Breakfast

Start everyone’s day right with a good breakfast. Most adults and children feel satiated with a protein-based breakfast. A protein-based breakfast keeps us going longer and stronger than a sugary, carbohydrate breakfast. One of the easiest things to prepare is the protein breakfast staple, organic eggs. If you’re pressed for time, you can boil and peel as many as you want for the entire week and just leave them in the fridge until needed, or take 3 minutes longer to scramble them up each morning.

We use olive oil spray instead of butter. You can also add veggie mix-ins like chopped tomatoes or organic steamed broccoli from the night before.  Moms, this is a great way for you to get your veggies in at the start of the day. I like to buy prepared pico de gallo and add it to my egg mix. We also pop whole grain toast (we like spelt or kamut bread because it is a high protein grain) into the toaster oven with a little cheese on top.

Spicy Jack Cheese is my fave, and Sam loves mozzarella. Sam and her fathers’ other favorite addition is delicious turkey bacon.  A busy mom can pre-cook the whole package and zip-lock it in the freezer for use anytime. We re-heat a couple of pieces of turkey bacon with the toast while we scramble, and a complete delicious breakfast is ready in 10 minutes! Truly, there is nothing easier.

If you want to try a few alternatives that are just as quick and easy, try the following:

Turkey Bacon Melt

3 strips lean turkey bacon (each cut in half)

2 pieces spelt bread (or whole wheat bread or English muffin)

2 thick slices of tomato

2 slices reduced fat cheese

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook turkey bacon according to package instructions. Place bread on a baking sheet and top each with slice of tomato. Layer with cheese and top with 3 half slices of cooked bacon. Place in oven and bake 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Add a boiled egg cut in half for an extra yummy breakfast.

Pepper Jack Frittata

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

¾ cup (3 oz.) shredded pepper jack cheese

15 flat-leaf parsley leaves chopped

1 ¾ cup liquid egg substitute

Preheat oven to 375F. Coat 9”  nonstick pie pan with butter flavored cooking spray. 

Sprinkle peppers, cheese, and parsley in pan.  Pour in egg substitute.

Bake 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Cut into wedges.

“Healthy” French Toast

This high-protein French toast is a pleaser all the way around!

4 slices whole wheat or spelt bread (high protein grain)

2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder

½ tsp cinnamon

4 eggs

1/3 cup fat free milk

Mix protein powder, cinnamon, eggs and milk

Whisk until blended

Soak the bread in mix for 30 seconds

Cook in oiled pan (olive oil spray) on medium heat until slightly firm

Cut up bananas or berries and serve with maple syrup (the REAL kind…no corn syrup)

Our Favorite Sunday Breakfast

Oatmeal (slow cooking).  We like to add wheat germ and yogurt or cinnamon flavored flax seed oil. It’s smooth, creamy and delicious.

Snack Time

Snacks will fuel your little one during the day … you too, mom! Make wise decisions.  I usually try to incorporate some type of protein in our snacks as this keeps you full longer and stabilizes your blood sugar. Again, we try to stay away from processed sugary foods that may contain chemicals that could trigger or exacerbate ADD or hyperactivity. Too much sugar also makes us hungrier and moody.

Here are a few of our favorite snacks: 

Peanut butter & banana sandwich with milk

Peel your banana, cut in half, then vertically.  Spoon peanut butter into the middle, put the top on and enjoy. Make sure that your peanut butter is just that .. made from  peanuts and nothing else.  You would be amazed if you read what additives are in some brands, such as sugar, corn syrup and hydrogenated oils.  Don’t be tricked! Skip these products with additives, please … you may as well have a candy bar.

Apple or pear with mozzarella cheese stick

Berries/ fruit with layered with almonds or walnuts – yummy with a couple of tablespoons of vanilla or plain yogurt,.  Add granola for a delicious yogurt parfait.

Cottage cheese with melon slices

Beans & rice—a great, healthy snack

Soup (Amy’s is great organic line)

Sliced Organic Deli Meat – I like turkey pastrami with cheese or fruit

Whole grain toast – we top ours with thinly sliced peaches, strawberries, apples, or pears and a dollop of low fat ricotta or low fat cottage cheese.

Dried fruit

There is such a variety..We love the strawberries and mango, just be sure to choose the naturally dried only with no sulfites…can be found at Whole Foods)

Hard-boiled egg & orange slices

Yogurt “Surprise”

½ cup low fat blueberry yogurt

1 cup of blueberries

½ cup of cottage cheese

Mix together

Creamy cranberry-banana smoothie (for two)

Blend 1 small banana with ½ container vanilla low-fat yogurt, 1 cup of cranberry juice and     ½ cup skim milk (add more yogurt for thick shake and experiment with fruits)

Frozen fruit skewers – grapes, strawberries, banana slices and pineapple or melon (these are good for dessert also)

Quick munching

Celery, bell peppers, baby carrots, cucumbers, broccoli or cauliflower florets and cherry     tomatoes. Served with 2-3 tablespoons of hummus or buttermilk dressing for dipping.         (Moms you would be so surprised how delicious hummus, a creamy bean dip, is. You         and your kids will love it!)

Cantaloupe slices wrapped in Turkey slices

Edamame – fun to eat and yummy. Keep in the freezer and boil for 5 minutes.

Black Beans Dip

Mix beans with pico de gallo and low fat cottage cheese.  Heat up and serve hot with flax seed and corn tortilla chips.

Remember: Another trick to try is putting out celery, carrots or any other cut up veggies for snacking before a meal. When they are hungry and waiting for dinner to be ready, they will always munch, and this way you are just making their choices healthy ones.  Sometimes veggies have a hard time competing at dinnertime with meat and especially pasta or breads. This way, they can get in a serving of one or two veggies before the meal even starts!

Easy dinner or lunch

We buy a cooked rotisserie chicken at least once a week. Sometimes I will serve it whole for dinner, and other times, I de-bone the chicken and keep the meat for salads or my specialty dish below.

Diana’s Special

1 cup rice

1 cup pico de gallo

1 cup black beans (canned beans are easy and delicious)

1 cup rotisserie chicken pieces

Heat everything up together and stir.  You can also steam yellow squash (diced) and add it in for kids who have a hard time eating veggies.  They can’t taste it and you have just added a great veggie to a great dish!

Rotisserie Chicken Tacos

Heat up blue corn tortillas in the oven or on top of a gas stove and add lettuce, tomatoes, pico de gallo and chicken.

Buffalo Burger

One patty is really enough for two people.  Split in half and reshape.  Cook it in a pan with olive oil spray, salt and pepper.  If you have some red wine, add it to the pan – this is sooo good and it’s a great source of low fat protein and minerals.

Buffalo Hot Dogs

These are now the only kind of hot dogs Samantha will eat, and that goes for me, too. These are unbelievable delicious.

Turkey Bacon Sandwich

Add sliced tomatoes & melted feta (or other cheese).  I also like to put some turkey pastrami in, too.  Toast this and it makes a great meal.  I like it with a little mustard.

Brown Rice or Spelt/ Kamut Pasta

Great with prepared sauce (add extra tomatoes and steamed veggies. You can also add a pre-cooked organic chicken sausage) or My Brother’s Sauce (see below).

My Brother’s Pasta Sauce

My brother gets out the Cuisinart and purees kale, broccoli and carrots with his store-bought organic pasta sauce.  Add a little Parmesan cheese. His kids love it and have no idea they are getting the benefit of major veggies. He will also use different shapes and colors, as well as using a mix of brown rice pasta and whole wheat for different textures for fun.

Steamed veggies are always better with:

• Parmesan cheese (especially good on squash/zucchini)
• Annie’s Organic Naturals Shiitake & Sesame Vinaigrette. I have yet to meet a child or adult who does not love a little bit of this dressing on vegetables. (We usually drain off the oil from the top when we buy it.)
• Martin Brothers olive Kalamatta Dressing
• Annie’s Organic Buttermilk Dressing (good for raw veggies)

Note: you really want to read the ingredients on any salad dressing you purchase. You would be surprised how corn syrup and hydrogenated oils find there way into most of the bottles.

Fresh Salad Dressing:

2 tbsp Annie's shitake mushroom vinaigrette

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 to 2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese

Salt

Combine all ingredients & place in Tupperware with lettuce, diced tomatoes and cucumbers.  Put on the lid and shake to evenly coat the salad. You can also add pieces of your rotisserie chicken for an easy chicken salad dinner.  I also like to add cold (steamed) asparagus, or squash.

Rice

Use whole-grain Basmati brown rice (no white rice).  Use half of the water called for in the recipe from the water left over after steaming your veggies, and the other half with chicken broth.  You have just added extra nutrients and extra flavor.

Macaroni & cheese

My brother buys the box mix from Whole foods and makes it is own. He purees a whole white onion and a couple of cloves of garlic with extra plain yogurt. He adds that to the cheese sauce. (You can also pureed spinach for a green pesto sauce; the onion will almost turn to water, so puree that first then add spinach)  Mix this in with the boxed pasta and whole-wheat pasta. Put in dish and bake for 15 or 20 minutes to form a nice crust and to take the edge off the onion. You now have doubled the recipe and tripled the health benefits! The kids ask for seconds and thirds on this one.

Mashed potatoes (almost)

Puree steamed cauliflower add a little butter and 2 ounces of creamy cheese.  The recipe calls for 2 triangles of the laughing cow, but experiment with different cheese flavors.  Add two or three tablespoons of Mire Poix (Dried onions, celery and carrots with  spice mix).  One head of cauliflower will feed two people

Steamed spaghetti squash with meat sauce and a little Parmesan cheese 

Desserts Ideas

Baked Apples

Core and stuff apple with dried fruit (raisins and a few walnuts), a little honey, sprinkle with cinnamon and bake

Bananas “Foster” Gently fry banana slices in a little butter and brown sugar and serve with a dollop of low-fat cottage cheese. Add a little vanilla ice cream

Papaya – great with fresh lime juice squeezed on top

Fresh Mango – delicious on top of ½ cup low fat ice cream (make sure it does not have corn syrup)

Grilled Peaches – sprinkle fresh peach halves with a little cinnamon and lightly grill

Parfait – take a tall glass and arrange layers of sliced strawberries, whole blueberries and dollops of low-fat vanilla yogurt.  Mango slices are good too.

Strawberries dipped in dark chocolate

Fruit & Dip

½ cup low fat cottage cheese mixed

½ cup light vanilla yogurt

1tsp grated orange peel

Fresh fruit slices to dip