Replacing that bad "food" Day 1~breakfast

So last week we talked about label reading and hopefully you have also been doing some research of your own and you now know what not to eat. Now that we have that out of the way let's talk about what to replace all that chemical laden junk with. We want to be putting things in our bodies that will actually help them to function properly not just make you feel full a few minutes or taste good when you eat it. Eating the right kinds of foods can taste good will make you feel full longer than junk food and fuel your body.
Now if you are a non-morning person like me who can't seem to get up even with the kids jumping on me then you know how hard it can be to feed the family something nutritious. Even though I know better I still fall back on cereals and breakfast bars more than I should. If you need to fall back on these things please at least carefully read those labels and go for a good quality brand such as cascadian farms. My kids love toaster pastries so I will get them occasionally but I get the Nature's Path when I do. The trick is to not buy these things often and then you won't eat them often. It sounds relatively simple but if I buy them to put up for a day when I don't feel well or something they always get eaten soon so I only buy them very occasionally. Now breakfast should be easy. There are so many options and I would like to cover some of my favorites. Oatmeal talk about options you can do so much with oatmeal. I buy old fashioned rolled oats so I can do many things with it. The instant packages often have added stuff you don't really need anyway. It takes very little time to make and you can add vanilla, Cinnamon and some fruit(fresh, frozen, or dried) and it is so good. Try not to add sugar to it as the fruit should sweeten it enough. If you have to add sugar make sure to use a natural sugar or honey and gradually lessen the amount you use! I also like to make granola bars and my favorite thing to do with oats is making granola. Now this stuff at the store can be pricey but takes very little time to make and is super easy(just watch it does burn.) We also really like smoothies around here and keep plenty of frozen fruit in the freezer just for this. Whenever we have bananas start to get too ripe I just peel it and throw it in a freezer bag and tada bananas for smoothies. Plain yogurt is also a staple here and goes right into the smoothies. Of course if your mornings are super hectic one of the best things is muffins(not the mix from the bag.) You can make them anytime and eat on them or even freeze them and take them out the night before to eat in the morning! This also works great with pancakes and waffles. Just pop them in the toaster in the morning and you just fed your family something easy, tasty,inexpensive and nutritious! My kids favorites are pumpkin apple, and blueberry banana!
There are so many options for breakfast but it's hard to get out of the cereal rut. Just try a few things and you will see it doesn't take as much effort as you think!
Some other great breakfast options... veggie omelets and yogurt parfaits with your homemade granola plain yogurt and fresh or frozen fruit.Add some protein mix to that smoothie but remember to watch those labels.

Don't forget as many whole one ingredient foods as possible for every meal and snack.

There is no reason to give up the things you love to eat just change the way you eat them and the way they are made!!!

If you have a good quick bread recipe you can make that into muffins so you have individual sizes which is good for portion control and normally takes less bake time!

I promised some recipes this week so here is what I use for granola it's a combination of recipes I've used to come up with what I think works best for us. Feel free to play with this one and try lots of things with it=)

Homemade granola mix

4 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup of flour of your choice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons sugar
2-2 1/2 cups mix ins of choice
heat oven to 325
spray cookie sheet with a lip
melt butter and honey together over medium low heat
mix all dry ingredients together and then add in butter honey mixture and vanilla
stir together well until all coated
bake approximately 15 minutes until your house smells really good and the granola looks nice and toasty let cool on oven
If it gets a little to dark for you take it out before it gets to the color you want as it does crisp up some on the pan after cooking=)
You can put so many things in this dried fruit, nuts, coconut, peanut butter any kind of granola you like to buy you can recreate at home. I would stay away from the candy unless it's just an occasional treat.

For those of you really trying out there I am so proud of you.

You can do this! You and your family are worth it!!!