As you know, we’ve been running a nutrition challenge for February – The (RDA) Breakfast Club! Most of the activity has been kickin’ it on our private Facebook group, but for posterity’s sake, and for those All-Stars who didn’t join the challenge, we wanted to share some of Lilith NoFair’s wicked recipes here!
The focus of the challenge has been around a few main topics so far:
- sneaky ways to get vegetables in your breakfast
- sneaky ways to add protein to your breakfast
- not-so-sneaky ways to make things ahead so you can run out the door with a healthy meal in a rush.
All of the recipes below are ones you can make the night before or even a week before and store in the freezer in some cases!
Protein make-ahead: Granola!
What? Isn’t granola just extra carbs and sugar? Well, no, not if you pick carefully and/or add extra protein. There’s commercially available granola that’s made with decent ingredients – it usually costs a little more, but is worth the investment.
If you’d rather invest your time, make your own! Nuts and seeds add healthy fats, chia and protein powder add protein, your imagination adds deliciousness!
- I started with a base of 3/4c rolled oats, 1/2c almond meal and 1/4c oat bran.
- Into that, I added a scoop of vanilla protein powder, chia, slivered almonds, pecans, walnuts, raisins and sea salt.
- Then to get it to clump, I added slightly more than 1/4c natural honey and 2tsp vanilla. You can also use coconut oil if you want a less sweet granola.
- Bake at 275 for 20 minutes on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Break up the granola, bake for another 5-15 minutes until the granola starts to brown.
Healthy McMuffins
Sometimes we have to eat breakfast on the go. And sometimes the choices we have aren’t the greatest. However, not everything on the fast food menu is terrible. Take the egg mcmuffin – sure, it’s pretty high in sodium, and contains processed cheese and margarine (both of which you can ask to omit), but it’s not terribly high in calories (about 300), and contains 18g protein. If you order it with a side salad (no dressing) or apple slices instead of hash browns, it’s not the worst.
That said, if you have time for the drive-thru, you probably have time to heat up a homemade mcmuffin that you pre-froze. Here’s the recipe:
http://www.theyummylife.com/Egg_McMuffin
About 15 minutes to make if you fry the eggs instead of bake, freeze overnight, then three one minute intervals at half power in the microwave.
From just starting to eat breakfast more regularly, to consistently tracking your food, to increasing your protein intake, we’ve got you covered! Instead of trying to go it alone, let RDA and a group of your peers help you stay on track!
Overnight Oats
This little treat comes to you from one of our All-Star participants in the challenge, Véronique! In her own words:
Carla asked me to tell you more about my overnight oats. Basically, it’s just a matter of mixing your oats before going to bed. It takes less than 5 minutes to make. You can use any sort of bowl to do this – I need something I can close hermetically because I’m carrying mine to work. Empty over a bowl of fruits and voilà!
At first I followed recipes and this is the first one I tried (It has espresso in it!) You’ll have to browse down for the actual recipe because basically this page is giving you a complete how-to for overnight oats (complete with cute cat pictures)
http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/…/how-to-master-overnight-oa…
Lately, I like to experiment but I always use the same base. ½ cup old fashioned rolled oats, 2/3 cup almond milk, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and a pinch of sea salt.
Yesterday, I simply added cinnamon and nutmeg to taste and 1 tablespoon of hemp seeds. Other ingredients to consider are vanilla extract, honey, maple, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut, cocoa powder. If you’re looking for an extra protein kick, use greek yogourt!
Véro mentioned that she usually pairs this with a smoothie too, so you might want to double up the base if this will be your only breakfast item for the day!
Of the two images, can you tell which one is the professional food blogger’s, and which one is Booty Quake’s??
Muffin-Tin Egg and Spinach Scramble
This one has proven to be a favourite with the group! Make it ahead when you know the week is going to be busy, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds in the morning to warm it back up.
Grease a muffin tin (really, really well – or use silicone cupcake liners), scramble as many eggs as you want egg muffins in a bowl (it ends up being about an egg per slot), then pour into the muffin tin, add some spinach and other veggies, optional cheese, pepper, spices, salsa, etc. on top, bake at 350 for 10-20m, depending on your oven.