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1
Breakfast
Breakfast is the meal most of us choose to skip. Yet it is the meal most needed to get your day off to an energized start. Assuming you have gone all night without food or water, you should be feeling your tummy by now. In fact, with regular Clean Eating, you may even be awakened by a tummy demanding food.
The only answer is to fill it with delicious Clean-Eating breakfast options such as Swiss Muesli (Chaper 1: Breakfast), an Oh-My-Gosh Omelet (Chaper 1: Breakfast) or an Egg White and Turkey Scramble (Chaper 1: Breakfast). These breakfast choices are so satisfying, lean and mighty, you won’t ever skip breakfast again.
CROCK-POT PORRIDGE
Whole grains are essential for building strong, lean bodies. What better way to start your day than with a crock pot loaded with the best of the body-building whole grains? Set it all up the night before, plug in and wake up to “instant” home-cooked goodness. Jazz up the porridge with fresh berries, flax seed, wheat germ and bee pollen. Guess who’s buff now?
INGREDIENTS:
½ cup / 120 ml cracked wheat
1½ cup / 360 ml steel-cut oats
½ cup / 120 ml rye flakes
½ cup / 120 ml brown rice
¼ cup / 60 ml wheat germ
6½ cups / 1.5 L water or any combination of liquids including rice milk, soy milk, almond milk, goat’s milk and/or water to equal 6½ cups
½ cup / 120 ml raisins
½ cup / 120 ml chopped dates
1½ Tbsp / 22 ml best-quality vanilla
Pinch nutmeg
PREPARATION:
1 Place all ingredients in a 3-quart-or-greater crock pot. Stir well to combine all ingredients. Cover.
2 Set on lowest cooking temperature and cook overnight. If your crock pot cooking time is set by length of cooking time, set for the longest cooking time and lowest heat.
3 Spoon into cereal bowls in the morning and serve piping hot!
REMEMBER: Try unsweetened applesauce instead of sugar as a sweetener – delicious!
HINT: Add any dried fruit or unsalted nuts you may like to this dish, it is very forgiving.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE PER SERVING:
Calories: 313 | Calories from Fat: 29 | Protein: 10g | Carbs: 63g | Dietary Fiber: 8g | Sugars: 12g | Fat: 3g | Sodium: 3mg
COTTAGE CHEESE PANCAKES
Raise the Bar reader, Laura Wilkins, shared her favorite childhood pancake recipe with me. Her version called for two tablespoons of sugar but I substituted maple sugar flakes as a healthier Clean-Eating sweetening ingredient. It is an excellent Clean-Eating pancake recipe because it calls for nonfat cottage cheese, which is an excellent source of lean protein, as is the fat-free yogurt. Egg whites make the pancakes fluffy and a good source of protein. Yum!
INGREDIENTS:
Dry:
1¼ cups / 300 ml whole-wheat flour
1 tsp / 5 ml baking powder
2 Tbsp / 30 ml maple sugar flakes
½ tsp / 2.5 ml ground cinnamon
¼ tsp / 1.25 ml sea salt
Wet:
8 egg whites
1 cup / 240 ml fat-free cottage cheese
1 cup / 240 ml fat-free plain yogurt
Eat-Clean Cooking Spray*
Thanks Laura! Now we can all enjoy this healthy and delicious version of your pancakes.
* EAT-CLEAN COOKING SPRAY
Put healthy oils such as extra-virgin olive oil inside a spritz bottle, or use an olive oil-based cooking spray.
PREPARATION:
1 Combine first five ingredients in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center.
2 Combine eggs, cottage cheese and yogurt in small bowl. Pour into well. Stir until just moistened.
3 Heat a nonstick pan or griddle or prepare a skillet
“with cooking spray. Heat should be medium high. Use ¼ cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until lightly browned on both sides. Keep warm in oven until all the batter has been used up.
4 Serve with fruit.
TIP
Bring egg whites to room temperature first. This helps make them fluffier.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE PER PANCAKE:
Calories: 81 | Calories from Fat: 2 | Protein: 7g | Carbs: 12g | Dietary Fiber: 1g | Sugars: 3g | Fat: 0.3g | Sodium: 112mg
EGG WHITE AND TURKEY SCRAMBLE
Who says you can’t have turkey for breakfast? Ground turkey is a delicious Clean-Eating alternative to greasy, fat-laden bacon. It tastes wonderful when mixed with scrambled eggs and Clean-Eating spinach and tomato. Now this is the way to start your day!
INGREDIENTS:
8 egg whites
1 pound / 454 g lean ground turkey or tofu
2 cups / 480 ml shredded spinach
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
PREPARATION:
1 Cook ground turkey or tofu in a medium skillet until cooked through and lightly browned. Drain excess juices from the pan. Place turkey in a bowl and set aside.
2 Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel. Scramble the egg whites until dry. Add scrambled eggs to cooked turkey.
3 In a small skillet coated with cooking spray, lightly sauté tomatoes, spinach and garlic.
4 In a large skillet combine all ingredients and mix until evenly distributed. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
TIP
If you want totally fat-free turkey, rinse the cooked ground meat in boiling water before adding it to the remaining ingredients.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE PER SERVING:
Calories: 114 | Calories from Fat: 8 | Protein: 24g | Carbs: 2g | Dietary Fiber: 0.59g | Sugars: 1g | Fat: 0.8g | Sodium: 120mg
EAT-CLEAN BREAKFAST BURRITOS
The burrito has quickly become a North American favorite, but the traditional version comes with loads of unnecessary calories and fat. Try this low-fat version for breakfast and be amazed at the flavor.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups / 480 ml egg whites
½ cup / 120 ml nonfat cottage cheese
½ cup / 120 ml chopped tomatoes
½ cup / 120 ml chopped red or green sweet pepper
½ cup / 120 ml chopped sweet onion – Vidalia or purple
½ cup / 120 ml black beans, rinsed and well drained then mashed coarsely with a fork
4 small Ezekiel grain or other whole-grain tortillas or wraps
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Eat-Clean Cooking Spray (see Chaper 1: Breakfast: COTTAGE CHEESE PANCAKES)
PREPARATION:
1 Preheat oven to 250°F / 121°C. Place tortillas or wraps in oven to warm while preparing remaining ingredients.
2 In a small bowl whisk egg whites, cottage cheese, salt and pepper.
3 In a medium skillet coated with cooking spray, sauté vegetables and beans until soft. Pour the egg/ cottage cheese mixture over vegetables and cook until mixture sets. Once firm, divide egg mixture among the warmed tortillas. Roll each into a burrito. Garnish with low-fat, low-sodium salsa.
TIP
Make extras of these portable burritos for lunch! They are just as delicious cold.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE PER SERVING:
Calories: 198 | Calories from Fat: 36 | Protein: 19g | Carbs: 20g | Dietary Fiber: 2.5g | Sugars: 3.5g | Fat: 4g | Sodium: 466mg
POWER OATMEAL PANCAKES
Everyone loves pancakes. This light fluffy cake-like breakfast food is traditionally eaten with gobs of butter and syrup. None of this makes for Clean Eating. Try this delicious variation, which is sure to please the palate as well as the waistline.
INGREDIENTS:
6 egg whites, beaten until fluffy
½ cup / 120 ml low-fat cottage cheese
1 scoop protein powder
½ cup / 120 ml oatmeal, uncooked
¼ cup / 60 ml wheat germ
¼ cup / 60 ml flax seed
1 tsp / 5 ml baking powder
1 Tbsp / 15 ml canola oil
½ tsp / 2.5 ml cinnamon
Eat-Clean Cooking Spray (see Chaper 1: Breakfast: COTTAGE CHEESE PANCAKES)
PREPARATION:
1 Place all ingredients except beaten egg whites in a food processor and pulse or blend until mixture is uniform.
2 Pour blended ingredients into a bowl and add the egg whites. Fold until just blended.
3 Prepare a griddle with cooking spray. Ladle pancake mixture onto griddle and cook until both sides are browned.
How do you eat pancakes Clean-Eating style?
Skip the syrup and place a dollop of unsweetened applesauce on each pancake. Or you can try this little trick: Place ½ cup of blueberries or raspberries in a small saucepan along with 1 tablespoon of water. Mash the berries and bring the mixture to a boil. When the fruit is uniformly hot and beginning to get syrupy, remove from heat and pour into a small jug. Drizzle over pancakes. Delicious!
NUTRITIONAL VALUE PER 2-PANCAKE SERVING:
Calories: 283 | Calories from Fat: 100 | Protein: 21g | Carbs: 24g | Dietary Fiber: 4.5g | Sugars: 0.3g | Fat: 10.5g | Sodium: 198mg
