocery store are loaded with sugar and strange dried fruit. It's so easy to cook oats on the stove top that I'll make it even during the work week while I'm getting ready.

Here is a photo of my breakfast today, which will give me enough energy for my workout and errands this morning. My power breakfast is steelcut oats, cooked with pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract, and topped with honey, fresh blueberries, slivered almonds and lowfat milk. Blueberries are an antioxidant and are high in fiber, but low in sugar.

The entire breakfast is 350 calories, 7g fiber, and 12g protein. Eating whole grains gives you longer, slow-burning energy and stamina to help you through your activities.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup quick-cooking steelcut oats
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbs honey
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 tbsp slivered almonds
  
• 1/2 cup lowfat milk

Preparation:

• Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. When water is boiling, add steelcut oats. Reduce heat and add oats. Stir. Cover and simmer for 7 minutes.
  
• Check oats after 3 minutes. Stir in pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. Cover. After full 7 minute cooking time, let stand for 1 more minute (covered).
  
• Rinse and drain blueberries - or better yet, do that when you buy them and store them in an airtight container to use them faster.
• Serve oats in a bowl and stir in honey. Add blueberries, almonds, and top with milk. Now, you're ready to eat.
  

Now, I'm off to the gym. When you try this, let me know what you think with the energy you get from this power breakfast.

Update after my workout: I ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill and did a 40 minute strength training workout and went grocery shopping and I feel great. I think the breakfast was the perfect fuel!

Like Apple Pie? Try this Yummy Shake Before Your Next Workout

My coworker friend, Rob Neff, has been following the blog and as you can see from his picture, he's a active athletic person. He loves to race his bike outdoors in the mud! And biking in the mud takes a lot of energy! He shared this shake recipe with me for all of you to try. I really love apple pie so I can't wait to try it myself!

Apple Pie Shake
Try this before your workout to give you the stamina to challenge yourself.

• 2 cups water
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1/3 cup organic canned apple pie filling
• 3 tbs crumbled whole wheat graham crackers

Nutrition: 245 calories, 21.5g protein, 37g carbs, 1.5g fat

Rob recommends this shake for fast-digesting protein and branched-chain amino acids found in whey to fuel your body for your workout and increase blood flow to your muscles to workout longer. The shake also has slow-digesting carbs (apple pie filling and crackers) for long-lasting energy, which prevents insulin level spikes. Insulin spikes actually slow the fat burning process.

This shake is a great option for you and in his words "super yummy!" Give it a try and tell us what you think.

For more smoothie recipes, check out my February post. And if you have a recipe you'd like to share, send me an email.

This Breakfast Has Me California Dreaming...

I'm leaving to visit my family in California in a few days and it's all I can think about because my breakfast was inspired by my home state flavors.

I was using up my sauteed mushrooms and avocado from last night's dinner and it turned out well. Try this breakfast out for something different. I'm going to the gym later this morning so I thought it would be a great preworkout breakfast to give me long lasting energy.

Avocado-Mushroom and Smoked Mozzarella Breakfast Burrito (serves 1)

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup sauteed cremini (or Potabella) mushrooms
• 3 slices avocado, light salted
• 2 tbs shredded smoked mozzarella cheese
• 8-inch flour tortilla
• 1 tbs salsa verde

Preparation:

• Preheat skillet on medium heat.
• Crack eggs in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and whisk with a fork.
• Coat skillet with cooking spray and add eggs. Scramble.
• Warm sauteed mushrooms (in the microwave for 30 seconds)
• Warm tortilla (in microwave for 25 seconds). Add avocado slices on tortilla, then layer with mushrooms, scrambled eggs, and top with shredded cheese.
• Add salsa verde or hot sauce, if desired.
  

This breakfast is really easy and the combination of the buttery avocado and the smokey cheese is great with the eggs in the morning. After eating this breakfast, I was able to run longer, both in mileage and time. It is a great power breakfast!

In Love with Smoothies...

Smoothies are great for a quick breakfast or pre/post-workout snacks. My love affair with smoothies started in college in 1995 when I had my first Jamba Juice smoothie. I can't say the same for the wheat germ juice shot! That tasted like mowed lawn - no joke!

Anyway, here are a couple recipes for you to try. These two recipes are high in heart-healthy potassium found in melon, pumpkin, banana, and yogurt.

Smoothies are a great way to use ripe fruit. I got a over-ripe honeydew in my produce box this summer and came up an idea to use it in a smoothie. It's very mild in flavor and delicious. Also, I get tons of bananas in my box. I freeze the bananas when ripe and use them in smoothies or defrost for baking banana bread or energy bars. To freeze bananas peel, cut in half, then place in a freezer bag. It's really easy. And frozen bananas are great for smoothies to add body.

Vanilla-Honeydew Smoothie
A. Berkey
Serves 1

1 cup cubed honeydew melon
1/4 cup natural lowfat vanilla yogurt
2 tbs water
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
Dash of stevia powder or drop of honey to sweeten

Process ingredients in the blender. For colder version, add 1/4 cup crushed ice. Serve immediately.

Banana Pumpkin Smoothie
Cooking Light - "The combination of banana, pumpkin, yogurt, and orange juice gives this breakfast beverage 740 milligrams of potassium per serving. "
Serves 2

1 cup natural low-fat vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree, (chilled)
1/2 cup crushed ice cubes
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 tbs brown sugar (or honey)
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Dash cloves
1 ripe frozen banana

Combine yogurt and next 8 ingredients (through banana) in a blender, and process until smooth. Garnish with dash of ground cinnamon, if desired. Serve immediately.

Yield: 2 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

CALORIES 218(9% from fat); FAT 2.2g (sat 1.1g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.1g); PROTEIN 8.4g; CHOLESTEROL 6mg; CALCIUM 243mg; SODIUM 87mg; FIBER 5.5g; IRON 1.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 44.5g

Power breakfast that kept me running, literally!

My "power breakfast" gave me lots of energy this morning for my workout. I jogged on the treadmill for 50 minutes and 3.6 miles. Yeah, not a fast runner! I go for aerobic endurance. Anyway, since I felt so good working out, I thought I'd share the easy breakfast. I made this for me and Aaron, but this recipe is for 1 serving. You can easily prep this for the work week by doing the broccoli ahead and cracking the eggs into a plastic container like in the picture.



Broccoli, Ham and Cheddar Cheese Omelet with Toast and Hash Browns

Ingredients:
3 eggs (1 whole; 2 whites)
1 cup broccoli
1/2 oz ham (or turkey bacon or Canadian bacon)
1/2 oz cheese
1 cup frozen hash browns
1 slice whole grain bread
Butter
Cooking spray
Salt & pepper

How:

1. (Blanch Broccoli) In a small saucepan, add water (half-full) and heat on high. Bring water to a boil. Preheat medium size non-stick skillet and heat on medium high for hash browns. Preheat small skillet on medium heat (for eggs).
2. While water is coming up to a boil, rinse broccoli and cut into small florets. Cut ham in small pieces.
3. Crack eggs and separate 2 of the eggs into a small bowl. Discard the two yolks. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Medium skillet should be warm. Spray skillet with cooking spray and drop in frozen hash browns. Let hash browns cook on medium and stir in a small amount of butter (1 tsp) and add salt and pepper.
5. Water should be boiling. Drop in the florets and cook for 2-3 minutes until bright green. Drain in colander and put back in small saucepan. Season with a bit of butter, salt and pepper. Keep warm. Otherwise, broccoli won't have much flavor.
6. While hash browns are cooking, spray small skillet with cooking spray. Beat eggs with a fork and add to preheated small skillet. Allow eggs to cook in a single even layer. Pull from the sides so the eggs can fill in and cook.
7. While eggs are cooking, watch hash browns by stirring to ensure they are cooking through and not sticking.
8. Toast bread.
9. Flip when eggs are set. Immediately add cooked broccoli, diced ham, and shredded cheese to half the eggs. Pull the empty side of the omelet over to cover the filling and pull off the heat onto a plate.
10. Serve the eggs with hot sauce if desired. If the cheese isn't melted, put the omelet in the microwave for 30 seconds. Serve the toast and hash browns and you're ready to go.

For digestion, I wait 2 hours after I eat to exercise. I also had a liter of water before the gym and another liter during my workout.

Can't wait for breakfast? Here's a tip: If you're starving when you're cooking breakfast because you wake up hungry (like me!), I snack on fruit while I'm preparing breakfast. Good thing I had some cubed pineapple in the fridge!