Goodbye, Boring Breakfast!

There are few of us willing to wake up an extra 30-45 minutes earlier every morning to whip up a nutritious and filling breakfast. Truth be told, most of us are lucky if we can pour ourselves a hurried cup of coffee before we rush out the door to begin our day. However, skipping breakfast should never be an option because it provides the energy you’ll need for the day ahead. Breakfast cereals are a popular way to start the day, but for the most part they are not hearty enough to get you through the morning. And for those of use who are gluten-intolerant, preparing a healthy breakfast can become even more of a challenge. However, with a little planning there is no reason why breakfast can't be tasty, quick and filling. The key is planning ahead; a fail-proof approach is to prepare the night before. The last thing you need to worry about in the morning is another thing to add to your “to do list.”

One of my favorite breakfast meals is crust-less quiche. Prepare a large pan on Sunday afternoon and you’ll have breakfast covered for the next week. Trust me; you will not miss the crust! The following recipe is one of my favorite concoctions (spinach and mushroom quiche) The best part is that you can have fun with it; keep the basics (eggs, milk, salt and pepper) and then throw in left-over’s from last night’s dinner to create your own quiche—be creative and have fun!

Spinach and Mushroom Quiche
Prep Time: about 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 10 eggs
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 6-8 oz feta cheese or goat cheese
• 1 lb shitake mushrooms, sliced
• ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large frying pan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until tender, next add butter and mushrooms (continue to sauté until mushrooms are tender.) Remove from heat.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Add the cheese, salt and the pepper, and stir to combine.

4. Add spinach, mushrooms, onions and garlic, stir to combine.

5. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 glass baking dish; bake for 30 minutes, or until the edges start to brown.

6. Serve alone, with a tossed salad, rice, or roasted red potatoes (my favorite!)

7. Yields about 8 servings (depending on how hungry you are!)

Lose Weight; Eat Real Food!

For many of us, ringing in the New Year brings a renewed commitment to improve our lives with resolutions to make positive changes. Diet resolutions are among the most popular. Fitness centers fill up, and restaurants sell more salads. TV shopping channels hawk diet supplements, exercise equipment and lots of Spandex active wear. But more often than not, even the most enthusiastic plans to “finally lose weight this year” fade by the time Super Bowl snacks appear.

Instead of setting yourself up for failure with another fad diet, remember that the only way to successfully maintain weight loss is to make lasting changes. Real food is the answer; real food is what you find around the outer aisles of the supermarket. This is where you find the fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, and dairy. You also find real food in the frozen food cases. The other real foods include certain breads, dried beans and grains, and canned goods. Real foods are foods that you can recognize without having to read a long list of ingredients. Broccoli is broccoli. Cheese is cheese. Milk is milk. Apples are apples. Chicken is chicken (see where I'm going with this?)

Now that you know what the real foods are, you must restrict yourself to those real foods that are not laden with too much sugar and salt. Many canned goods are high in sodium or sugar. Too much sodium, from salt or sodium chloride, is linked to hypertension. Too much sugar adds too many calories. Furthermore, too much salt and sugar causes us to crave more food and overeat. That's why you can't eat just one potato chip. That's why when you drink certain sweetened beverages, you're still thirsty.

To lose weight you must burn more calories than you eat. Professional athletes can eat several thousand calories per day and remain lean because they burn several thousand calories per day. People who sit at a desk all day don't need to eat as much as pro athletes. If you work at a desk and you eat as much as Venus or Serena Williams, then you are going to get fat. A point of clarification is in order here: Lean and thin are not the same thing. You can be thin and fat, meaning that you have no significant muscle mass or muscle tone. Serena Williams is not thin, but she is lean. She has lean muscle mass.

In addition to eating real food, you must eat sensible portions. If you eat food without a lot of sugar and salt, it is easier to eat smaller portions. You will not be as easily subject to cravings, and you will be more easily satiated because your body will get nutrients from real food. Real foods are nutrient dense and will not ignite cravings, so begin now to incorporate them in your diet.