Mornings and I are not friends. This is a long standing feud. Rare is the day that I don't feel like the sun rudely barged in on my pleasant night's sleep. Subsequently, my morning routine is anything but leisurely. Start to finish it's a 45 minute brisk rush.
Weekday breakfast as a result has been a long suffering step-meal. More days than not, I've skipped the "most important meal of the day." Often, when I toss something in my bag and eat it early in the day, I end up complaining that I'm hungry way before lunch. Whiny McWhine.
So, my recent meal planning has expanded to include more than just things DH will eat for breakfast, but items I am actually going to consume. I feel like I'm going into a fight with breakfast and it's going to give me a black eye and maybe a broken nose, but I'm going in swinging anyway.
The first step has been the versatile apple. Also making an appearance are raspberries (when on sale), and clementines. I'm trying to steer clear of the nutrigrain bar, oats n' honey nature valley granola bar line of thinking because I've been down that road a lot and it never sticks. So, instant oatmeal has been purchased with the idea that I can eat it at home or work and dress it up a bit with the apple bits and raisins (a la MickeyD's but healthier).
Other quick morning breakfast options welcome, but let's be honest it involves cooking something on the stove in the AM, it's not happening.
I have been packing my breakfast with my lunch the night before to eat at work. Not only does it speed up my morning at home, but it makes me more conscious of what I am eating. I've been on a huge muffin kick, so if I have muffins leftover from my weekly baking binge, I grab one. If not, I either do oatmeal (I bring it dry in a pyrex and bring another little container of milk, so I can add water at work, pop it in the micro, and then add milk), or I toast a bagel on my way out the door, slather it with peanut butter, wrap it in foil, and eat it warm-ish at work . I also always have a probiotic yogurt from T's and an apple. Sometimes, I swap the yogurt for a string cheese. I try to keep my breakfast to 300 calories or less.
ReplyDeleteI've found oatmeal does more for me if I mix about 2T of TJ's multigrain hot cereal in with the instant maple + brown sugar. I mix with hot water at work and give it an extra minute or two for the whole grains to soften.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like best is a toasted whole wheat or multigrain English muffin, buttered (veggie-based spread for me), with a veggie sausage patty. It's vaguely McDonaldsy, but healthier, and protein--even fake veggie protein--turns out to be kind of critical for me in the morning. This works best on telecommute days, though.