Breakfast

I am a firm believer that no matter what time you choose to break your fast at, whatever it is that you are eating should be nutrient dense and delicious. I also understand that breakfast can be one of the trickiest meals to maneuver. We are usually just waking up and want to find something quick and easy to fill our bellies. As a result, we often look to prepackaged foods to start our day.

One of my favourite breakfasts, is granola, yogurt and berries. Even though this breakfast sounds pretty healthy, there are a few things to consider before hopping on board.

First of all, is your yogurt sweetened & flavoured? If you answer is yes, you will find yourself well on your way to overconsumption of added sugar for the day. The WHO recommends that children consume no more than 3 to 4 teaspoons of added sugar daily. For adults, the recommendation is no more than 6 to 9 teaspoons. The average daily consumption of added sugar for children and adults alike is 33 teaspoons! Shocking yes, but so easily done when you consider how many foods that we purchase have added & excessive amounts of sugar. In one cup of your average flavoured & sweetened yogurt, you are looking at about 4 teaspoons of added sugars. My vote? Look for a plain unsweetened yogurt. You get added points for extra protein by choosing Greek or skyr options. It may take you some time for your taste buds to adjust, but it is well worth the effort. Remember, we are eating this yogurt with our homemade granola and fruit and these additions will bring their own sweetness to our bowl.

Secondly, many store bought granolas are also high in refined sugars and they simply just don’t capitalize on the opportunity to add all kinds of extra goodness to their packages by skimping out on healthy fats and fibre from a variety of seeds & nuts.

Come along with me for a little granola experiment of your own. Gathering these simple ingredients and investing a bit of your time will leave you with a bowl of goodness, a full belly and a wonderful sense of accomplishment.

Amy’s Best Ever Granola

3 cups rolled oats, not instant or quick
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds, walnuts or pecans
6 tbsp. sunflower seeds
6 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp flax seeds
½ cup unsweetened coconut
½ tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
6 tbsp real maple syrup or local, raw honey

Preheat oven to 250°F. Mix ingredients and spread out on 2 baking sheets. This allows for adequate heat distribution. Bake for about 40 minutes stirring 4 times. After 40 minutes, turn off the oven and just leave the trays of granola in the oven to continue to achieve that great crunch factor from the residual heat. Store in glass jars once cooled. Enjoy as a yogurt topping, with milk of your choice (cow, almond, rice) or nibble on as a snack. Store in a glass jar. Note: Sometimes I like to play with the spices adding ground cardamom to the mix too.

Enjoy!

One of the hot topics I find myself often chatting about with others is electric pressure cookers. I find myself discussing whether or not they should take the leap and purchase a pressure cooker, or sometimes they have already have one and now they aren’t sure what to do with it.

Let me tell you, I was slow to join the electric pressure cooker game. I thought why in the world would I need another appliance to try and find room for? Then it happened, my slow cooker broke and I needed to replace it. It was at that point that I considered the many functions pressure cookers. The particular brand that I chose has a sauté function, is able to cook rice, creates yogurt, makes quick work out of cooking dried beans as well as making a great slow cooker. I use my pressure cooker so much that I actually purchased a second! Just yesterday I used both of them – one made me breakfast and the other one made me lunch!

Considering a Pressure Cooker?

While electric pressure cookers are fast, you have to keep in mind that you will need to add on additional time to your meal prep time for the unit to reach the correct pressure to begin the cooking time. This typically takes 10-20 minutes depending on what you are cooking.

Watch for sales. Pressure cookers often go on sale right around the holidays, Mother’s Day and in September for back to school.
So what did I have for breakfast? Creamy steel cut oats…and I had enough to have it again for breakfast later on in the week! See below for the recipe!

Pressure Cooker Steel Cut Oats

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Dairy Free, Egg Free

Keyword: Easy, Healthy, Instant Pot

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 minutes minutes

Total Time: 7 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 201kcal

Cost: $5

Yes, you can have steel cut oats on a work morning!

Print Recipe

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 c steel cut oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp real vanilla
• 3 c water
• your choice of toppings

Instructions

• Using the saute function, toast 1 c of steel-cut oats in 1 tbsp coconut oil. The oats will start to smell a little nutty and add to the overall flavour of the final bowl.

  Turn off saute function and add cinnamon, maple syrup, real vanilla and water. Set the pressure cooker to 2 minutes. Once the 2 minutes are up, leave it in the pressure cooker for an additional 20 minutes. This will help continue to soften the oats.

  Scoop yourself a bowl, adda little milk and whatever toppings inspire you. I added shredded coconut,walnuts and a sliced banana. Delish! 

Nutrition

Calories: 201kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 11mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 3g | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 2mg

Growing up, a healthy breakfast to me was a bowl of cereal with low fat milk, a piece of toast and a glass of orange juice.

Times have changed in my little world! The problem with most store bought breakfast options is that they are made with highly refined grains, a boat load of sugar and a handful of synthetic vitamins & minerals that has lead us to believe that we are eating a nutritionally sound meal.

I challenge you to see outside the box when it comes to breakfast options. Who said you couldn’t have chili or stew for breakfast? In some cultures, they start their day with a fresh salad or a warm soup. Their breakfasts are savoury and not sweet like many North American kitchens are serving first thing in the morning.

So what do we eat at our house? I like to make sure that our meals and snacks are balanced. You want to be eating healthy protein, a complex carb and healthy fat each time. This will give you the fuel you need to stay focused & full until you eat again. Eating breakfast is essentially breaking a fast. We really do want to start our day off on the right foot and eating a healthy breakfast is an important part of this routine. Skipping breakfast is a sure way to a sluggish metabolism, unfocused concentration and late night snacking.

Here is what you might be served if you stopped by my house for breakfast. Be sure to call ahead though so I can make sure there is enough on the table!

• Plain oatmeal with a little maple syrup, raw walnuts, almonds or pecans and a tablespoon of chia seeds or hemp hearts.
• Free range eggs served up in various ways. Omelettes are my favourite as they offer a perfect opportunity to add some extra goodness like sautéed onions, peppers and spinach to my breakfast. Or, add a little nitrate free turkey sausage and sliced tomatoes to your hard boiled or fried eggs.
• Sprouted or whole grain toast with nut butter & a little naturally sweetened blueberry jam.
• Whole grain muffins that are packed with real fruit, flax seed & whole grains with a side of fruit & Greek yogurt.
• Smoothies – a perfect opportunity to get 3-4 servings of fruit & veggies in your body at the start of the day.

And yes, sometimes we do have dinner leftovers for breakfast too! For more ideas, check out this video I made on having a healthy breakfast.