Start the day off right!

November 14, 2012 8:52 AM

Nom nom nom-filter: please give me your recipes for quick, hearty breakfasts!

Recently I've taken to eating a baked egg over a saute of sausage and whatever vegetables I have in my fridge in the mornings. This is great, since it keeps me filled up on my 40-minute commute into work and I've pretty much stopped snacking at work, and I'm losing a bit of weight. I don't even get hungry in the afternoons because I started my day off full. All good things!

However, I'm getting a little tired of eating the baked egg extravaganza--it IS like having a mini brunch every day and it does take rather a long time in the morning to prepare, even with prepping everything in advance. The baking of the egg takes at least 15-20 minutes, which is a long time in the morning.

Before, I used to eat instant oatmeal with honey or yogurt with fruit, but neither of these keep me filled the way my baked eggs do. I invariably arrived at work starving and raiding our snack stash. I also quit eating yogurt to improve my skin, and this has actually really made a big difference.

So what else can I eat that is low-carb, without dairy, focused on proteins and fruit/vegetables? I also don't particularly like eating very sweet things first thing in the morning. Even better if this doesn't take a lot of time in the morning, although I'm fine with prepping it in advance.

posted by so much modern time to Food & Drink (27 answers total)

My girlfriend got me an immersion blender for my birthday and has been making me strawberry-banana smoothies every morning. Chopped frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, ice, and less than a minute to blend it. I throw greek yogurt in there, but they can easily be made without it. Also you can add protein powder for, well, added protein.
posted by griphus at 8:56 AM on November 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

I scramble two eggs (with some cheese, but you can leave that out) in the microwave every morning. It takes one minute and thirty seconds (take out after one minute and scramble/mix, then back in for thirty seconds; YmicrowaveMV). I put cottage cheese on top after, but you could skip that too. Add leftover roasted/sauteed veggies if you have them. Keeps me going till lunch and then some if need be. Oh, and when I have smoked salmon around, I add that.

Because I do this at work (I can't eat first thing in the morning), my co-workers were at first like waaah??? And now at least three that I know of do the same thing. It's nice because we can borrow eggs off each other!
posted by rtha at 8:57 AM on November 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

My husband makes a giant bag of Rip's Big Bowl every week. A cup of that with almond milk keeps me satisfied for at least 4 hours. I just cut up bananas for the topping though and omit the kiwi and grapefruit because I am lazy.
posted by spec80 at 9:03 AM on November 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

I do my egg bakes on the weekend, and warm them up in the Microwave. Quick and easy.

You can do them in baking dishes and portion out, or in extra large muffin tins.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:07 AM on November 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm a fan of egg muffins. You can make them ahead of time and then just microwave them in the morning. For your own happiness though, either use silicone muffin tins or paper muffin tin liners, cooked egg is terribly difficult to get off a metal muffin tin.
posted by mjcon at 9:09 AM on November 14, 2012 [8 favorites]

When I've made baked eggs I've done a pan of 6 to 8 at once. I put the base stuff down, and then space the eggs out evenly so that when it's cooked I can cut it into squares.
posted by cabingirl at 9:13 AM on November 14, 2012

How low carb do you want to go? Some of the options above would be way too high-carb for me.

I eat flax meal cereal every morning. Easy to make, high-protein, low-carb, though something of an acquired taste (unless you already love cinnamon-flavored cardboard).

Don't limit yourself to "breakfast" foods, which are often full of sugar and carbs. For awhile there I just fried a pork chop for breakfast every morning, or ate baked chicken.
posted by chaiminda at 9:19 AM on November 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

We like to keep prepped veggies for a scramble in the fridge. We usually make them up on a Sunday or something when we're cooking an elaborate breakfast anyway, and then have them in the fridge all week. It's pretty easy to drop them into scrambled eggs, with or without cheese.

I've also lately been rocking the scrambled egg quesadilla for breakfast -- egg, cheese (which, yeah, could be skipped), salsa in a corn tortilla. Mmm.
posted by linettasky at 9:24 AM on November 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Heres my nutritarian go to breakfast. I make ahead, zap a bowl in AM, and add some almond milk. It fills me up very nicely:


Blueberry and Flax Seed Oatmeal


Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup old-fashioned oats
4 dates,pitted and chopped
1/4 teaspoon coriander
2 bananas, sliced
1 cup chopped or grated apple
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
Instructions:
In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil and stir in all ingredients except blueberries and ground flax seeds. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Stir in blueberries. Sprinkle flax seeds on top or stir in. Cover for 2-3 minutes before serving.

If desired, this recipe may be made in the oven.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a baking dish, combine all ingredients, except for the bananas, apples, blueberries and flax seeds. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Add the bananas and more water, if desired. Bake another 15 minutes. Stir in apple and blueberries. Sprinkle flax seeds on top.
posted by bearwife at 9:31 AM on November 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

The wonders of smoothies have not been stressed enough. I make a blenderfull and throw it in a mason jar or two and drink it throughout the day. It takes me past lunch often! Throw that fruit in! Maybe throw that protein powder in! OJ? Sure. I like my yogurt and milk too, but that part is optional.
posted by Folk at 9:44 AM on November 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

I usually make a big pot of steel cut oats on Sunday, then heat up a bowl of it and throw in a poached or basted egg during the week. That takes me about three minutes in the morning. You can add blueberries or flax or nuts or whatever else to up the nutrient factor of the oatmeal.

I've also had good luck with making breakfast scrambles; you can throw in whatever you want and make it as healthy or low-carb as you like. Mine is usually egg, spinach, onion, mushroom, tomato, and serve with hot sauce. Nom nom.
posted by stellaluna at 10:08 AM on November 14, 2012

I really like steel cut oats made in a rice cooker. If you have a rice cooker with a timer, you can set it to go the night before and have hot oats ready to go when you wake up. I use 1c oats and 2.5c water and the porridge setting on my rice maker and it comes out perfectly!
posted by sgo at 10:13 AM on November 14, 2012

I eat the eggs/veg/sausage like you do, but I prep the veg/meat the night before, then I cook the egg over-easy in a fry pan. Takes about 2 minutes.
posted by CathyG at 10:30 AM on November 14, 2012

I alternate between scrambled eggs and a smoothie, made with the following ingredients from Trader Joe's: 1 cup frozen fruit (I like the Very Cherry Berry Blend), 2 scoops Vanilla Whey Protein Powder, 1 tablespoon Golden Roasted Flax Seed, 1/2 cup greek yogurt, and about 1/2 cup water. Blend and enjoy.
posted by mogget at 10:34 AM on November 14, 2012

Soup soup soup! Reheats quickly and easily, can be easily packed with protein and vegetables, low-carb like whoa, and tremendously delicious!
posted by 168 at 10:37 AM on November 14, 2012

I make coffee shakes in the blender--coffee, protein powder, coconut oil, and some cream. Lots of protein, easy as can be. The extra fat keeps me full until lunch.
posted by Ideefixe at 10:46 AM on November 14, 2012 [5 favorites]

Breakfast burritos might be an option. You can make quite a few of them in advance, adding different veggies for variety, and reheat one each morning.
posted by Juniper Toast at 12:14 PM on November 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

My daily breakfast: I slice a bratwurst (or half, if I'm eating alone) and sautee it in a little bit of oil (coconut or olive), sometimes adding sliced mushrooms, sometimes adding sliced onion. When it's almost done I dump in a few big handfuls of arugula and cook it until it's wilted.

Simultaneously I scramble two eggs.

A forkful of sauerkraut on the bratwurst. A pinch of Aleppo chile on the eggs.
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:31 PM on November 14, 2012 [3 favorites]

rtha: I scramble two eggs (with some cheese, but you can leave that out) in the microwave every morning. It takes one minute and thirty seconds (take out after one minute and scramble/mix, then back in for thirty seconds; YmicrowaveMV).

mjcon: For your own happiness though, either use silicone muffin tins or paper muffin tin liners, cooked egg is terribly difficult to get off a metal muffin tin.

Butter the container before adding the eggs. Then cleanup is trivial; otherwise it involves scrubbing.
posted by IAmBroom at 1:29 PM on November 14, 2012

I just microwave a couple pieces of bacon and grab a piece of fruit. Sometimes I make my own "paleo krunch" type granola on the weekends for eating during the week. So much better than cereal!
posted by hishtafel at 3:47 PM on November 14, 2012

Response by poster: These all sound great! Weirdly enough I hadn't thought about smoothies or baking a whole bunch of eggs at once, so I'll have to try that.

All this talk of smoothies is leading me to want one badly! If I don't put in dairy, will a banana do?
posted by so much modern time at 9:27 PM on November 14, 2012

Hi!
I don't like eating sweet stuff in the morning either, makes me sleepy. :) One of my favorite breakfasts is short grain (japonica) brown rice. Don't know if it's too high carb for you, but it's full of fiber, protein, and I find it's like a tastier, even more comforting version of oatmeal. What you can do is pre-portion it (I usually do half or a quarter cup portions), wrap it tighly in heat resistant plastic wrap, put in a freezer bag and freeze it up! That way, only 1 minute through the microwave (in the wrap), and you're all set! This freezing method keeps the rice nice and moist. I usually do at least equal amounts in volume of protein (meat/grain/other) and veggies, or actually usually a third of protein and the rest in veggies. Keeps me full and starts the day really well. I'm a busy, low-budget student so for my veggies it's what's on sale, that I usually pre-cut. That's quicker too, although obviously you loose a bit of freshness.

Also, other protein/grains I like having in the morning (bases easy to season, improvise on, or eat plain):

canned tuna
egg
grilled tempeh
smoked salmon
quinoa
chicken (occasionally, if I'm really hungry)

nice toppings/mix for brown rice if you don't want it plain:
superfood cereal, like the Q'ia (I use the cinnamon/raisin one right now)
spice (curry or other)
(this one I'm embarrassed about but: ketchup; even weirder: ketchup and pickled ginger)
nuts
black beans
fresh egg, added to rice, mixed, then microwaved or quickly frypan-ed
anything you would put in oatmeal really

I think what makes the eggs feel/fill you better versus the oatmeal with fruit is the high protein and low sugar. We need a lot of protein in the morning apparently. My physician told me to aim for around the quarter of my weight in kg, in grams of protein to have before 10 am (so for example, for me that would be around 12 g; learned about this cause I used to get adrenaline drops in the morning, getting dizzy each time I got up). Also, not fun to get the energy drop from sugar when you just got up, so less sugar, and choosing veggies versus fruit, even, definitely can't hurt. Also, veggies (especially) and fruit generally contain a lot of fiber, which will help feeling full for a longer time...

Have fun!
posted by kitsuloukos at 10:12 PM on November 14, 2012

Hi, I don't know if this is too late to the thread, but our solution to dairy in our smoothies was to sub coconut milk, the same kind that comes in tins and you use in Thai food. Look for ones that don't have lots of thickeners / emulsifiers in and you're good.
posted by lonefrontranger at 9:57 PM on November 17, 2012

There are a lot of great smoothies without milk. One option is a substitute like almond or soy milk.

Here's one that looks bizarre but tastes great:

Greens Smoothie

Ingredients:
5 ounces baby spinach
1 banana
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
1/2 cup unsweetened soy, hemp or almond milk
1/2 cup pomegranate juice or other unsweetened fruit juice
1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds

Instructions:
Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender until smooth and creamy.

Also awesomely delicious is this berry banana smoothie:

Ingredients:
1 banana
1 cup soy, almond or hemp milk
1 cup frozen strawberres*
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

Instructions:
Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

*Frozen blueberries or raspberries may also be used.
posted by bearwife at 2:19 PM on November 18, 2012

All this talk of smoothies is leading me to want one badly! If I don't put in dairy, will a banana do?

I used to freeze bananas specifically for smoothies. They act as ice and thickener, then just add fruits (fresh or frozen) as desired, and enough fruit juice to make the blender go. Smoothies with dairy kinda weird me out.
posted by Night_owl at 5:50 PM on December 5, 2012

Bananas and mangoes both work well as smoothy smootheners (is that a word?), and chillers (keep frozen in pint baggies to use as needed).

Bananas mix with more flavors, IMO, but mangoes are the bomb, too.
posted by IAmBroom at 2:31 PM on December 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was having the same problem with my oatmeal breakfast: plenty filling but not for long enough. So I started adding a handful of crushed walnuts to my oats'n'fruit and it basically solved the problem. I let them soak with the oats in the hot water.
posted by carsonb at 11:06 PM on September 3, 2013