Healthy Breakfast Tips

By North Star


Get your day off to a healthy start with breakfast. Breakfast literally means to "break the fast". It has probably been 10-12 hours since you last ate the evening before. Use the first meal of your day to refuel with healthy food choices. Use some of these ideas to help get you started or give your morning meal a little more variety.

* Drizzle a little warm syrup over frozen low-fat whole grain or Belgian waffles. Top with fresh or frozen berries.
* Scoop 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese into a cantaloupe or honeydew half.
* Fix a quick breakfast smoothie. Blend 1/2 cup each of plain low-fat yogurt and orange juice with 1/2 banana and a few frozen berries.
* Stuff scrambled eggs (or egg substitute) into a whole-grain pita or tortilla. Top with salsa.
* Make a healthy breakfast muffin sandwich. Assemble with a toasted English muffin, 1 slice of low-fat cheese, and scrambled egg substitute.
* Stir fresh fruit and/or cereal (like raisin bran, low-fat granola or wheat germ) into low-fat or non-fat plain or vanilla yogurt.
* Cook oatmeal with finely diced or grated apple and a little cinnamon. Add raisins before serving if desired.
* Top a bagel with non-fat cream cheese and thin apple or pear slices.
* Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on toast, bagels, or English muffins. Top with banana slices. (Or spread peanut butter on a flour tortilla and wrap around a banana to "grab and go".)
* Combine 2 tablespoons peanut butter with 1 tablespoon wheat germ. Spread on apple or pear slices, bananas, whole-grain bagels or toast.
* Use pancake or biscuit mixes to make small batches of healthy pancakes. Add applesauce or grated fruit to the batter.
* Make your own healthy muffins. Make the full recipe and freeze any extras for later.
* Make French toast with whole grain bread and egg substitute. Drizzle with a little syrup and top with fresh fruit.
* No egg substitute? Use 1 whole egg plus 1-2 egg whites for scrambled eggs, French toast, omelets, and batters for muffins, pancakes, etc.
* Stuff half a whole-wheat pita with 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese and sliced peaches, pears, or banana.
* Choose breakfast cereals with at least 5 grams of fiber and no more than 8 grams of sugar per serving.

Information from www.westernbaptist.com
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