I wake up ravenous. When I get a chance to sleep in, my stomach usually wakes me before my commitments do. I’m not one of those people that skips breakfast because she’s “just not hungry in the morning.”
I easily consume half of my daily calories before noon. This is both because I’m starving when I wake and because I usually complete a workout by 1 p.m. I need a good breakfast to stave off the desire for a quick sugar fix (scones, doughnuts, cake balls, Cadbury Crème Eggs) and also to provide adequate fuel for my workout.
I whip up a batch of this slow-cooker oatmeal once a week and eat it for breakfast for six days. It’s the ideal mix of fiber, protein, and carbohydrates. I pump up the protein even more with (soy) milk and protein powder. This is my power breakfast.
Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Ingredients
4 cups water
1 ½ cups apple juice
1 cup steel-cut oats
½ cup pearl barley (regular, not quick-cooking)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chopped, fresh ginger
1 tsp salt
2 granny smith apples, coarsely chopped
Toppings
Sweetener – brown sugar, maple syrup, blue agave syrup, etc
Protein powder
Milk, soy milk, or rice milk
Line the slow cooker with a disposable liner bag. (The cooked oatmeal is almost impossible to get off the crock).
Combine all ingredients, but toppings, in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on the low heat setting for six to seven hours. Top each serving with desired options.
Makes 6 servings. Approx 226 calories, 47 g carbohydrates, 2 g fat, and 7 g protein, without toppings. (Actual totals are probably a little less, since at least half a serving sticks to the liner.)
Do you eat breakfast? If so, do you have your own “power breakfast?”
Sporty Sunday is a recurring feature in which I share my fitness routine and offer and solicit advice. While this content might seem a little out of place in an outfit diary, a healthy, strong body is the foundation of my wardrobe. I hope to inspire my readers to be fit as well as stylish!
I didn't start eating breakfast until maybe middle school, but once I did, my body came to rely on it. Even if I went to bed completely full, my stomach is growling by the time I get out of the shower in the morning. I can't skip breakfast!
ReplyDeleteI like to switch up what I eat from week to week; this week it's fig-pecan-bran muffins. But my old standby is quinoa served up as a hot cereal. I cook a pot of it on Sunday and put it in the fridge plain, then in the morning I'll mix in milk and some combination of golden raisins, chopped fresh apple, walnuts or almonds, brown sugar and cinnamon. The quinoa has protein, and the milk and nuts just add to that. It goes into the microwave for 45 seconds and comes out filling and delicious!
sounds tasty, but hey, you're slow cooking plastic into your breakfast EVERY MORNING! try adding a cup of extra water to the cooker at night instead; it'll be less sticky and you'll ingest fewer xenoestrogens.
ReplyDeletei make a similar thing but i add quinoa - for protein. mmmmm.
I am so glad you posted this! I've also heard that you can do something similar and integrate canned pumpkin. Now, I have to try it.
ReplyDeleteRoswalien:
ReplyDeleteI eat those BelVita breakfast biscuits every morning. I like the apple ones. Your breakfast sounds healthier, but I have no time for breakfast, and no microwave at work.
Have you tried them?
I LOVE breakfast. My go to week day breakfast is usually fruit (lots of strawberries or blueberries lately) mixed with Chobani yogurt and topped with 1/3 cup of Bran Buds. It's really filling and while I don't know the exact calories or nutritional info, it fills me up until lunch and it's tasty.
ReplyDeleteProtein powders and especially soy are not foods. Google the "dangers of".
ReplyDeleteTry home-made almond milk, hemp milk, or coconut milk fresh from the coconut.
Rice milk, likewise if pasteurised, is dead food.
You can soak your oatmeal or rolled seven grain cereal in water in a bowl and eat it raw for a healthier option or try chia seed puddings, hemp hearts, soaked wild rice or quinoa for a power breakfast.
Good for you getting your apple-a-day!