Comments on: Fill me up, buttercup

Question: Fill me up, buttercup

sunshine arakhan — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:24:05 -0800

I am starting a new corporate job in the city next week after working in a casual semi-rural office for the past 2 years, where I could make toast for breakfast whenever I felt like it. I can't eat within the first hour of waking up so am looking for some great breakfast smoothies/drinks I can make that I can drink on the train to work that will actually fill me up until lunch time.

I'm a complete noob when it comes to this so what fruit, whey/protein powder, yoghurt etc mixes actually fill you up? I'm not looking to lose any weight but any of those weight loss sachets are welcome, providing they actually satiate me.

By: supercres

supercres — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:51:19 -0800

I just started having smoothies for breakfast after not eating anything before lunch for a long time. I can't compare it with a real meal, but I usually have some combination of yogurt (greek, plain, or fruit), juice (currently carrot-orange), flax seeds, a banana, frozen fruit, and a big handful of greens (spinach, kale, or collards). Fills up my 24 oz Nalgene and keeps me happy until noon.

I think the greens (and the banana?) are what makes it feel substantial. Avocado or peanut butter do the trick too, and I'm pretty sure protein powder would do the same. Anything with protein or fat.

By: JenMarie

JenMarie — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:15:04 -0800

I usually do chilled Vanilla Soy Milk, banana, and frozen berries or frozen mango chunks (all Trader Joe's).

By: lollusc

lollusc — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:18:11 -0800

I've been having smoothies for breakfast/brunch/lunch most days for the past few weeks. My three favourites are:

1. Fake egg-nog: A cup of spinach leaves, a banana, half a cup Greek yogurt, a tablespoon of peanut butter, half a cup of milk, and either a scoop of protein powder, or an egg white (sometimes I beat the egg white until fluffy, which thickens the whole smoothie into an eggnog-like thing), and nutmeg & some sort of sweetener (honey, sugar, stevia) to taste.

2. Chocolate peanut butter cup. The same as (1) except without the egg white or nutmeg, and then I add a tablespoon of cocoa and a dash of vanilla.

3. Berry cheesecake. The same as (1) except replace the banana with a cup of berries, and add half a cup of cottage cheese or a mixture of cottage cheese and cream cheese instead of the protein powder/egg white. You can also leave out the peanut butter. Use vanilla instead of nutmeg for flavouring. Add some lemon juice and/or rind for extra cheesecakiness.

All of these look very green, but taste like dessert. You could leave the spinach out, but it's an easy way to get extra fibre and vitamins. I put them in an opaque drink bottle, so I can't see the colour anyway.

They each make about 500ml and have about 500 kcals in energy (the berry one is less, unless you use a lot of cream cheese), but that means they keep you full for hours. You can leave the peanut butter out if you want a lower-calorie option. They have a ton of protein (like 30-40 g, even without using protein powder). You don't taste the banana much in the chocolate one - it just adds body and sweetness. If you want to up the banana flavour, use overripe ones.

If you refrigerate one of these that has whipped egg white in it, it will turn quite pudding-like in texture, so you'll need to add more liquid if you want to drink it instead of eating it with a spoon.

If you like it thicker, you can add some oats - grind them to a powder first, or leave the whole smoothie for a few hours in the fridge before blending again, and you'll still get a smooth texture.

By: lollusc

lollusc — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:20:39 -0800

Oh, and here's something NOT to do: it might seem like a good idea to use coffee as the liquid in a smoothie to make your morning more efficient. But it tastes like crap. (I made that mistake today).

By: scratch

scratch — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:45:16 -0800

Tofu, soy milk, peanut butter and a banana. Cocoa powder too if you're feeling frisky.

By: Kruger5

Kruger5 — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:47:01 -0800

Pudding like? Green dessert drink? Raw egg whites?? Are you serious? This is dangerous for consumption.

By: mkb

mkb — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:16:19 -0800

You can obtain pasteurized egg whites for this purpose.

By: euphoria066

euphoria066 — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:21:57 -0800

are you totally stuck on smoothies? I hate them.. I'm starving again in a half hour, but I do love fast breakfast to go!

Mango Coconut Chia Pudding (side note.. if you've never eaten chia it may make you nauseous once or twice.. try it at home first.)

steel cut overnight oats (the best mixin (for me) is to chop up half an apple, a heaping tbsp of brown sugar and 2 tsp of cinnamon, throw all that into your oats in the morning, microwave them together and stir them up into a heavenly oatmeal apple pie.)

Raspberry vanilla overnight oatmeal

or simpler:

raspberry vanilla overnight oats

or paleo cake:

chocolate cake for breakfast? all right!

I make all of these things in mason jars so they're portable.

if you must have a smoothie, a frozen banana, a tablespoon of peanut butter, some almond milk, and some kind of not-super-seedy berry is a pretty good combo. the peanut butter almost makes it last a few hours.

By: elizeh

elizeh — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:24:16 -0800

Lately I've been doing half a cup of cooked quinoa mixed with a cup of nonfat vanilla yogurt, and it stays with me. I generally get up around 5:30, have breakfast at my desk at 9, and eat lunch around 12 or so.

By: shivohum

shivohum — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:17:31 -0800

Labrada's meal replacements can be shaken with water or milk or soy milk and they fill me up for a while. Strawberry is a great flavor (chocolate not bad, but somewhat less so).

By: lollusc

lollusc — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:34:31 -0800

Being green (due to spinach) or pudding-like (due to low liquid levels and ingredients like yogurt that are more solid when chilled) do not make something dangerous for consumption and it's laughable to suggest they do.

Raw egg-whites are, of course, a matter of debate. I personally am comfortable with statistics that suggest that fewer than 1 in 1000 eggs are infected (some stats show 1 in 20,000), and for most of the ones that are, salmonella is only on the external shell, so if you are careful, it won't get in your egg. But if you aren't reassured, yes, you can get pasturised egg whites, or you can do it at home.

By: rawrberry

rawrberry — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:40:30 -0800

Another vote for overnight oatmeal. I've made the blueberry/maple syrup version without chia seeds, and it's delicious.

By: acm

acm — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 07:52:24 -0800

I often make these bars to have around for breakfast or other uses, and they're hearty and also unbelievably delicious. (And grain-free and full of healthy fats, if those are considerations.) Very easy to make over the weekend for more than a week of grab-and-go happiness.

Other possibilities include things that don't ordinarily seem breakfasty, like a chicken salad sandwich (with fruit!) or even peanut-butter and banana, etc. Or you could find some jerky that you like, either to have with your breakfast shake or to keep at the office as a protein boost to get you through to lunch. Think outside the box!