Did someone say breakfast?!

We've all heard it before. Common knowledge is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But why? Let's start with the basics. What does the word itself tell us... that it is a break from our fast. Our body slows down at night but that's not to say that it's not hard at work still. The body repairs itself and detoxes every night while we are resting our muscles and brain. Let's say you eat dinner at 6 pm, and you don't eat breakfast until 7 or 8 am...your body has been hard at work all night, yet you haven't eaten in over 12 hours. It NEEDS fuel asap to properly function. If you skip breakfast and don't eat until noon, your blood sugar is likely to be extremely low. Energy levels non-existent Brain incapable of function. Muscles fatigued. It's a concoction for disaster, and you're setting yourself up for a serious lunch time gorge, which isn't a healthy thing either. Studies show that those who skip breakfast (both adults and children of all ages) are at higher risk for obesity than those who eat breakfast regularly. If you think you are doing your body a favor by opting out of those calories, you're very very wrong. Your metabolism slows at night because it knows you wont be eating for a long period of time...if we don't fuel it within an hour of waking then our metabolism can't "wake up" either. Which would you rather...a quick metabolism, active brain, fueled muscles or a dragging metabolism, dead brain, and groggy muscles? Take your pick. Children are constantly growing physically and mentally- it is even more important that their bodies and minds are constantly being fueled. Skipping breakfast can be even more harmful than in adults.


Now we know why we need to eat it. Let's move on to WHAT we need to eat. This is where I get excited, because I LOVE breakfast! No, I don't think you understand the extent of my obsession with breakfast foods...I LOVE BREAKFAST! I dream up my breakfast all night long, then wake up...pee...drink a glass of water (because your body dehydrates over night) then I eat. It takes priority to just about everything. My kids love breakfast too, the first thing out of their mouth when they wake up is "I want breakfast" and it's because there body routinely gets fueled and fed first thing when they wake up. It's all about training that metabolism!


I used to be a serious cold sugary cereal eater...I had a inadament object crush on cinnamon toast crunch, I've long sense moved on. Walk into your pantry. No really, get up out yo chair and go look at the nutritional facts on the cereal currently in your pantry. Look at 3 things...the serving size, how many grams of sugar, and how high up on the ingredients list is sugar listed. I'd throw down some serious cash that your jaw will drop. First off that serving size...1/2 c-3/4 c. You know your cereal bowl gets filled to the rim with 3 times that much cereal. Now grams of sugar...raisin brand which most people view as a "healthy" option averages 16 grams of sugar per serving depending on the brand. Even if you just double that serving size that is 32 grams of sugar in a single mean, oh and that's not even taking into account milk. Sugar is most commonly in the top 3 ingredients in most cereals. Yes, I'd like a little corn flake with my white refined sugar! Gross. Your blood sugar and your child's blood sugar is going to spike and then crash and burn shortly there after leaving you just as dysfunctional if you hadn't eaten. Just pay attention, read the labels...not all cold cereal is bad so check the label and purchase the cereals with less than 5 g of sugar per serving AND have contains whole grains.

Breakfast needs to contain healthy protein and plenty of fiber. We fill our mornings with 100% whole rolled oats oatmeal (lots of it, my son will eat it everyday, multiple times a day, if I'd let him), fruit, eggs and omelets, smoothies, turkey bacon, whole wheat toast w/ nut butter..we even eat whole wheat muffins, french toast, waffles, crepes and pancakes. YES, WE EVEN EAT PANCAKES! We are not deprived, we just eat the cleaner alternatives that have just as much if not MORE taste!

Here is my ALL TIME favorite pancake recipe....so far ;-)
When we purchased our vitamix we got a recipe book which had a recipe for apple whole wheat pancakes...well I have made them several times and have made some modifications and this is my favorite version.

Ingredients:
1 c whole wheat flour
3 TBSP of stevia
3 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp of coconut oil (or other oil of choice)
1/4 tsp of vanilla
1 c of milk (I generally use soy or almond, but have made it with skim as well)
1 large apple deseeded (remove core too if you don't have a powerful blender)

Directions: Combine the first 7 dry ingredients in large mixing bowl until well blended.
Put the last 5 ingredients in blender and blend for about 30 seconds until well mixed and there are no apple chunks. Pour the wet mixture into dry mixture, combine well. Pour onto hot skillet greased with healthy oil of choice (I used coconut). Check frequently and flip when lightly browned on the bottom and bubbles are starting to form on top.

These are good enough to eat completely plain. Or spread some peanut butter on it and drizzle it with honey. Or a little pure maple syrup or agave. Less than 100 calories a pancake yet fully satisfying and satiating. All the fiber you need to jump start your day! Guilt-less eating at it's finest! More breakfast recipes to be posted, because, well I LOVE BREAKFAST and I hope you learn to love it too!