Eating at Home

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

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November and December is the toughest time of year for us Low Carbers! Holiday meals can be daunting even when not going low carb.

I actually spent time going over the holiday food menus to see what I COULD eat and what I needed to adjust to be able to eat satisfyingly.

In our family, we eat turkey and ham for Thanksgiving and beef for Christmas.  I know everyone’s traditions are different, but that is ours. We have a few side dish adjustments depending upon the main dish.

Here is the usual menu for Thanksgiving:

• Turkey
• Ham
• Dressing
• Mashed Potatoes
• Green Beans
• Squash Casserole
• Spinach Casserole
• Peas
• Cranberry Relish
• Gravy
• Rolls
• Pumpkin Pie

Here is the adjusted menu for Thanksgiving:

• Turkey
• Ham
• Dressing – made with low carb almond flour “cornbread”
• Mashed Cauliflower
• Green Beans
• Squash Casserole – using crushed pork rinds for the cracker topping.  No one noticed!
• Spinach Casserole – using crushed pork rinds for the cracker topping. No one noticed!
• Peas – we avoided but kept for others.
• Cranberry Relish – we did two versions one with sugar for others and a low carb version with Truvia.
• Gravy – we did regular gravy for others and had a recipe to do a low carb version.
• Rolls – we avoided, but could have made low carb bread.
• Pumpkin Pie – we did two versions one for others and a low carb version.

Now on to Christmas….

Here is the usual menu for Christmas:

• Rib Roast
• Yorkshire Pudding
• Mashed Potatoes
• Green Beans
• Broccoli Casserole
• Carrots
• Cranberry relish
• Gravy
• Rolls
• Pecan Pie

Here is the adjusted menu for Christmas:

• Rib Roast
• Yorkshire Pudding – made with soy flour recipe instead.
• Mashed Cauliflower
• Green Beans
• Broccoli Casserole – make with crushed pork rinds for Cheezit topping.
• Carrots – We went ahead and kept this even though it is a little higher carb, but will use Truvia brown sugar to glaze them.
• Cranberry relish – we will do a low carb version with Truvia.
• Gravy – we will do regular gravy for others and have a recipe to do a low carb version.
• Rolls – we will avoid, but we can make low carb bread.
• Pecan Pie – we can use a low carb syrup version of this with a almond flour crust.

I also had plenty of holiday savory and “sweet” nuts on hand for nibbles.  We had the usual cheese and pork rinds on hand as well.

For those who are candy addicts like I can be at times (especially around the holidays) every store has a sugar free section of their candy aisle.  There are some pretty good selections including Bob’s sugar free peppermints. Russell Stover‘s has a great selection and they are changing all over to Stevia based products now that taste better and don’t give as much gastrointestinal upset that other sugar substitutes can give when you accidentally over do it.  (Come on… sometimes you just can’t stop at one piece!)  If you see a Russell Stover Outlet on your interstate travels, DO stop in!

It isn’t as bad as one might think when living low carb.  The possibilities are rather endless what you can do!  It is gathering or adjusting the recipes that takes time.  Hopefully I’ve gathered some on this site that are helpful.  Other sites have some great recipes too!  Too, Jennifer Eloff,  George Stella and Dana Carpender‘s cookbooks are terrific!

You can do this!  If I can… YOU can!

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