What to do for a Low Carb breakfast?
The Backstory
A friend of mine recently lamented being newly on a low carb diet and growing tired of hard-boiled eggs and berries in the morning. She was just wanting to find alternatives. Especially when you are new to Low Carb eating… finding choices for different meals can be daunting. Lunch and Dinner aren’t as difficult, but breakfast eluded me… at first. She came to the right person! I’ve been there!
The Realization
There has to be more choices for breakfast when you take away (most) breads, cereals and grains. No more pancakes… waffles… French toast… croissants… toast in general… bagels… biscuits… muffins… cereals… fritters… danishes… doughnuts… cinnamon buns… all my favorite things. (So it seemed…) All struck off the breakfast list!
In a fast-paced or even slow-paced life, we all naturally grab or make one of those listed to satisfy the morning meal. Some people don’t even eat in the morning (which I consider a mistake) and then being diabetic, metabolic or just being on a Low Carb lifestyle change… you really need energy in the form of food or drink to even out your blood sugar for the day.
The Challenge
What to eat for breakfast instead of our favorite High Carb go-to items?
The Solution
And there are many more solutions than you would think at first!
Breads
I’ve had a lot to say about finding bread and making bread and so I will let that post speak for itself: Low Carb Bread, Buying & Making. (Just click the link!) Also, here are my Pinterest links for bread recipes that I like from around the internet. (Your cloud breads, fathead dough, etc.)
In short… there are Low Carb breads you can make or buy. What you do with them, however, is up to you. Here are some of the things that I do:
With Low Carb sliced bread: (ThinSlim, etc. or what you make yourself.)
- Toast and put butter and sugar free jelly/jam/preserves as normal. So this was back on the breakfast list.
- Make Eggs in a Basket or Moon Over Miami (same thing). Cut out the center of a slice of bread. Butter up a large pan on the stove. Put the bread and cutouts into the pan. Crack eggs into the bread holes. Fry the egg (and toast the bread) as desired.
- Make French Toast. (You can buy sugar free syrup or make your own.) So this was back on the list too!
- Make Cheese Toast. Slap a slice of your favorite cheese on the bread and put it into the toaster.
- Make Avocado Toast. Slather mashed avocado onto a piece of toast!
Make your own muffins. There are some good Low Carb recipes out there. Some make in a minute in a mug in the microwave! Amazing! I will add some to my Dee Smith Pinterest Page and here. So stay tuned! Again… added back into the breakfast list of things I thought were gone forever.
There are some pancake and waffle mixes out there for the carb conscious. My taste buds are not a fan, but I am pickier than most. Carbquick is probably the best known. Bob’s Red Mill Low Carb Baking Mix is probably the next best known. Still a little higher carb than I like, but not too bad. When I find ones my buds like more, you can bet I’ll say something more about it! But this is also back on the breakfast list. I’m still evaluating making mine or another low carber mix to use. I’ll post with my notes in the future.
With Low Carb pita bread: (Thank you Joseph’s for making a tasty Low Carb Pita!!)
- Eat plain with butter. You can microwave to warm or pan fry in butter.
- Stuff with eggs, ham, sausage, cheese, etc. The combinations are endless. Often I put a piece of cheese, a piece of ham, fold over and microwave for 40 seconds. A ham and cheese pocket!
- Make a “danish” of sorts by slathering with flavored cream cheeses or just use plain cream cheese with your favorite sugar free jelly/jam/preserve. I love Polaner’s Strawberry Preserves!
- Make a “pastry” of sorts by melting butter and coating the Pita and then making a Truvia/Cinnamon mix to sprinkle on top.
With Low Carb flour tortillas: (Ole, Mission, etc. You can pretty much find them EVERYWHERE. Just read the label!)
- Roll up whatever Low Carb ingredient you want!
- Make a cheese quesadilla. Add whatever you want to the cheese.
For those of you that CAN and are not grain restricted on your Low Carb diet, there are always Oatmeal and other grain cereals. (I REALLY MISS those!) Those you can load up with fruit and flavor!
Eggs & Breakfast Meats
Eggs. Love ‘em! Boiled. Fried. Poached. Scrambled. Crustless Quiche. Frittata. Omelet.
Eggs are Low Carb! Egg Whites are better for those of us watching cholesterol, but you can be quite satisfied with Eggs and getting creative with them.
I put cheese, herbs and vegetables in or on them in all their forms!
Ham, bacon, sausage, summer sausage, smoked salmon, etc… add them to your favorite egg dish or use as a side for the eggs.
I posted my Crustless Quiche recipe also. Give that a try!
Breakfast Bars
There are several good commercial protein bars out there, but beware… not all protein bars are created equal! You have to diligently read the labels for Carbs, Sugars, Fiber and Sugar Alcohols to find bars that are acceptable. You can get yourself into a mess if you don’t READ! Fortunately, there are more and more options out there. I’ll list some of the favorites for my discriminating taste buds below. And remember, just because something says it is “low carb” doesn’t mean it is. Read. Always!
- Chef Robert Irvine’s FitCrunch Chocolate Peanut Butter Snack Bars
- thinkThin Chunky Peanut Butter High Protein Bar
- thinkThink Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar
Any of Chef Irvine’s FitCrunch bar flavors are delicious! Make sure to get the SNACK bars and not regular sized bars. There are other flavors. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Caramel Peanut. Cookies and Cream. I’m not a big fan of the Birthday Cake flavor, but then again… I don’t like birthday cake. (I know! What is wrong with me?) I’m picky about peanut butter flavors but his Peanut Butter bars are delicious! Even the Brownie is good!
Make sure the thinkThin brand that you are getting… that when you SUBTRACT the sugar alcohols from the carbohydrates that you are left with 2 to 3 NET CARBS. (Ideally, you don’t want more than 7 or 8 NET Carbs on a meal). Not all thinkThin offerings are low in Net Carbs!
There are Atkins bars that are delicious with a variety of flavors. Some are just like candy to me. Walmart has the best selection for the best price really. I won’t even bother to list here there are so many!
Too, Costco and Sam’s Club have their protein bars. Some are quite good. BUT BEWARE OF THE LABELS! Make sure you do not have over 7-8 NET Carbs on any one bar!!!!
You can always make your own!! Here is a link to my “Granola” Bar recipe! My husband gobbles these up almost as fast as I can make them!
Fruit & Vegetables
Berries, berries, berries! They are the lowest glycemic options. Strawberries, Blackberries and Raspberries are the best. A little higher in carbs are Blueberries.
Of course there are Avocados and also there are many vegetables you could eat in the morning too. Tomatoes. Squash. You name it!
Smoothies or Other Drinks
You can use aforementioned berries, avocado and vegetables in smoothies or juice them. Delicious! More recipes on those later! I promise!
More Information
Oh… the lists could go on, but I hope this gave you some good ideas. Breakfast doesn’t have to be boring or deprive your taste buds!
Here is another reminder about what is out there that is Low Carb:
- My notes about Low Carb groceries.
- One of the most useful Low Carb Infographics ever! From my Pinterest page.
- The best total list out there is still from Atkins: Atkins Acceptable Food List
- Check out my Pinterest Low Carb recipe boards. These have bread recipes, both mine and ones I like, from the Internet!
Resources:
Until next time… #lowcarb4ever
