Break the Breakfast Monotony

I've been clean eating now since January and eating fresh produce has become something I don't have to consciously think about any more. It amazes me when I walk through the supermarkets some of the items that are allowed to have the label 'healthy' on them. The ones that bothers me the most are 'healthy breakfast cereals'. There are so many unprocessed breakfast options out there and yet so many people are choosing to   chow down on sugar laden 'healthy' cereals full of ingredients that probably aren't doing much for you. So I have kindly taken it into my own hands to give you guys some breakfast alternatives. Enjoy.

Fruit with Greek yoghurt and nuts

There's not much more to it... Pictured here is half a cantaloupe melon - I used a spoon to hollow out a bit and stuck the remains in the fridge for another time. Then I put in a little Greek yoghurt (high in protein) some rather smooshed raspberries and a couple of chopped almonds.

In a bowl, in a tupperware eaten at your desk or on the train - and you won't have to worry about spilling milk everywhere. Winner.

Overnight chia seeds &/Or oats

Chia seeds and oats are both mega high in fibre. Chia seeds have a lot of nutritional qualities and a little goes a long way. I don't do measurements really - pictured above is probably 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and 2 or 3 of oats. Stick in liquid of your choice (above is almond milk with a tsp of raw cacao powder) make sure you put enough liquid in to cover the seeds and oats as they expand. Then top with fruit of your choice. I stuck in a tsp of peanut butter and a banana. Again, this can be eaten pretty much anywhere, handy, delicious and nutritious.

Porridge like you've probably never had it before.

Cupboard staples don't mean tinned spaghetti - not in my cupboard anyway. This porridge is really something else. Just thinking about how good it is makes me want it now.

Pictures here is: Oats (this bag cost me 0.69p and has lasted ages) gluten free oats are available but more pricey. Flaxseeds, really high in fibre and source of omegas. These are usually about £4 a pouch but I only ever use 1tbsp at a time and so they last a really long time. Bulgar another cheap wholesome grain, sesame seeds, walnuts and good quality maple syrup.


To make for 1 person I use 1/4 cup of oats and bulgar (combined so 1/8 of each). Then 1/4 cup of almond milk and 1/4 cup of water. Chuck it all in a saucepan and cook on a gentle heat on the hob until the grains are cooked to your preference (around 5 mins). Transfer to a bowl and stir in 1tbsp of flaxseeds, 1tsp of sesame seeds and top with walnuts and maple syrup to your taste.

This makes quite a small portion - as much as this is some nutritional powerhouse porridge it's probably quite high in calories. Not that I count them but common sense prevails. I served mine with a spinach and banana smoothie just for good measure.

Leftover brown rice

Weird right? Wrong. So many countries in the world have rice for breakfast so why not? I had some left over in the fridge so I heated it up on the hob with almond milk and added walnuts and maple syrup. This was really good and makes me sad that I don't eat grains more often! Probably the closest thing to cereal (unless you actually make your own muesli) without any added nasties or sugar. I mean obviously maple syrup is sugar but it's Glycemic Index is lower than ordinary sugar lowering the risk of insulin spikes.

Also served it with a tiny bit of Greek yoghurt and pomegranate and a slice of melon.

Pancakes vs shop bought granola...
At the weekend I made myself my banana, egg and coconut pancakes (with more maple syrup of course). 3 ingredients: 1 banana, 1 egg and 20g dessicated coconut. That's what goes into what you see below.

Here's the generic Granola my boyfriend keeps at my house for when he's over. All in all I guess it could be worse. Sugar mixed fruits and seeds (12.5%) is not something |I'm keen on - how much of that 12% is sugar? Sulphur dioxide... and the elusive 'flavouring'. Who knows what that is. Anyway, like I said, it could be worse and I'm not actually here to ingredient bash. I'm here to portion control bash.

So... I poured him out a bowl. He's a growing lad so I poured him a bigger portion than what I would for myself but I still don't think this portion is particularly big. Overcome with curiosity I reached for the scales. the nutritional info above details the pathetic serving seen on the right hand side. What my boyfriend consumed (he really doesn't care as I'm sure many don't but someone's reading this right?) is over double what the recommended serving size is. That's over 430 calories (before the milk was added!) and more than a whopping 64g of carbohydrate - 22g of which from sugar... I won't say any more on the matter.

Finally, my breakfast pretty much everyday is smoothies a la protein. Protein powder or not this is the fastest and easiest way to get a tonne of vitamins and micro nutrients into your diet. Just blend whatever you want - I use my food processor liquidizer attachment but for years I used this smoothie maker. I think £25 is a small price to pay (if you're going to use it of course).

This was actually this mornings breakfast and is the first time I haven't had a green smoothie in a LONG time but I haven't been food shopping and I'm away for the weekend so I had to make do with what I had, which was coconut water (250ml), a bag of frozen assorted fruit I made months ago and had forgotten about. I believe there was a little banana, pear, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries in there. 1 tablespoon of chi seeds and a scoop of vanilla protein powder.

This is my usual green smoothie which is 250ml unsweetened almond milk, 1 frozen banana, loads of spinach, 1 tablespoon of flax seeds and a scoop of vanilla protein powder.

I find protein in the morning fills me up for longer than anything else - adding a scoop of some nut butter or a raw egg (if you dare to, I'm in no rush to do so) is also a good way of upping the protein content.




So, there are some of my healthy breakfast alternatives to cereal... Note I haven't even touched on eggs! Those bastards are awesome but I prefer them as a lunch or dinner thing. But poached, fried, boiled, whatever. The're awesome. There are so many options - poached eggs with asparagus, breakfast omelettes, scrambled, they go great with loads of veggies.

Pictured left was my small lunch the other day when I just didn't have time. 1 corn tortilla with a bit of peanut butter rolled up around a banana. A grand combination. Not the most nutritional meal but you win some you lose some.


I hope this has given you some inspiration to jazz up your breakfasts if your a daily cereal muncher :-)

Enjoy your weekend, keep it healthy!

Minnie
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