What do you eat for breakfast?
This morning, Kitsune and I were having a discussion about the typical American breakfasts, and how neither of them really works for us.
The first type is the soulless, bland, healthy typical breakfast that you might make at home: some combination of toast, cold cereal, oatmeal, maybe half a banana, orange juice and coffee. This type also carries the stigma of being the type of thing our parents used to force us to eat before school.
The second type is much more fun to eat but a whole lot worse for you: eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, cheese, stacks of pancakes with butter and syrup, and so on.
Soon we were discussing what other countries eat for breakfast. For example, I remembered that during my trip to the Philippines, breakfast was typically a little bit of hot bread and then either a noodle soup or fried rice with chicken and vegetables.
So what, if anything, do you eat for breakfast? Hot or cold? Healthy? Home or out? Is it the same thing you ate as a kid?
A lot of questions, I know, but I'm looking for ideas and inspiration. I am very used to skipping breakfast for lack of anything good to eat. Hopefully, that can change soon.
A large bowl of Wheaties with a handful of frozen blueberries sprinkled on top. I'd rather have this than anything else for breakfast. In the morning, I like quiet and routine. And please keep the talk at breakfast to a minimum. Just let me read the paper in peace.
If I'm traveling, and at a hotel or something, they never have Wheaties, so I'll mix it up a bit. Maybe have a yogurt and a muffin.
My usual breakfast is two fried (free range) eggs, ham, fruit, and coffee. If I have rice and beans made ahead, I sub that for the egg/ham. I should do better.
My breakfast varies. It could be oatmeal, or french toast, or fig bars from Metropolitan Bakery, or Raisin Bran, or bacon, omelet and wheat toast, or...those orange peanut butter crackers from the vending machine.
Every Friday, we get Dunkin' Donuts bagels and donuts at work, so today I had a raisin bagel with cream cheese. I'm thinking of having a donut, too.
Bagel and cream cheese (flavors vary), four waffles with honey, approx six cups of cereal and whole milk and a banana on top. Usually some kind of drink, either juice, soda or gatorade.
Usually...sometimes I'm out of bagels.
That's a huge breakfast Brian! And you are even skinnier than me, if I remember correctly. Is that your biggest meal of the day?
Currently muesli and semi-skimmed milk and a de-caff tea.
Next week when I sort my life out, I'm going back to fruit smoothies.
I actually enjoy both of the above.
Traditional English breakfast is a fry-up.
My parents have a healthier version every weekend. Theirs consists of:
Grilled bacon, grilled tomato, poached egg, baked beans, toast
Sausage (links) if they are ringing the changes, fried bread for Dad on a special occasion.
Standard can include mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, black pudding, any other type of eggs (fried is typical)
Options now tend to include coffee (rather than tea) and hash browns
The hotels I've stayed in in France, Italy, Spain have catered to Eurpoean guests (as opposed to mainly Brits). The standard breakfast there seems to include various meats, cheeses, bread products and cold hard-boiled eggs. Always with the eggs! Oh and yoghurt. And honey.
If you're half-board or B&B you can have a real feast and miss lunch. DON'T fill your pockets though! There are dire warning in all of the dining rooms warning patrons not to remove any items from the restaurant. Funnily enough, they're all in English ;)
I usually eat just whatever tickles my fancy. If I want a ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast, I am going to get it. I've even had a microwave lunch meal because I had a bad craving for it in the morning. Also, down here, a chicken biscuit is considered breakfast food. My Favorite! Mmmmm
During the week, coffee and a bagel, sometimes with an egg.
Sundays, we go out for breakfast so it's either hash and eggs or
biscuits and sausage gravy, and coffee. I'm usually working outside on the weekends, so no need for lunch with a big breakfast.
Otherwise, too many carbs, not enough fruit - although my SO is a vegetarian and I do love salads and stir fried veggies...
today:
Bowl of chocolate puffs cereal (generic) with nonfat milk. A large frozen blended mocha (homemade), plus large hot drip coffee.
Usually I have whatever is in the front / top of the the fridge. Or, on the counter. Sometimes fruit. Often I have my lunch brought from home for breakfast, sandwiches, etc.
Steel-cut oatmeal with blueberries, almonds and cottage cheese.
And lots of coffee. Actually, most mornings its just the coffee.
Sundae Girl, is your Dads fried bread just fried bread or french toast?
Steel-cut oatmeal
had to google that one
had to google that one
Its the best way to eat oatmeal...low glycemic index and more fiber. I think it tastes better too. Now that Quaker Oats offers it you dont have to go to a health food store to get it.
Sundae Girl, is your Dads fried bread just fried bread or french toast?
Fried bread.
What you call French toast is actually eggy bread.
And we have that for tea, not breakfast :)
Bowl of cereal, every single morning. Haven't had anything different since the days when I was skipping breakfast. Before that... bowl of cereal.
Cheerios, Crispix, or Oatmeal Crisp. Always one of those three. When I was a kid, Rice Krispies instead of Oatmeal Crisp in that triad.
I always make breakfast for my family before the day begins. Sometimes I slack off and sleep in a little, causing my husband to have to get things started for me.
This morning we had banana pancakes, bacon and milk. Yesterday was cornmeal mush. Sometimes we have bacon eggs and toast. I try to mix it up a lot. I can't handle monotony. But it is homemade every morning, for economical reasons.
Nothing. It's the same thing I had when growing up, although back then my sister and I took turns faking "evidence" for my mom... couple of bowls with a little milk swirled around and a few flakes of cereal tossed in.
Bob's Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal with honey, sometimes a bit of Saigon Cinnamon sprinkled on for excitment. I occasionally change this up for some other sort of hot cereal, Bob's Red Mill 7 Grain usually, although the Silver Palate Rough and Ready Oatmeal is also a winner.
Beverage is 2 cups of black coffee.
If there's a good prize in the box I may have some sugary cereal ... I really liked the light-up Indiana Jones Adventure Spoons that have recently been in the Kellogg's cereals.
That's a huge breakfast Brian! And you are even skinnier than me, if I remember correctly. Is that your biggest meal of the day?
Nope. Supper is my big meal, usually consisting of a large hunk of some meat, a generous helping of pasta or potato, a tiny spoonful of a veggie, unless I have carrots, in which case I have a half pound or so, and a couple cold ones to wash it down...not to mention either bread or some of my wife's biscuits and real butter.
Dessert comes extra...depending on whether or not I made something. Mary has been feeming cake and I might just indulge her tonight if she's a good girl today.
Yes, I am underweight and trying to gain 20. No, I am not succeeding. The bathroom scale is beginning to scare me.
Happy meals!
Its the best way to eat oatmeal...low glycemic index and more fiber. I think it tastes better too. Now that Quaker Oats offers it you dont have to go to a health food store to get it.
I can't find it at all here. Only instant, pressed oatmeal.
Yuck.
But I eat it anyway, or farina. When I'm in the mmood to cook and want a hot brekkie.
Brian, maybe you should pick up a bread making machine. I've seen people bulk up pretty fast when one gets in their kitchen.
I eat people like you, for breakfast!
:D
Sorry, good mood today.
Today I will have a late, late breakfast.
I've been slobbing around, reading, catching up here and on emails.
When HM goes to work (soon, surely?!) I'm going to nip into work & grab some bits out of the fridge. Then have a snacky feast.
Why wait til he's gone? Because it's practically my last blow-out before I get healthy next week, but I can't be arsed to explain that to him (sounds like an excuse for eating too much cheese & pate) and because I need to wash my hair before I can be seen in public, and I can't be bothered to do that before I dye it tonight.
Slacker.
But breakfast/ brunch/ lunch/ dinner will be: Danish blue cheese, Marmite flavoured rice cakes, extra mature Cheddar, Branston pickle, mackerel pate, olives, French bread, spring onions, honeydew peppers and possibly a rice or cous cous dish. Carb heavy? You betcha.
I need to wash my hair before I can be seen in public, and I can't be bothered to do that before I dye it tonight.
Slacker.
We seem to be on the same hair dying schedule. Of course I might just not do it, again. I always put it off. Then I have no time to do it, then I have time to do it, and put it off, again.
Then I get comments at work. Then I get stubborn because someone made a comment and I
refuse to do it, then I decide to do it, and put it off. I go with: maybe it will happen this weekend.
I might!
So I'm
supposed to do it today. We'll see.........
Really I wait until lunch to eat. I'm not hungry in the morning, and I know it weighs me down and makes too tired to function at work. So I choke something down after noon. I'm a 2 meal a day person unless I make my husband breakfast, then I have a small portion of what I make for him.
Fried bread.
What you call French toast is actually eggy bread.
And we have that for tea, not breakfast :)
I had to google fry bread and Wikipedia said it was either or...typical. So what is fry bread like? Is it like a grilled cheese sandwich without the cheese?
I couldn't honestly say
I've only had toasted cheese sandwiches :)
I don't like fried bread myself - too greasy
But I'm a big toast fan, so maybe I just compare the two unfavourably.
Fried bread is just that. Bread (sliced, white) fried in the fat left over after frying other breakfast items. Which is why my Dad rarely has it, because they grill everything.
In fact it's probably just a treat at Christmas and Easter now as he'll use the dripping (fat from the roast). If that - since his heart problems Mum is far stricter on what he eats!
It did used to be a staple of a fried breakfast.
Even now, if I stay in a B&B I will check exactly what they mean by a Full English. I can cope with fried sausage, bacon, egg (although I'd never make them myself) but leave out the bread. And the tinned tomatoes.
Mmmm....I suppose it might be interesting if it was cooked in bacon grease (I love bacon). Kinda reminds me of All Creatures Great and Small where the farmers would eat fried fat (?? I think I have that right) in the morning.
Typical American?
I think our typical is morphing into alternative/organic/local/health/but the demographic of typical changes depending on where one lives.
Pancakes become the special treat for folks after church on Sunday at the local Pancake house.
*thinks* Am I trying to have a lame psuedo serious conversation about breakfast!? lol
I need another cup of coffee. :coffee:
Kinda reminds me of All Creatures Great and Small where the farmers would eat fried fat (?? I think I have that right) in the morning.
:eek:
Possibly a poor translation somewhere along the line. Fried fat would - after all- just be liquid fat?! Then again they're a hardy lot in Yorkshire. I'll check it with Dana when she's back, in the meantime I'll see if I can work it out.
ETA You are quite right. A quick check of the All Creatures Great and Small listings show that in
Pups, Pigs and Pickles Tristan is in fact offered a breakfast that consists of mostly bacon fat. This is not usual I can assure you. I don't remember the episode, but I assume Tristan was pretty put out by it!
Aqua Vita, now.... That's a proper English breakfast.
[youtube]AK3LduV4-tg[/youtube]
Being the fan of bacon that I am, I'm remember thinking when I read about the fried bacon fat that it actually was probably really good (although, not good for you...:eek: ) Those farmers though did work really really hard back then...its possible that they metabolized it without ill effects. Could be just too much of a good thing however!
BTW..the video doesn't come through...says it is not available anymore.
yes, ideally the bread should be fried in the bacon fat. Just finishing some off right now. it was accompaniesd by bacon, eggs, mushrooms and baked beans. Our bread is fried in the fats off the eggs and mushrooms, though, because we broil/grill the bacon. yum. :yum:
BTW..the video doesn't come through...says it is not available anymore.
Damn. BBC Worldwide. Bit of a misnomer apparantly.
I've never been much of a breakfast eater (rarely hungry in the morning), but in my advancing years, I find that my not hungry-ness extends through the entire day. Generally, by 5 p.m. or so, I'm still not hungry but force myself to eat before I pass out - and even then, it's generally just a few bites of something and I'm full already. For example, around 6 p.m. yesterday I ate a small bowl of cottage cheese with strawberries from my garden, then had a piece of string cheese at 10 p.m.
One would think this would be a great way to lose weight, yet in spite of my very low calorie intake and generally active lifestyle (single woman taking care of a 2018 sq. ft. house, 1.14 acres of yard/garden, three cats, and 15 chickens), my belly keeps getting bigger. It's like I'm a Biafra baby!
The only rational explanation for my ever-increasing lack of hunger and gradual weight gain is, apparently, menopause. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Fortunately, at my age, having an actual waist is no longer important. :D
....I can't be bothered to do that before I dye it tonight.
Interesting.
I didn't bother with a strand test.
Oh crikey who ever does?
It appears to be going purple.
Hmmmmm.
Good news is I work for an arts company.
Bad news is I replaced a well groomed young lady who was slim & beautiful enough to be a model, as well as good natured and omniscient.
Purple hair would be the final straw in comparisons between us I fear.
Look out in the RFN thread I guess.
Looks like I will keep waiting on the dye. All signs say no.
Eggs every day -- that's the slow-burning protein component. Some carbs to fill in, as a completely carbless breakfast leaves me itching for something more all the way to lunchtime. So, cold cereal or hot, with skim milk, or a slice or two of toast. Rarely, both. Some fruit if available, sometimes I substitute 500mg vitamin C tablets. Hot cereals I often add fiber to, liking to mix for instance farina, wheat bran, added wheat germ, rolled grain, sometimes certain bulgur varieties.
Nowadays, you order Roman Meal online rather than get it in a store.
Roman Meal
Going out for breakfast, it's more elaborate: eggs and corned beef hash, eggs Benedict with sliced avocado, the carb-laden breakfasts from Denny's or IHOP, or the one place in town that regularly has a Joe's Breakfast -- robust, vitaminaceous, and capable of sustaining huge loads of black pepper and salt. Yes, the diner that serves this serves you potatoes unless you'd rather go with cottage cheese or slices of tomato.
I can't find it at all here. Only instant, pressed oatmeal. Yuck.
There are no Quaker Old Fashioned Rolled Oats anywhere in El Paso??? I fear I find this too hard to believe.
QOFROs cook slower, they are not instant. More like five-minute.
Try a health-food outfit for Bob's Red Mill whatevers. Their business is about anything of a grain nature that gets passed through a mill or is incidental to that. In hot cereals alone, they offer 4 Grain, 5 Grain (no wheat, IIRC), 7 Grain, 8 Grain, and 10 Grain hot cereals, cornmeal, oatmeal, oat bran, millers' bran, flaxseed... I'm sure I've left several things out. The wheaty multigrain ones go mighty well with cinnamon and honey to sweeten. Muffin and pancake mixes too, also soy flour.
I can't find it at all here. Only instant, pressed oatmeal.
Yuck.
Stop shopping at the convenience stores. :P
I do not, can not eat most health food. There are a few "organic" food stores but I rarely if ever visit them.
I just miss Philly. El Paso counts as a class 2 city, but not in MY book. I am unhappy here. Food stores suck, selection of non-Mexican food sucks, weather sucks, ground sucks, addytude sucks big time, no cheesesteaks, Internet providers sucks big time too.
Every day, I find a reason to dislike El Paso in particular and Texas in general.
I guess I have to become a doctor and invent a cure for arthritis so my wife can live outside a desert.
If by breakfast you mean the thing I eat in the morning, then I generally don't. If however you mean the first thing I eat in the day then it can be anything: eggs on toast, chocolate bar, cereal, cheeseburger, crisps, pot noodle....
The only thing I consistantly have in the morning is coffee....usually about three cups in quick succession (instant coffee, with sugar and full fat milk).
I guess I have to become a doctor and invent a cure for arthritis so my wife can live outside a desert.
That sucks man. Have you inspected New Mexico? I live in an area with a lot of allergens, but really don't want to move to ease my sinus problems.
I just got off work. I made a carrot cake before it gets hot outside. I do not know yet if this is breakfast or not.