Good old fashioned porridge 
I have rediscovered porridge and you will too! It is not only low fat, low calorie and delicious, but it is really good for you.
I am sure you don’t need a recipe for porridge, but here are some tips to make it gallstone-friendly:
- Use skimmed milk or water instead of full fat milk, although it is worth noting that skimmed milk is higher in sugar content than some milk alternatives – see table below
- Add a combination of berries, bananas and fat-free or low-fat yoghurt – so healthy.
Top tip: I add soya-based chocolate dessert or chocolate soya milk to mine for a touch of indulgence – though it does make it more like a dessert than a breakfast.
Fat/sugar content of milk and milk alternatives
| Per 100ml | Approx fat content | (of which saturated) | Approx sugar content |
| Cow’s milk (full fat) | 3.6 g | 2.3 g | 4.6 g |
| Cow’s milk (skimmed) | 0.1 g | 0.1 g | 4.8 g |
| Goat’s milk | 3.5 g | 2.4 g | 4.3 g |
| Unsweetened soya milk | 1.8 g | 0.3 g | 4.3 g |
| Unsweetened almond milk | 1.1 g | 0.1 g | 0.0 g |
| Coconut milk | 0.9 g | 0.8 g | 2.0 g |
| Hemp milk | 2.8 g | 0.3 g | 1.8 g |
| Oat milk | 1.5 g | 0.2 g | 4.0 g |
| Rice milk | 1.0 g | 0.1 g | 4.0 g |
Low-fat pancakes
In this recipe I use a sugar alternative, just to keep calories down and because it’s best to avoid sugar generally. You can of course use real sugar if you like, or omit it altogether if you don’t want your pancakes sweet.
Ingredients
• 75 grams (½ cup) gluten-free flour
• 1 tbsp stevia (or ½ tbsp sugar)
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 large egg white
• 118 ml (½ cup) skimmed milk
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• coconut or olive oil cooking spray, or water for steam frying
Method
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the stevia or sugar.
Whisk the egg white, milk and vanilla extract in a small bowl.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well.
Heat a non-stick frying pan for a couple of minutes on high, then squirt a few sprays of the magic oil spray into the pan, (or a few drops of water if you are steam frying).
Immediately pour your batter into the pan and cook until bubbles form and the edges appear dry, then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
To serve:
Add blueberries, bananas, raspberries and pomegranate seeds. Drizzle with honey for a little extra indulgence.
Veggie omelette 
Tricky one this, as technically the omelette is made from eggs and eggs are one of the enemies. I found that if I used egg whites only (which are pure protein), everything was good.
Ingredients
• egg whites from 2 eggs
• bunch of spring onions, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 tbsp skimmed milk
• salt and pepper
• coconut or olive oil cooking spray, or water for steam frying
• parsley
Method
Mix the egg whites with the chopped onions and peppers.
Add the milk and seasoning.
Heat a non-stick frying pan for a couple of minutes on high, then squirt a few sprays of the magic oil spray (or water) into the pan.
Immediately add the omelette mixture and cook until firm underneath.
Place under a hot grill to cook the top for 2-3 minutes, until it’s nicely browned.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Top tip: If you’re feeling indulgent, you can top the omelette with smoked salmon if you like it and find no problems with eating it – I found I could tolerate it but it might be too oily for some.
The good old English fry-up (sort of) 
I found myself facing Christmas whilst dealing with this gallstone situation, and so some compromises had to be hastily made to accommodate my family’s Christmas Day tradition of full English breakfast followed by full turkey roast (more of that later). This is my version of the ‘gallstone fry-up’. This recipe serves one, because you will likely be the only one eating like this.
Ingredients
• 4 small potatoes, peeled and halved
• coconut or olive oil cooking spray
• 2 good-quality low-fat veggie sausages – my favourite are Cauldron Vegan Mediterranean sausages (3.9 grams of fat for 2)
• 4 cherry tomatoes
• 4 mushrooms
• egg white from 1 egg
• 2 tbsp skimmed milk
• 200 g (7 oz) tin of baked beans
Method
Parboil the potatoes.
Heat a roasting pan in the oven for 10 minutes.
Add 4-5 pumps of the oil spray to the roasting tin.
Drain the potatoes and add to the roasting pan; roast for 25 minutes.
Put the sausages in a roasting pan in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.
Heat a frying pan, then add a few pumps of the spray and lightly fry the tomatoes and mushrooms.
Meanwhile, mix the egg whites with the milk, add salt and pepper, and scramble in a non-stick saucepan.
Heat the beans, and then serve all together.
Home-made muesli
I have always made my own muesli, but in the old ‘Before Gallstones’ (BG) days I would include nuts and seeds. This is the low-fat version.
Ingredients
• 128 grams (1 cup) dry porridge oats
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 apple, sliced
• handful of blueberries and raspberries
• handful of pomegranate seeds
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp raisins
• drizzle of honey, optional
Method
Mix the oats with water and leave overnight. This draws out the starch from the oats.
Before serving, mix in the orange juice, stir, and then add the fruit and the lemon juice.
Drizzle with honey if you want extra sweetness to counteract the lemon juice.
Apple sauce oatmeal muffins
Because this recipe uses olive oil, it is recommended that you eat one muffin at a sitting, as the fat content is around 3.5 grams per muffin.
Ingredients
• 112 grams (1¼ cups) dry porridge oats
• 160 grams (1¼ cups) whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 255 grams (1 cup) unsweetened applesauce* see recipe on page 56
• 120 grams (½ cup) low-fat buttermilk (obtainable from most supermarkets)
• 100 grams (½ cup) brown sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp egg white, lightly beaten
• 75 grams (½ cup) raisins
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cases or spray with coconut or olive oil cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a medium bowl, combine the applesauce, buttermilk, sugar, oil and egg white.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add applesauce mixture.
Stir until just moist.
Fold in the raisins.
Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full.
Bake for 16-18 minutes or until springy to the touch.
Unsweetened apple sauce
Ingredients
• 4 medium cooking apples
• 235 ml (1 cup) water
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
Method
Peel, core and chop the apples (or you can leave skins on if preferred).
Add the apples to a saucepan with the cinnamon and lemon juice.
Add half of the water, and then top up with more during cooking as needed (to get the desired consistency).
Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and then simmer gently for 25-30 minutes until apples are soft.
Mash it all together using a potato masher or hand blender.
Leave to cool and transfer to a jar.
Store in the fridge until needed. It should keep for up to 7-10 days.
Berry smoothie
This is substantial enough to be a complete breakfast.
Ingredients
• 200 ml (1 cup) skimmed milk
• selection of fresh or frozen berries: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries
• 1 banana
Method
Blend until smooth.
Kale and cucumber smoothie
Ingredients
• handful kale
• 200 ml (1 cup) skimmed milk
• 1 banana, peeled and chopped
• ¼ cucumber, chopped
• handful of frozen berries
Method
Tear the kale leaves from their stalks and place into your blender.
Add all the remaining ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.
You can substitute a large handful of spinach for the kale or, for a super-food smoothie, add it to the kale to make a kale, cucumber and spinach smoothie. You may need to add some extra liquid.
Mango and honey smoothie
Ingredients
• 200 ml (1 cup) skimmed milk
• ½ mango, peeled and pitted
• 1 banana, peeled and chopped
• handful of frozen berries
• ½ tsp honey
Method
Other low-fat breakfast ideas
Note: Watch your sugar intake! A high-sugar diet leads to insulin resistance which leads to high cholesterol which leads to gallstones, so the following are not necessarily long-term gallstone-friendly suggestions.
Toast and jam
Don’t mock. I am just giving you options. I was elated when I realised I could eat toast and jam. Just make sure you pick a low-fat bread (most bread has around 1 gram of fat per slice, but some has more). Obviously, don’t add butter or margarine. I spent a lot of time searching for good-quality, natural-sugar jams and marmalades (they have no fat but sugar content can be high).
Note: Choose gluten-free bread if you have a sensitivity to gluten, or low-carb bread to bring the carb content down.
Crumpets
Crumpets are a good, filling alternative to bread; you can put a tiny scraping of low-fat butter on if you want to; or if you prefer not to risk it, stick to jam or marmalade, or a very low-fat cream cheese.
Plus
Beans on wholemeal toast
Scrambled egg on wholemeal toast (made with egg whites and skimmed milk)
Fat-free yoghurt with berries and/or honey
Smoked salmon with wholemeal bread
Vegetarian sausages with baked beans (check for fat content)
Weetabix with skimmed milk and banana
Bran flakes with skimmed milk and blueberries
Cornflakes with skimmed milk and banana
Banana bread: see recipe on page 116.