Two great, easy breakfasts that support weight loss

I've read from numerous sources--most recently Bob Greene--that breakfast is a terribly important meal, as it fires off my metabolism and also sets the tone for my day's food consumption. I've eaten breakfasty nearly daily for a couple of years, but recently, I've been working on making sure I eat a healthy breakfast daily--and finding breakfasts that keep me at least mostly satisfied until lunchtime rolls around. As many of us know, if we want a meal that will not leave us hungry again in a short period of time, it's important to include some protein and a little bit of fat. My college roommate, who is great at managing her weight, has recently gone vegetarian. She told me that she eats a breakfast with a fairly big dose of protein, a lunch with a smaller portion of protein, and then, if she wants them, a higher dose of carbs (pasta or rice or whatever) at dinner. I don't order my food that restrictively, but I do think she is onto something. Here are two breakfasts that I have found leave me mostly satisfied until around noon. As a bonus, both of these are easy meals for people who do not need to make enough food for a whole family.

The first one is the one I have been eating daily for a while.
Nummy Toast

1 piece of whole-grain bread (I use great bakery bread and freeze it, defrosting one piece daily as needed)
~1 T natural almond butter (I love Kettle brand)--you could also use peanut butter, cashew butter, etc., but you want a kind that is only nuts, maybe salt, and oil (the regular store kinds contain way too much stuff that's bad for you, like high-fructost corn syrup)
1 apple or pear
~1 tsp. honey

Toast the bread. While it's toasting, thinly slice your fruit. When the toast is crisp, spread the nut butter on it. Lay the pieces of fruit on top of it--you'll probably use about half the piece of fruit. Drizzle about a teaspoon of honey on top of that. Enjoy! (I eat the remaining apple or pear half over the course of the morning.)

I alternate among different types of apples and occasionally use pears. Each weekend, I buy enough apples and/or pears for the following week and keep them in the fridge at work. (I eat breakfast first thing at work each weekday.)



I really love this breakfast, because I get a healthy dose of protein from the nut butter, and the sweetness of the fruit and honey is very satisfying.

The next recipe, which had the starting point of a South Beach recipe, is going to look more complicated, but on a day-to-day basis, it's really easy, because you just make a dozen, freeze them, and then microwave one each morning for breakfast. It's quick and delicious.

Egg Cups . . . muffeggs? something.

(This makes a dozen. They freeze well and are easily reheated in the microwave.)

cooking spray
4 stalks of green onions
1 c. of reduced-fat, extra sharp cheddar
1 pckg. vegetarian sausage links (I hear regular works fine, though the fat and calories would skyrocket)
other veggies, as desired (I intended to add spinach but forgot. I expect chopped red peppers would work well, too.)
1 tsp. Lowery’s seasoning salt
2 tbsp. whole-wheat or white flour
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 dozen eggs

Heat your oven to 375 and thoroughly spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.
Grate your cheese.
Thinly slice your green onions.
Defrost your veggie sausages (cook them completely if you aren't using veggie sausages) and mash them up into little bits. (If you cook the veggie ones completely and then bake them they may end up tough.)
In a large bowl, combine the seasoning salt, paprika, flour, and eggs. Whisk until well beaten.
If you are using extra veggies (bell peppers, broccoli, spinach), chop them up.
Stir veggies and sausage into the egg mixture.
Pour in muffin tins until the tins are mostly full. The heavier stuff--the sausage and veggies--may settle to the bottom of your mix, so be sure to spoon some of those into each muffin cup.
Bake 15-20 minutes–until eggs puff up like muffins and begin to brown. (Like popovers, they may deflate some when you get them out of the oven.)

When they are done, after they sit for a minute, you should be able to easily remove them from your muffin pan.

I let mine cool and then transfer them to a large freezer bag and put them in the freezer. These reheat from frozen beautifully in the microwave–1.5-2 minutes on high. They actually taste better reheated than they do straight out of the oven!

So you can see how they look out of the pan, here's a photo of a couple of egg cups with some oatmeal that's covered in sauteed apples (that was our dinner one night):

I hope these recipes will serve some of you as well as they have me!