I can’t stress enough the importance of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Use your culinary creativity to add these disease fighting edibles to every meal.

For breakfast, why not try an egg scramble with some sauteed zucchini, onion and fresh Roma tomatoes.

And don’t forget to shop local, organic, and in season whenever possible. This will insure you’re bringing the most fresh and nutrient dense produce to your table!

Oatmeal may appear to be just a bowl of warm carbs, but “oh contraire!” While oats certainly do contain carbohydrates, they’re a little more complex than that. (aahh, how’s that for a pun!)

Anyway. Unlike simple carbs like refined sugar and white flour, oatmeal is full of fiber and digested slower which means two very good things. One…it makes you feel full longer, perfect for those trying to lose weight, and two…it won’t raise your blood sugar levels as much as quickly, making it a good choice for diabetics.  My favorite reason for eating oats in the morning, they go great with an array of toppings.

I went all the way with this morning’s oatmeal recipe. It was so good. Even the All-Star, an old lover of crappy instant packaged oatmeal, filled with sugar and dehydrated fruits, wished for seconds. Houston, we’ve made contact!

So this recipe was inspired by a can of pumpkin that’s been sitting in my cubbard since we moved in.

Just a couple tablespoons…

Some blueberries I picked up yesterday, which aren’t local but are SO good…

A touch of vanilla extract, some crushed walnuts, coconut flakes and voila…

sprinkled with cinnamon…Breakfast deliciousness!

What’s favorite addition to oatmeal?

On Monday, The All-Star accompanied me on my weekly food shop.  I always enjoy when my partner in crime tags along, after-all, he eats the food too, why not get stuff that he wants.  Anyway.  I mentioned that we needed some breakfast foods.  Most mornings we have either eggs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or nothing.  It’s the nothing part that’s been looming over me. After all, breakfast is the most….yea yea yea, we got it. So, I threw it out there, and he immediately grabbed from the hot cereal shelf a box of prepackaged cinnamon and pear oatmeal.  I looked at the ingredients for a second, and then at the price, and said, “We can make this ourselves!” And straight to the bulk foods section we went.

So that box of maybe 6 packets of cinnamon and pear oatmeal was around $4, give or take.  It had dehydrated pears and seasoned rolled oats.  One of those instant, just add water, jobs.  I don’t know about you but I have never been a fan of these little oatmeal packets.  They are always too sweet and the fruit is lame and it’s hardly enough for a hearty breakfast.

I found the rolled oats in the bulk section, $1.29 a lb.  You know how many packages of hot cereal a pound of oats make?  Me neither, but it’s more than 6.  Off to the fruit section.  A 3 lb bag of organic pears for $1.68.  (That’s about 10 pears)  Hi, thank you!  What else do we need?  Cinnamon, have that at home.  Sugar?  We’ll use agave nectar.  It’s sweeter and not as likely to spike our glucose levels.  Alright, we’re ready to make oatmeal!

This morning was the first opportunity I had to make this yummy goodness.  I’ll admit that maybe, just maybe, the prepackaged deal would be a just a tiny bit easier but really, we all have time to cut a pear right?  The end result?  Home-made deliciousness for a fraction of the cost.  It was less sweet than I’d expect the boxed stuff is.  My opinion on that is that if fresh pears and a generous drizzle of pure sweetener doesn’t enlighten my sweet-tooth, then there’s probably way to much sugar-stuff in the processed counterpart.

Here’s the recipe.  No thanks, Quaker.  I’ve got my own.

Rolled Oats and Pear

Serves 1

Ingredients

• one pear (peeled & cut into small cubes)
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup water
• pinch of salt
• Agave nectar to taste
• dash of cinnamon

Directions

• In small saucepan bring cup of water and a pinch of salt to boil.  Add pears and cook for a minute.
• Add oats and cook until water is fully absorbed
• Drizzle in agave nectar.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve!

Delicious!  And home-made with love!

You guessed it, I’m talking about breakfast.

I’ve already had my coffee,  joined a new site network, visited some blogs and did my morning business, but sadly the tummy is still empty and calling.  With moving and work and growing my internet credibility, who has time to food shop?  Fortunately for dinner there’s a Sprouts on my way home from the office, so I’m always able to pick up a nutritious end-of-the-day meal.  Breakfast, however, falls sadly to the wayside.  Why is it that I’m so unable to foster this oh-so-necessary part of my routine?

Breakfast really sets the tone for our day. It should never be skipped.  Studies have shown that a good breakfast can help with weight loss, balance blood sugar levels, increase productivity and focus, and it most certainly can keep us from grabbing a not-as-nutritious choice on the go.

What should your breakfast include?  Less sugar and more protein. The less sugar you consume at breakfast, the less likely you are to feel tired by lunchtime.  And always try to include a few servings of fruits and vegetables.  Remember, 9-13 servings daily!  That’s a lot so you need to fit them in where you can.

Lucky for me The All-Star just woke up and is now preparing my morning goodness.  If I wait long enough, this is usually what happens.  He’s a lot better than me in the breakfast department these days.  I think it’s egg and an English muffin.  I’m going to request some raspberry jam.  I wish we had goat cheese and spinach.  Now that I’ve given you most of the ingredients, here’s the recipe for my favorite breakfast sandwich:

A Healthier Egg Sandwich

• 2 egg whites
• 1 whole wheat English muffin
• a handful of  raw spinach
• 1 tbsp raspberry jam
• 1 tbsp goat cheese
• Cholula hot sauce (my absolute fav)

Fry your egg whites in non-stick pan while you toast your muffin.  Top the egg with the spinach and cheese to melt the cheese and wilt the spinach (just a little bit). Spread your jam on the muffin.  Top with your egg and pour on some Cholula (however spicey you like it).

That’s it.  So easy, and absolutly delicous.

Did you know that you should eat breakfast no more than an hour after waking?  On work-days The All-Star can’t help me there.  Today I am making a commitment to myself to have more options in the kitchen and to do breakfast right.  Sooo….I’m calling out to you, readers, for some assistance with this one.

What is your favorite quick and healthy breakfast?

Please help us start the morning off right!

Thanks.  Happy Eating!