Archives for February 2010

Champion Breakfasts: PBB Smoothie

February 25, 2010 By Anne Simpson

Smoothies are the ultimate in breakfast convenience - seriously, a breakfast you can drink?! Nothing is more convenient, not even the drive through. And certainly it is much healthier than said drive-through. In fact, unless you add ice cream, thereby turning it into a milk shake instead of a smoothie, it’s pretty hard to de-healthify the smoothie.

To be honest, I hesitate to even post this, because I never really understood the necessity of having a recipe for smoothies. I just always dump a bunch of the stuff in the blender, and if it tastes good, I drink it. If not, I dump it down the drain and kick myself for wasting ingredients.OK, so maybe sometimes I do need a recipe! I do admit that it is fun to browse through smoothie recipes to get ideas for what ingredients to include so as not to stay in my favorite rut of milk/yogurt/OJ/banana (YUM!).

Whether you are looking for instruction or inspiration, here’s my latest smoothie creation that did not go down the drain. Be warned: this is not a smoothie for the faint-hearted as it packs a whalloping 530 calories. But don’t be afraid: these 530 calories are chock-full of protein, healthy fat and fiber that will last you at least until noon, probably even farther. The perfect convenient and healthy solution for those mornings when you hit the floor running and don’t have a seat until the afternoon. If you’re really reticent about all those calories, try halving the amounts of peanut butter and yogurt. It will be a thinner consistency, but still flavorful and still healthy. If you’re concerned about fat intake, use low-fat milk and yogurt (but don’t say I didn’t warn you about the consequences). Use a good quality yogurt that doesn’t have extra sugar and other ingredients: I used Trader Joe’s, which is all natural (including real banana puree and not just artificial banana flavoring) and has only about a teaspoon of sugar added.

PBB (Peanut Butter Banana) Smoothie

2 TBSP creamy all-natural peanut butter (no hydrogenated oils)

1/2 cup banana flavored yogurt

1/2 cup whole milk

1 ripe banana, peeled

1 TBSP ground flax seed

1 tsp honey

Place all the ingredients in the blender, and blend at least 30 seconds or until smooth and creamy. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

Like I said, not much is QUICKer than a smoothie in the morning. I think maybe five minutes from putting the empty blender on the counter and slurping the last drop from your glass is about all it takes.

Pretty EASY, too, easier than going through the drive-through on your way to work.

Much CHEAPer than going through the drive through, as well. Cheaper, also, than buying pre-packaged convenience breakfast foods.

A very HEALTHY convenient breakfast choice. The combination of fats, proteins, and healthy carbs will give you the energy you need to start your day, and the banana gives you your first serving of fruits for the day as well. Honey is the healthiest sweetener possible, and the healthy bacteria in the yogurt will give your immune system some needed ammunition. Just be sure to use an all-natural peanut butter without any hydrogenated oils or salt.

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Beverages, Breakfast, On The Table Tagged With: smoothie

Champion Breakfasts: Ginger Pear Oatmeal

February 4, 2010 By Anne Simpson

I have been very pleased so far with the success of enjoying a 600-calorie breakfast each day: I feel fuller each day until at least noon, whereas I normally get hungry around 10:00 or 11:00. I find it easier to stick to my overall calorie budget for the day and - this is the best part - I have lost 1 pound since I started this experiment on Monday!

I’m still developing a repertoire of filling, healthy breakfasts that don’t take a lot of time or energy. The “main” meal is the hardest part; it’s easy enough to eat a piece of fruit or serving of yogurt to increase the calorie quotient, but the main dish is more difficult.

I have to admit I’m not a huge fan of oatmeal, at least not plain oatmeal. Bor-ing. If I’m going to eat it, I have to dress it up somehow, so yesterday I “dressed it up” with some candied ginger and grated pear. Yum! Next time, I’ll chop the candied ginger even smaller, because I liked the flavor it gave, but I wasn’t crazy about the chunks of dried ginger I bit into. At least it woke me up! And certainly I could have chopped the pears instead of grating them but I’m not a huge fan of the texture of baked fruits. Blech. So if I’m baking or cooking with fruit, I grate it, just my personal preference.

This recipe makes 2 servings, and each serving is a little over 200 calories, perfect for either a low-calorie diet or the foundation of a more calorie-laden meal.

Ginger Pear Oatmeal
1 3/4 cup water
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
1 small pear, grated
1 TBSP finely chopped candied ginger
1/4 tsp ginger powder

Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the oats, pear, and ginger and reduce heat to medium. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until desired consistency, stirring occasionally.

This was delicious topped with a dab of butter and a drizzle of honey.

It’s very QUICK, especially with the quick-cooking oats. Perhaps not as quick as instant, but one can’t have everything!

It’s also very EASY. It would be even easier to quickly chop up the pear, but grating didn’t take that much more effort.

Oatmeal always makes a great CHEAP breakfast. Adding a little fruit doesn’t cost much but adds a lot of flavor.

It’s very HEALTHY, also. Oatmeal is a great source of fiber, which is good for your heart and your cholesterol levels, among other things. Steel-cut oats or other less processed oats would be even better, but quick-cooking is what I happened to have on hand. Adding fruit and ginger increases the health value by adding nutrients and more fiber. To make a complete breakfast, though, you’ll need to add at least a protein like yogurt, cheese, or a breakfast meat. I ate mine with a hard-boiled egg and a whole wheat English muffin to bring my calorie count closer to 600.

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Breakfast, Home, On The Table Tagged With: oatmeal

Champion Breakfasts: Individual Oven Pancakes

February 2, 2010 By Anne Simpson

I read in an article recently about a study that indicated it is more effective for long-term weight loss and maintenance to eat a big breakfast (to the tune of 600 calories) full of carbs and protein, than to reduce carbs and calories all together. In the study, which took place over an 8-month period, half of the women participated in a low-carb diet and were permitted only 1024 calories a day (yikes!). The other half were permitted 1240 calories (yippee) a day, but were specifically requested to eat a high-calorie, high-protein breakfast of approximately 610 calories. For the first 4 months, the low-cal, low-carb group actually dropped more weight than the big-breakfast group, but over the next 4 months, like the proverbial tortoise, the big-breakfast group actually continued losing weight while the first group re-gained most of the weight they had lost. In the end, the big-breakfast group had lost 21% of their body weight, while the low-cal, low-carb group had only lost 4.5%.

Everyone has been saying for years that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so this should not be a huge surprise to anyone. I realized, though, that I have possibly been going about my attempt at weight loss the wrong way: my goal has been 1400 calories total for the day (as recommended to me by SparkPeople - different people with different weight loss goals will have different calorie requirements), evenly spread out with 400 calories at each meal, and 2 100-calorie snacks. For the month of February, I decided to tweak my approach and instead use up 600 calories at breakfast, and split up the remaining 800 or so on lunch, dinner and snacks.

That means I have to change up my breakfast eating habits, which actually change a lot depending on what is going on in my life. I’ve really been trying to be more varied and creative this year so far by actually fixing myself breakfast every morning rather than relying on a box of cold cereal, or the occasional oatmeal, so it’s not TOO much of a stretch to make my breakfast a little bit bigger and badder.

One of my favorite breakfasts ever is the Oven Pancake - you know the kind that puffs up as it bakes and then deflates as it cools? It’s sooo yummy and I love that I can pop it in the oven while I feed my Certain Little Someone his breakfast … and let’s not forget about fixing the coffee! I also love that it takes only the most basic of ingredients: eggs, milk, flour and that’s it. My problem is that a typical recipe makes enough for four servings, so heretofore I’ve only prepared it on the weekends when at least my DH is there to eat it with me. It hit me this week that all I really have to do is reduce the recipe ingredients and use a smaller pan to make myself an individual oven pancake. Duh!

According to SparkPeople’s calculations, this pancake is about 320 calories, which is great if you’re looking for a 400 or less calorie breakfast. I, however, added a container of Greek yogurt and a clementine to bring it up pretty close to 600 calories altogether. I served it with a heaping tablespoon of homemade orange jam… yummy! To make the pancake itself even healthier, I tweaked the recipe a bit and made it entirely whole wheat. You can even up the ante by adding a bit of oat bran or flax seed to increase the fiber and other nutrients.

Individual Oven Pancake

1 TBSP butter

1 egg

3/8 cup whole milk

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Heat the oven to 400F. Place the butter in an 8-inch oven-safe frying pan and place in the oven until butter is melted and lightly browned. Meanwhile, beat the egg lightly in a small bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Once butter is melted and browned, remove the pan from the oven and pour in the batter. Return to the oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes. The pancake will puff up, and then deflate after you remove it from the oven. Slide onto a plate to serve and top with jam, fruit, honey, syrup, or your other favorite topping.

This is a great QUICK breakfast recipe. Mixing together the ingredients takes no time at all, and the baking time is less than 15 minutes.

What could be EASY-er? I think it’s even easier than making pancakes from a mix. I guess pulling a frozen pancake or waffle from a box would be easier, but then that wouldn’t be healthier or cheaper!

Minimal ingredients make it CHEAP. I would guess that, depending on how much you pay for each ingredient, the total cost would be about $0.40 or so, give or take a few pennies.

It’s definitely HEALTHY, depending on how you top it. A little carb, a little protein, a little fat: the makings of a healthy, balanced breakfast. All you need to add is some fruit!