what can i have for breakfast?

what can i have for breakfast? how about pancakes with fruit topping?

Breakfast is important. The most important meal of the day. That’s been pretty well established by just about everyone from Mom to your Doctor. So if it’s so doggoned important, what should we be eating?

Let’s start by saying what we shouldn’t be eating.

• My pet peeve breakfast – Pop-Tarts: These are not, not, not a breakfast food. First of all, they are cardboard with a schmear of jelly. Or worse chocolate or some cinnamony concoction. Buy a box of Pop-Tart and a Snickers Bar. Compare the nutrition data. The Snickers is probably better for you, more protein. Eat the Snickers and use the Pop-Tart to balance that wobbly table over there. Besides, the nutrition data is for ONE Pop-Tart and there are two in the envelope. Most people eat both! Gag! If you have a choice of eating a Pop-Tart for breakfast and starving to death, starve.

• Sugary cereals: These are mostly empty calories. They always advertise as “Part of this nutritious breakfast.” The breakfast they show would be a nutritious breakfast without the sugary cereal. So why bother? They are expensive too. All that sugar will not be used by your body and be converted into fat. And by the end of the morning, or earlier, you will feel run down.

• Donuts and pastries: Same problem. Nothing but sugar.

• Fried breakfast: Bacon and eggs are heavy and full of fat. Ever look at a strip of bacon? It’s two-thirds fat. The yolk of the egg is almost entirely fat and cholesterol. And come on, you know you are frying that egg in the same pan you just did the bacon in. It’ll do more than fill you up, it will weigh you down.

• Muffins: Those muffins at the coffee shop are actually about three servings They’re huge! And they are usually full of fat and sugar – calories. Even the bran muffin.

• Just coffee and too much of it: Coffee is not a food. It may open your eyes and allow you to concentrate, but its effect lasts about 20 to 30 minutes. Caffeine is an addictive drug. Did I say it was not a food?

• Anything out of the vending machines: Many people will get that cinnamon roll wrapped in cellophane out of the machine and call it breakfast. All sugar. Or even those packs of crackers with peanut butter(?). The color of those cracker … isn’t that the same color as plutonium oxide? And Coke or Mountain Dew or so-called sports drinks are not breakfast either. No to energy drinks.

Ok, so now we have completely ripped away every conceivable option you know for breakfast. What can you have?

• Low sugar cereals: There are many low sugar cereals out there that don’t taste like straw. Raisin Bran, Special K, Cheerios. And there are also the whole grain cereals, but you need to watch the fat in those. And use low-fat or fat-free milk.

• Whole grain bread products: Toast made from whole grain bread is a good start. Those whole grains are very often quite tasty compared to white flour breads. Watch the butter or margarine. Spread a little, just a little, peanut butter on instead. Preserves are good too. Jams and jellies are mostly fruit juice and so not as good.

• French Toast, Pancakes and Waffles: A nice treat from time to time but don’t eat too often if you’re making them in the pan as they will contain too many calories. Invest in a griddle for a healthier option and be able to eat them as often as you like. Skip syrup and sugar. Instead try adding some fresh fruit for that healthy alternative. I like to make a strawberry shortcake from waffles: waffle, fat-free vanilla yogurt, sliced strawberries, repeat. Delicious! My french toast is made from egg whites or Egg Beaters and whole grain bread. The have a nutty flavor. Applesauce or some sort of compote make a nice topping.

• Eggs and egg whites: Eggs are a really good food. You can scramble them and cook them up in the microwave in about a minute. Or cook them in a non-stick pan with just a dot of some sort of oil. Or poach them. Be careful, though, as the yolks are almost all cholesterol. Have whole eggs once or twice a week. Instead, how about egg whites or Egg Beaters. I separate my own eggs, but my wife likes the convenience of Simply Egg Whites in a carton. I make omelets and egg-white sandwiches all the time. The right spice and they are not at all bland. A little tomato and spinach and fat-free feta.

• Juice: A quick easy way to get your Vitamin C. Still, you need something else with it.

• Oatmeal, grits, couscous, barley: Most any grain can be turned into a hot cereal. The most popular is oatmeal and they come in handy instant single serving packets. I make barley or couscous ahead and spoon some out in the morning. Grits … I’m not crazy about them, but people in the Southern US love them and would eat the 5 meals a day … with hushpuppies.

• Fast food breakfasts: You could buy them at McDonald’s or Burger King, just not too often. The portions are huge, they are actually expensive, and they almost always have more fat than necessary. You can recreate the same sandwiches in your own kitchen. I just made faux Sausage McGriddles for my son. He loves them; I find them too sweet. Too much sugar!

• Fruit: Mother Nature’s candy. Apples, Oranges, Peaches, Strawberries, Bananas. I keep lots of fresh fruit around. Toss some strawberries, a banana, and a half cup of fat-free vanilla yogurt into the blender and you have a great smoothie. Toss in some wheat germ for a little added power. It’s good.

Your breakfast gets your metabolism going. It’s the first thing you have eaten since dinner last night, 12 hours ago! It has to last you to lunch and has to get you started. So make it big and filling. Nothing worse than having a poor breakfast at 7:30 and crashing at 10:30 … too soon for lunch, too late for the vending machines. (Vending machines … not breakfast.)

Oh did I mention? Pop-Tarts? NOT BREAKFAST!