CHAPTER 11 Breakfast, Brunch, Bagels, and Bakeries
CHAPTER 13 Fast Food—Burgers, Chicken, and More
CHAPTER 14 Sandwiches, Subs, Soups, and Snacks
CHAPTER 15 Salads—from Bar to Entrée and Sides
CHAPTER 16 Going Upscale—Fine Dining
Chapter 11: Breakfast, Brunch, Bagels, and Bakeries
Restaurants where you can eat breakfast—from grabbing a bowl of oatmeal to-go on a weekday to enjoying a relaxed weekend brunch—also generally serve lunch and dinner. These restaurants and their menus fall into several categories, within which you’ll find national and large regional chains and independently owned locations ready to feed you the most important meal of the day.
There are the increasingly popular chain coffee shops, like Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Tim Hortons, Caribou Coffee, Au Bon Pain, Le Pain Quotidien, Panera Bread, and more. They’d be pleased to welcome you for breakfast as well as lunch or dinner. Then there are bagel shops. The large chains include Einstein Bros. Bagels, Bruegger’s, and Manhattan Bagels. They’ve also widened their menus to invite you in for breakfast and other meals or a quick pick-me-up. Don’t forget the fast-food restaurants that fought for and won over the many breakfast eaters who are in a hurry and in need of an easy-to-eat breakfast sandwich. With so many Americans on a quest to get food fast and to be able to eat it while walking, driving, or texting, the breakfast menus of these types of restaurants now seem to overlap.
There are also chain and independent restaurants that encourage you to sit down and take the time to savor breakfast. You more commonly frequent these on weekends or on vacations. Large chains known for serving sit-down breakfast are IHOP, Waffle House, and Denny’s. These chains would gladly serve you lunch and dinner too.
Hotels, from upscale to moderately priced establishments, offer breakfast to help you kick off your day. In upscale hotel restaurants you’ll either find a typical breakfast menu or you’ll be encouraged to enjoy their cold and/or hot buffet, which may include made-to-order omelets or eggs, fruit, breakfast breads and pastries, hot and cold cereals, breakfast meats, and more. There’s usually a breakfast buffet included with the price of your low- to moderately priced hotel room.
You can find the foods these types of restaurants serve for lunch and dinner in the three chapters that follow: Chapter 12: Family Fare, Chapter 13: Fast Food—Burgers, Chicken, and More, and Chapter 14: Sandwiches, Subs, Soups, and Snacks.
While you can easily get your fill of refined grains, carbohydrate, fat, cholesterol, and saturated fat in breakfast/brunch restaurants, bagel shops, and bakeries, it’s easier than ever, albeit with some effort, to exit these restaurants having enjoyed a healthy breakfast or with grab-and-go healthy option in hand.
On the Menu
Over the last few decades, breakfast has moved from one’s kitchen table to one of the number of restaurants. Breakfast has also transitioned, especially during the hustle-bustle of work or school days, from a sit-down affair to an eat-on-the-run meal. What’s on the menu for breakfast has changed dramatically, too. During the week, you may order an easy-to-handle breakfast sandwich or wrap with a steaming cup of hot coffee or a cappuccino to down while you get to your destination. On weekends or when you’re away for vacation or business travel, you may take a few more minutes to eat at a sit-down restaurant or hotel buffet.
Breakfast is the meal that breaks the night fast. You may think of breakfast, especially during the work week, as your lightest meal of the day. But, by the time you down an oversized muffin, an ever expanding bagel with a thick layer of cream cheese slathered on by the person behind the counter, or a breakfast sandwich, you may have unknowingly consumed upwards of 600 calories. Yes, breakfast can be more calories than you think.
As you try to eat a healthy breakfast, the challenge is to find quick and easy choices that are moderate in carbohydrate, are relatively light in fat and calories, and help you fit in foods from the often lacking food groups—whole grains, fruits, and dairy foods. (Vegetables are often lacking, too, because they’re not usually part of breakfast unless they are tucked into an omelet, topped on a bagel, or enjoyed in a breakfast smoothie.) Either intuitively or because your mother always said so, you realize that breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. Unfortunately, it’s the meal that people most frequently skip. You’ve heard that you need fuel (meaning food) to activate your brain for the day. When you have diabetes, it’s important to balance out the nutrients you eat through the day, and if you take a blood glucose–lowering medication that can cause hypoglycemia, skipping or delaying a meal can put you at risk of hypoglycemia.
There’s research to suggest that eating breakfast regularly is a plus for weight control. Data collected from the National Weight Control Registry, a registry of nearly 10,000 people who’ve lost weight and kept it off (at least 30 pounds for at least 1 year), report that eating breakfast regularly has been an important strategy for keeping lost pounds off. Interestingly, regular breakfast eaters are also regular exercisers. Yes, healthy behaviors tend to flock together. In the long-term Look AHEAD study of overweight or obese people with type 2 diabetes, eating breakfast regularly was a behavior that people who began the study at a lower body mass index regularly practiced.
In addition to eating breakfast regularly, take a realistic approach to the foods you order and calories you eat. Shoot for consuming at least 20–30% of your daily calories. If eating breakfast helps you achieve your diabetes, nutrition, and weight goals, that’s great! If you think you’d be more successful getting a larger percent of your calories at breakfast, however, then try that.
Nutritionally speaking, starting your day off with a healthy breakfast that contains whole grains, fruit, and dairy foods—common breakfast foods—can make it easier for you to eat the number of daily servings of these foods you need. And yes, if you get a sufficient supply of these foods, you’ll more easily meet your nutritional needs for vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.
If you find that your energy and satiety last longer if you include a small amount of protein in your breakfast, then do so. But according to the Nutrition Therapy Recommendations for the Management of Adults With Diabetes, there’s no longer a dictate about eating some protein at every meal. You’ll likely want to reserve the minimal amount of protein you should consume each day for lunch and dinner. If you load up on protein in the morning by eating a two- or three-egg omelet with cheese or have an egg sandwich with breakfast meat, you’ll have a rough time holding to your protein allotment for the day. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the recommendation for protein is 10–35% of your calories. You don’t need more than 0.4 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Most Americans eat more protein than needed.
While you can be more creative at home with lean sources of protein, finding a healthy breakfast protein is more challenging at restaurants, where your choices are pretty much eggs, cheese, bacon, or sausage. Do consider that more restaurants, from coffee shops to bagel places and sit-down restaurants, now make egg whites or egg substitutes available. And keep in mind that a cup of milk provides as much protein as an ounce of meat. Greek yogurt has a little bit more protein than regular yogurt, but it’s tough to find plain Greek yogurt beyond the supermarket aisle.
If you’re grabbing breakfast on the run several mornings a week at a local fast-food restaurant, coffee shop, or bagel joint, you may want to assess the whens, whys, wheres, and whats of your restaurant excursions. After putting this healthy restaurant eating strategy of into action, give some thought to a few quick-to-fix breakfasts you can prepare at home and eat at home or take to go. This will make eating healthier breakfasts easier.
When it comes to those breakfast spreads in moderately priced hotels, try to put yourself in auto pilot mode, especially if you have to frequent hotels for business travel. You know the food lineup all too well. Have your mind made up about what you’ll eat before you enter. Don’t survey the offerings, just go straight to the foods that fit your needs, prepare them, and sit and eat.
As for more elaborate “all-you-can-eat” breakfast or brunch buffets, the best advice is to avoid them if at all possible. If the restaurant offers a menu to order from, then go along willingly—order healthfully while your partners indulge at the buffet. If not, request a change of venue. Then steer them in the direction of a restaurant that also has a menu from which you can eat healthfully. If your arm is twisted or there’s just not another choice, there are some healthier ways to tackle the breakfast buffet. First, survey the situation; peruse the buffet and check out the foods lining the buffet. See if you can limit your choices by simply partaking in the cold buffet. If you’ve got to choose from the whole buffet, plan what and how much you’ll eat carefully. Try a bowl of fresh fruit or a salad as a first course to take the edge off your appetite. Return just once to fill your plate. Take larger portions of the healthier items and tastes (tablespoons) of the appealing items you’ve just got to taste. Lastly, drink plenty of no-calorie fluids and enjoy the relaxing environment and company.
The Menu Profile
Coffee
Coffee—it’s not just a plain cup of joe any longer. Your choices are wide and deep, whether it’s the coffee blends or the variety of specialty drinks available, your choice of whiteners and sweeteners, or whether you like it hot or cold. Plus, coffee has become a drink for any time of the day. And it is served in more locations today than ever before, from large chain coffee, bagel, and sandwich shops to McDonald’s—which serves a variety of coffees that resembles a Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts lineup, from lattes, to mochas, to caramels, and more. Oh yes, their calorie counts resemble Starbucks’ too, at up to 400–500 calories, without a whole heck of a lot of nutrition.
When it comes to hot coffee, consumers can choose among regular or espresso, café au lait, cappuccino, café latte, café mocha, and caramel latte (a favorite of many). You’ve got a choice of sizes, too—from small (which is still relatively large at 12 ounces), to large at about 20 ounces. Dunkin’ Donuts has an extra-large size (24 ounces)! The coffee drinks contain varying mixtures and strengths of coffee and different kinds of whitener, from whole milk to low-fat (2%), fat-free, or soy milk. As a policy, Starbucks whitens with 2% milk unless you request otherwise. To sweeten your coffee, should you want to, most restaurants offer a variety of low-calorie sweeteners or sugar substitutes. For more on sugar substitutes see Chapter 9.
There are also plenty of iced coffee drinks, such as mocha, caramel, and dolce lattes, available from this same genre of restaurants. Dunkin’ Donuts has their trademarked Coolattas. In the larger sizes, which in some cases are even bigger portions than large hot coffees, with the works added in, their calories top out at 400–500.
Word to the wise on coffee drinks: the plainer, the better; the lower fat the milk, the better; and the lower the carbohydrate count of the sweeteners and syrups you use, the better. Unadulterated coffee contains almost zero calories. Save your calories for nutrition-dense foods and meals. Find further discussion about coffee and coffee drinks in Chapter 9.
Tea
The large chain coffee shops, from Starbucks to Caribou Coffee, have widened their variety of tea-based beverages, both hot and iced, caffeinated and herbal (non-caffeinated). Many of these drinks have syrup, juice, flavorings, and sometimes whipped cream added to them. There’s green tea, chai tea, shaken tea, tea mixed with lemonade, and even chai tea mixed with cocoa. You’ll see these drinks served by the cup or pre-mixed and sold in bottles, particularly in coffee, bagel, and sandwich shops. The vast majority are loaded with calories. They are not as high in calories as some of the coffee drinks noted above, but they can top 200–300 calories for the large size. The fast-food restaurants and coffee shops will gladly serve you “sweet” tea—a combo of no-calorie tea and calorie-containing sweetener. But, no need to give up tea! Bottles of unsweetened iced tea or tea sweetened with one or a combination of sugar substitutes are available (see Chapter 9 to learn more). Plus a cup of hot tea sweetened with a sugar substitute is always an option.
Similar words to the wise apply to both tea and coffee. Drink it plain. Use fat-free milk to lighten, when possible, and a sugar substitute if you want a sweet taste. Try not to sip and slurp all of your precious calories. To learn more about how to fit coffee and tea into your healthy eating plan and check out the health benefits of these beverages, see Chapter 9.
Smoothies
Another healthy (sounding) slurpable beverage that has made its way onto the menus of coffee shops, bagel shops, and a smattering of fast-food restaurants (and many of the restaurants covered in Chapter 14) is the so-called “fruit” smoothie. Smoothies are often large and calorie-dense. Generally speaking, they’re a combination of real fruit (sometimes) and juice concentrates mixed with other calorie-containing sweeteners and ingredients. In their various sizes, from medium to large, they can run 200–300-plus calories. Worse yet, they contain essentially refined non–nutrient-dense carbohydrate. You’re better off with a good old piece of fresh fruit—many fewer calories, more fiber, and more to chew. For more information on smoothies, check out Chapter 9.
Fruit and Juice
When you sit down to breakfast at an upscale restaurant or hotel, you’re usually greeted with the offering of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Fruit juice—typically orange, as it is the ubiquitous breakfast fruit beverage—is present at breakfast buffets, both moderately priced and upscale. But you can bet it’s not always fresh squeezed. You’ll also find 12-ounce containers of fruit juice in coffee shops, bagel shops, and fast-food restaurants. McDonald’s sizes of juice range from 12–22 ounces, which is more than anyone, particularly a person with diabetes, needs in one sitting. Even 12 ounces is three servings of fruit!
Yes, it’s better to eat fruit than drink it. For one, you’ll get more fiber from eating fruit. Fruit is finally becoming available at a wider array of restaurants that serve breakfast. In a sit-down breakfast restaurant you may find a half grapefruit, berries, or a bowl or platter of fresh fruit in the menu. They love to serve huge portions, so be sure to split it up among diners.
At coffee and bagel shops, you’ll typically find whole pieces of fruit, which are your best nutritional bargain due to both portion and price. You can order a side of sliced apples at McDonald’s and Burger King. They also often serve fresh fruit cups in a plastic container. The portions served are often just about right or they are equal to about one and a half fruit servings.
Fruit, due to its perishability and the labor needed to cut and process it, can be very expensive to purchase in restaurants. If you’re trying to eat more fruit and still have change left in your pocket, eat your fruit at home before you leave the house. Or grab a piece of fruit and eat it while you walk to the bus or drive to work. If your glucose level can’t handle fruit early in the day, then enjoy the fresh fruit with lunch or as a snack. If you’re traveling, consider stopping in to a supermarket and buying a few pieces of fruit that don’t need refrigeration—apples, oranges, or bananas.
Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits
Another entry in the relatively healthy, easy-to-eat category of restaurant foods is fruit and yogurt parfaits. You’ll find them in the popular coffee and sandwich shops as well as in some fast-food restaurants, such as McDonald’s. Generally in a plastic container, parfaits consist of layers of low-fat or fat-free yogurt (regular or Greek), some fresh berries, and a couple tablespoons of granola. The calories for parfaits run from about 150–300 per serving, with larger portions having more calories and grams of carbohydrate. Larger parfaits could suffice as a complete breakfast. The smaller ones or half of a large serving make for a reasonably healthy side item.
Cereal—Cold/Dry and Hot
Cold/dry cereals used to be a regular on breakfast menus, but today those little boxes have disappeared. Cold/dry cereal tends to be found on the breakfast buffets of moderately priced hotels. There you’ll find several types of cereal in pour-yourself dispensers or in large containers. Typically they offer Raisin Bran, Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies, and Corn Flakes. None are stellar nutritionally, but Raisin Bran tops the list with its whole grains and reasonable fiber content. Cold/dry cereal is an easy food to tote along on your travels. If you’ve got a healthy one that you enjoy, pack it.
Conversely, hot cereal, particularly oatmeal, has now become very available in popular coffee and sandwich shops and some fast-food restaurants. That’s good news because it’s a healthy breakfast option. And there’s more good news: the portions are relatively small. But you typically get more than just oatmeal when you order it in a restaurant, and you may need to make some special requests, if possible, to get your oatmeal your way. Restaurants start with a reasonable serving of oatmeal, somewhere between 1/2–1 cup. Then they typically add fresh or dried fruit, nuts and/or seeds, and a sweetener, such as brown sugar or agave syrup. You’ll need to resort to making special requests to get what you want on your oatmeal. Oatmeal is also typically the hot cereal of choice at other breakfast locales, including hotel breakfast buffets. You may find it made from scratch or in those ready-to-eat packages. Go for made from scratch. Skip the packages.
Breakfast Entrées
Pancakes, French toast, and waffles are all basically made from the same ingredients: flour (and, in most restaurants, generally not whole-wheat flour or flour made from other healthy whole grains), water, egg, a bit of sugar, and a leavening agent. Before the whipped butter and syrup are loaded on, these breakfast entrées really aren’t nutritional disasters, but they typically contain a lot of refined carbohydrate. A big problem is the portions. These foods are often stacked high. To solve that problem, share an order or order a “short stack” of pancakes made with whole-grain flour or whole grains. You may be more likely to find these options at an independent health-oriented breakfast restaurant. Ask the server to hold the butter and syrup. Make a special request to get them topped with fresh fruit or get an order of fruit served on the side. If sugar-free syrup is available and it meets the mark with your taste buds, then pour a small amount.
Eggs
The biggest problem with eggs is their cholesterol content, just over 200 milligrams per egg, which all comes from the yolk. But they’re low in saturated fat (depending on the size of the egg, about 1–2 milligrams per egg). The current American Diabetes Association guideline for cholesterol is 300 milligrams per day, which is consistent with the federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Most people’s lipid levels can tolerate a few eggs each week. But do check with your health-care providers for individual advice.
Eggs can be a challenge in sit-down restaurants that cook them to order because they’re usually served in duplicate or triplicate and with sides of breakfast potatoes, toast, and often breakfast meat. Omelets are often made with three eggs and contain high-fat ingredients. You are best off sharing an omelet filled with veggies and lean protein, such as ham. That way, you end up eating about one and a half eggs. In restaurants that present you with a menu, you can usually order one or two eggs à la carte. Poached eggs will be the lowest in fat. The availability of egg substitutes or egg whites in both sit-down and walk-up-and-order restaurants has increased. Using these substitutes will greatly decrease cholesterol and, in the case of egg whites, calories. Today it’s becoming more common to find hard-boiled eggs served at hotel buffets or for sale at coffee and bagel shops. Hard-boiled eggs are easy to make and portable. Consider making a supply at home and carrying them along with you if you can.
Bagels, Breads, Donuts, Danishes, Muffins, Pastries, Pretzels, and More
The range of bread and baked-good options available for breakfast has widened over the years and varies based on restaurant type. Coffee shops serve a range from simple to savory and sweet, which may include bagels, croissants, muffins, pound cake, fruit breads, scones, pretzels (see these covered in Chapter 14), fritters, and more. Bagel shops? Well yes, their specialty is bagels with all sorts of ingredients mixed in. Fast-food restaurants like to stuff eggs, cheese, and breakfast meat between a biscuit, bagel, or English muffin (breakfast sandwiches). In sit-down restaurants specializing in breakfast you’ll usually find white and whole-grain bread and bagels, and wider menus usually serve biscuits, croissants, and Danish pastries. Unfortunately, the list is long on breads made with refined grains, which are low in fiber. These are better left on the baker’s shelf. That’s all the more reason to opt for a breakfast prepared at the home front when possible.
Another issue with breakfast breads and pastries is portion size. For example, muffins today are about double the size of the muffins your grandmother used to make. On average, these “mega muffins” contain somewhere in the range of 350–500 calories and a load of carbohydrate. If the muffin is huge, split it into two servings. Share it or save half for another meal.
Bagels are also bigger than ever in both size and prevalence. An average bagel in a bagel or coffee shop is equivalent to at least four or five slices of bread or 350–450 calories and is a carbohydrate load. Most people are under the impression that a bagel is equivalent to two slices of bread or about 160 calories. If you let the server spread the cream cheese of your choice on your bagel, they’ll use several tablespoons. Before you know it, you’ve eaten 500–600 calories. Try these bagel noshing tips: find a bagel shop that serves relatively small bagels and offers whole-grain options. You may want to scoop out some excess dough to save on carbohydrate grams. Then take advantage of the light spreads and order spreads on the side. Try to spread only a thin layer. Finally, consider splitting a bagel in half and complementing one half of the bagel with fruit, a hard-boiled egg, and/or yogurt, if available.
Croissants, biscuits, donuts, pastries, coffee cakes, cinnamon and sticky buns, and other options combine fat grams and carbohydrate grams and rack up excess calories. Put these on your once-in-a-while list. Scones are another once-in-a-while treat. They are a quick bread believed to have originated in Scotland and are traditionally served with tea. Today, scones have become a staple at coffee shops and are much larger than their traditional Scottish counterparts. They contain in the range of 300–400 calories and are nearly all carbohydrate and fat. They’re definitely not whole grain. They’re best skipped.
For healthier options choose items that are not made with a lot of fats, sugar, or refined grains. Healthier breakfast breads, which contain ostensibly no fat, are bread, bagels, and English muffins. If you can choose whole-grain varieties, all the better. With the pressure to provide healthier offerings, a few whole-grain rolls and bagels are creeping onto menus, but they remain few and far between. Be careful about what you load on top. Request that any bread be served dry. Keep margarine, butter, cream cheese, and other fats to a minimum. At home, all-fruit jam works well, but they’re hard to find in restaurants. And, when you eat out, try to choose breakfast breads or pastries that are served in reasonable portions, versus mega sizes.
Breakfast Sandwiches
A food item will catch on if you can hold it while multitasking. That’s sure true for breakfast sandwiches. Introduced in fast-food restaurants, today they line the menu boards of bagel and sandwich shops. Each of these restaurants is trying to capture the breakfast business. With this quest comes creativity. Today, breakfast sandwiches tend to offer the same range of fillers—eggs, cheese, and breakfast meats (either sausage, bacon, ham, or Canadian bacon), but the choice of outer layers or wrappers has expanded. Beyond the usual biscuit, croissant, English muffin, or bagel, you’ll now find breakfast paninis, sandwiches served on focaccia, flatbread, or sourdough bread, and breakfast wrapped in a tortilla. Breakfast sandwiches range in calories from about 300–400 in fast-food outlets to closer to 400–500 in bagel shops. The more cheese and meat added on, the more fat and calories.
The pressure to offer healthier options has given rise to healthier breakfast sandwiches. Typically these feature sandwiches on a bagel thin or flatbread (a few are whole grain) or wrapped in a tortilla. To stuff in between, you’ll choose from egg whites, egg whites mixed with vegetables, and turkey bacon or sausage. All in all, it’s great to see these options when you’re in a pinch and a breakfast sandwich on the run is your healthiest option.
Breakfast Sides
Breakfast sides vary based on the type of restaurant you visit. Fast-food restaurants push their fried potatoes. Bagel and coffee shops promote fruit, juice, yogurt, and fruit and yogurt parfaits. These restaurants like to stuff breakfast meats into one of their many varieties of breakfast sandwiches. Sit-down restaurants often offer you a choice of a breakfast meat and hash browns as sides with egg dishes or a side of meat with breakfast entrées such as waffles, pancakes, etc.
The usual breakfast meats are bacon, sausage, ham, and Canadian bacon. Ham and Canadian bacon are leaner but contain a fair amount of sodium. Slightly healthier breakfast meats made from turkey are creeping onto a few menus and being used in healthier breakfast sandwiches. Today, health experts recommend keeping these types of processed meats to a minimum due to sodium and other ingredients introduced in processing.
Next, breakfast potatoes. Whether they’re called hash browns or home fries, breakfast potatoes are another example of taking a nutritious food and dosing it with unnecessary fat and sodium in the cooking process. The fast-food varieties of breakfast potatoes are usually deep-fried as opposed to pan-fried and derive more of their calories from fat.
Nutrition Snapshot
Green-Flag Words
Ingredients:
• All-fruit jam or spread
• Coffee and tea (without added syrups, flavorings, whipped cream, etc.)
• Dry cereals (whole-grain, high-fiber)
• Egg—served as one
• Fruit (fresh piece of fruit, cut fruit, 100% juice, dried for oatmeal)
• Oatmeal
• Turkey bacon, turkey sausage, Canadian bacon, ham
• Vegetables—in an omelet, egg white sandwich, or even in veggie cream cheese
• Whole-grain bagels
• Whole-grain or low-fat breads, flatbread, tortilla
• Yogurt (nonfat plain or Greek)
Cooking Methods/Menu Descriptions:
• Omelet—loaded with vegetables, light on cheese; split or share
Red-Flag Words
Ingredients:
• Bacon
• Hash browns
• Sausage
• Scones, donuts, cinnamon buns, biscuits, Danish pastries, croissants
• Specialty coffee and tea drinks (with added syrups, flavorings, whipped cream, etc.)
Cooking Methods/Menu Description:
• Fried
• Omelet (loaded with cheese and breakfast meats)
• Smothered with cheese
Healthy Eating Tips and Tactics
• Stick to coffee without a lot of added cream, whole milk, or sugar. These extras add fat and empty calories. Use a sugar substitute.
• Choose a bagel shop serving smaller bagels (~45 grams of carbohydrate) versus larger bagels (60 grams of carbohydrate or more).
• Opt for one of the light bagel spreads, but keep in mind that they are hardly calorie or fat free. Still spread them thinly.
• Request an omelet made with two eggs (instead of three).
• Eat breakfast. Skipping breakfast just keeps your engine in low gear and may help you rationalize overeating the rest of the day. Plus, if you take glucose-lowering medications that can cause low blood glucose, skipping breakfast may put you at risk for hypoglycemia (see Chapter 8).
• In a breakfast sandwich, choose ham, egg, and/or cheese. Pass on bacon or sausage.
• If jam or jelly is an option, use a thin layer of that instead of margarine, butter, or cream cheese. Jams and jellies contain no fat and just a small amount of carbohydrate.
• Minimize portions by splitting servings. Share with your dining partner or save half for another meal rather than overeating. (Think pancakes, omelet, bagel, etc.)
Get It Your Way
• Order bagel spreads on the side so that you can control how much is spread.
• Request that your bagel be scooped out (the excess dough removed).
• Order butter or margarine on the side.
• Opt for fat-free milk in hot or dry cereal, coffees, and teas.
• Order a breakfast sandwich on a bagel thin, tortilla, or flatbread.
• Hold the cheese in an omelet or on a breakfast sandwich.
Tips and Tactics for Gluten-Free Eating
• Fresh eggs are naturally gluten-free. Try soft or hard cooked eggs, or fresh eggs prepared in a clean pan with olive oil rather than butter or margarine. Other egg dishes, such as omelets, may contain flour or may be cross-contaminated with gluten-containing ingredients. Ask your server.
• Ask to check the labels of prepared foods that you may order or that will be used in your meal for gluten-containing additives (especially in all processed breakfast meats).
• Fresh fruit and dairy foods (milk, yogurt) are good choices. You may want to bring your own gluten-free breakfast cereal to add to yogurt or have with milk.
• If breakfast potatoes are on the menu, make sure they do not have a seasoning mix with flour added to help them brown.
• Unless the bakery or bagel shop has a designated separate area to bake gluten-free products, then their products will most likely be contaminated with gluten. Residual flour can remain airborne for several hours. Question the bakery’s methods carefully.
• Discuss gluten-free choices with your waitperson or the manager at an all-you-can-eat buffet or brunch. Ask what seasonings are added to foods that they identify as gluten-free. Watch for cross-contamination with serving utensils that may have been used for gluten-containing dishes.
• Because of all the gluten-containing foods commonly served for breakfast, it can be tough to eat gluten-free. You may want to carry a homemade gluten-free nutrition bar or a commercial one that you know is gluten-free.
Tips and Tactics to Help Kids Eat Healthy
• Order family style in a sit-down breakfast restaurant and split servings to get a balanced meal with reasonably sized portions. Consider a three-egg vegetable omelet with cheese, a short stack of whole-grain pancakes, and a bowl of fruit.
• Opt for berries for your fruit and split them. Kids like berries in part because they’re finger foods.
• Start them early on the healthier and smaller breakfast sandwiches—on English muffin, bagel thins, or flatbread.
• Split a bagel, an order of whole-grain toast, or a muffin.
• Limit their exposure to high-fat and high-calorie breakfast sweets.
• At a hotel breakfast buffet: With older kids, decide on what they’ll eat before they load their plate. With younger kids, accompany and guide them. Teach them to serve themselves just the food they want and need. Encourage them not to waste food (it’s a teachable moment!).
What’s Your Solution?
You’re on a family vacation and you’re traveling by car. You are staying at a moderately priced hotel that offers a breakfast buffet. (You know it’s not ideal, but it’s included in the price of the room.) You accompany your family to breakfast. You survey the situation. It’s the usual spread—make-your-own Belgian waffles with syrup, apples, bananas, a few dry cereal options, oatmeal packets, hard-boiled eggs, containers of fruit yogurt, breads to toast (including whole-grain bread), bagels, and a range of milk options.
What is a breakfast option from this spread that will meet your nutrition needs and satisfy your taste buds?
a) Raisin bran dry cereal, fat-free milk, a hard-boiled egg, and half a banana
b) Half of a Belgian waffle with a sliced half a banana on top and a fruit yogurt on the side
c) Bagel with cream cheese, a sliced apple, 1 cup of fat-free milk
d) Two hard-boiled eggs, one slice of whole-grain bread with butter, and half an apple sliced
See the end of the chapter for answers.
Menu Samplers
What’s Your Solution? Answers
a) Of the choices available, this is a reasonably healthy breakfast that is balanced in carbohydrate, protein, and fat.
b) This will provide several hundred calories more than you’ve likely allotted for breakfast. Plus, it tips the scale on carbohydrate.
c) This is a reasonable choice given the limited options, but it is a carbohydrate load. Consider eating just half the bagel.
d) This is a reasonably healthy breakfast if you want to keep your carbohydrate grams low and don’t have cholesterol concerns.