"healthy breakfast" news and stories

Next week I'm starting a new job that requires that I actually leave my house in order to do the work. It's going to force me to change my routine fairly significantly and one of the things I'm going to have to do is get a whole lot more organized about food. I've never been good about making time to eat breakfast in the past when I've done the 9 to 5 gig and so I've been pondering ways to make it easier to ensure that I eat something in the morning.

One thing I'm planning to do is bake up a batch of Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies (my mother's recipe is after the jump). I could go buy myself a box of breakfast bars, but when you make them yourself, you can control what goes into them, ensuring that they are lower in sugar, fat and chemicals than the ones you buy ready-made.

Okay Slashfooders, now it's your turn. How do you make sure that you eat a fairly healthy breakfast each day?

Source

• It's the Cooking Issue of The Boston Globe Magazine, with articles on turning simple ingredients into an elegant dinner for company, making your own wine, the essentials you need for your kitchen, which market staples can help you with appetizers, and taking cooking classes.
• Four wine experts taste wines under $12 and tell you which are best.
• A quick guide on where to get a healthy breakfast in Boston.
• Step-by-step saute.
• This week's recipes: Spicy chicken stew, Celeriac, Parsnip, and Potato Gratin, Turkey Pot Pie, and Pumpkin Gingerbread.

General Mills has a brand new cereal out in stores now. It's got the now-familiar "whole grain" label on it, promising a healthy breakfast, but somehow Double Chocolate Cookie Crisp doesn't seem like it's going to stack up nutritionally to, say, a bowl of oatmeal. I had no idea that Cookie Crisp was still on the market (anyone remember the cop that used to be in the commercials?), let alone the fact that GM was working on new variations, including the double choc as well as peanut butter.

Surprisingly, Double Chocolate Cookie Crisp isn't too bad when you take a look at the label. Each serving as only 130 calories and 2.5 grams of fat, none of it saturated, and it's fortified with calcium, iron, folic acid, etc. And the taste? It's pretty much like chocolate chip cookies and milk. They might be a bit on the sweet side, but for a chocoholic needing a fix in the morning, you could do a lot worse.

If you're not interested in sugary treats in the morning, the cereal might be more satisfying as a snack in the afternoon. Each 3/4 cup serving is going to be slightly bigger than what you'd find in one of those 100 calorie packs of "cookies" and you'll get a lot more servings out of a $4 box.

Oatmeal must be one of the best breakfast foods you can have and it is unquestionably my favorite, though pancakes are a fairly close second. Oatmeal is high in fiber and low in fat, has protein, iron and no cholesterol. In fact, it has even been shown to lower cholesterol. Oatmeal may be rather plain on its own, but its nutty flavor perfectly compliments honey, maple syrup and just about any type of fresh fruit you wish to top it with. A handful of chopped pecans or hazelnuts are also a good addition to the cereal.

There are many types of oatmeal that you can buy, though all come from the same oats. Steel cut oats are whole oat groats that have been chopped into smaller pieces. Rolled oats are oat groats that have been steamed, rolled and flaked for easier cooking. Quick cooking oats are rolled oats that have been chopped into smaller pieces and "instant" oats are basically powdered oats. "Instant" oats do not produce a good bowl of oatmeal, instead forming more of a paste. For the oatmeal lover, steel cut are the only way to go. These pieces of oats take longer to cook than the other, precooked varieties, but they are worth it. The oatmeal is creamy and the oats are chewy. The texture is unlike any bowl of breakfast cereal you've ever had. McCann's is the most famous brand, but other brands are beginning to become more widely available. You can buy steel cut oats very inexpensively at natural food stores, as well.