Sunday, December 2, 2007

High Protein, Low Fat Breakfast

I've been loading up on protein, cutting down on fat & carbs lately and have come up with a pretty good quick breakfast that I make pretty much every weekday. This is prepared in my GTXpress101 cooking device, but can be made in a skillet. Unfortunately, I don't find the skillet version to be as good as the GTXpress version, but it's still pretty good.



Take a couple slices of some healthy bread, I use the Franz brand 40 calorie per slice whole wheat bread (yes, that's the name) that has loads of fiber, a bit of protein and only half a gram of fat per slice. Sometimes I lightly toast it, sometimes I do not. The bread doesn't make or break this breakfast, just use something low-cal if possible.

An aside about the skillet mix used... I've started mixing my own skillet mix, but it's easier to start with a nice pre-made mix. For that, I suggest Morning Star's Vegetarian Breakfast Starters. It's a hundred times healthier than the Jimmy Dean skillet mix I used to use. The nutritional part of the skillet mix isn't too important, since very little of it is added to the recipe, much less than one actual serving. Making your own mix is not difficult, just get a bunch of the same ingredients that are in these mixes ("cooked sausage/veggie sausage," diced green peppers, diced red peppers, diced onions, home-fry sized mostly cooked potatoes.

Ingredients
1/4 cup skillet mix
3-4 egg whites (how much protein do you want?)
1/4 cup Egg Beaters (0g fat, 30 cals, 6g protein)
2 slices healthy bread
1 slice fat-free american or cheddar cheese

Method
  • Spray GTXpress with non-stick spray
  • Split skillet mix between the two cooking chambers
  • Turn it on, skillet mix will be cooked in just 2 minutes (or less)
  • Mix 3-4 egg whites (6g protein each, 0g fat, 17 cal) with 1/4 cup Egg Beaters
  • After the skillet mix has been in the unit for 2 minutes, split the egg mixture between both chambers
  • Cook for 7 minutes exactly, works every time
  • Place both bread slices apart on a plate
  • Put 1 "omelette" on each bread slice
  • Tear cheese slice in half, lay half on each omelette
  • Pepper to taste
  • Let dish sit for about a minute so the cheese melts
This breakfast is surprisingly tasty and healthy, and with a GTXpress it's super easy.

You can do the same thing with a traditional skillet, just prepare it as if it were scrambled eggs.

Nutrition info:
4 egg whites = 68 cals, 24g protein, 0g fat
1/4 cup Egg Beaters == 30 cal, 6g protein, 0g fat
Skillet mix = 30 cal, 3g protein, 0g fat (if vegetarian)
2 slices bread = 80 cal, 6g protein, 1g fat
1 slice fat-free cheese = 30 cal, 4g protein, 0g fat

Total nutrition:
253 calories, 39g protein, 1g fat

The Egg Beaters are a recent addition to this meal. Egg whites alone are very plain, and the consistency and color are greatly improved by adding the 1/4 cup of beaters. I've also found that Egg Beater brand egg substitute has a gram of fat, however the similar product at Costco has no fat. The costco version is also much, much cheaper than the name brand.

I purchased my GTXpress unit new at the local thrift store for 4 bucks, but for this use alone, I would've paid $40. It's that useful.

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