Laura Russell Table Matters

This has become one of my go-to breakfasts over the past few weeks. I am someone who wakes up hungry and really need to eat breakfast along with my coffee in order to function properly. I love coffee but I do find it makes me shaky and jittery if I do not eat something with it. If my breakfast is not filling enough then I find I am hungry all morning. Typically I have a high protein shake or eggs with toast, but now I have found another easy option. This bowl is a great mix of protein, carbs and fat and wonderfully keeps me satisfied all morning.

In the morning we are more sensitive to carbohydrates because our body has used up all of our energy overnight and it is ready for some fuel. When our breakfast is high in carbohydrates likes cereals, bagels, muffins, many of the typical “breakfast” foods we experience a blood glucose spike followed by a crash. Our energy levels are not maintained and we are more hungry. Adding more protein to breakfast in particular will help keep blood glucose levels steady and provide more energy than with carbohydrates alone. Carbohydrates are used up by our body in about 2 hours where as protein is closer to 4 hours. Pairing  carbohydrate with protein will give you some immediate energy plus more for several hours as the protein breaks down.

This bowl has protein from cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, nuts, and whole grains. There are many variations and substitutions you could do to make it fit your preferences. Here is my typical combination:

• 1/3 cup cottage cheese
• 1/3 Greek yogurt
• 6 pecans
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 tbsp almond butter
• 2 tbsp rolled oats
• 2 medium strawberries
• 2 tbsp Catalina Crunch Cinnamon Toast cereal

This bowl has 458 calories, 25g carbohydrates, 9g of fiber, 27g of protein, 31g fat

Substitutions and variations:

1. Don’t like cottage cheese? You could add 1 scoop of collagen or other unflavored or vanilla protein power and mix with the yogurt instead of cottage cheese
2. Too high in fat or calories for your plan? You can remove the 1 tbsp of almond butter which will take off 100 calories, 3g carb, 2g fiber, 3g of protein and 9g of fat. PB fit peanut butter protein powder mixed with water per the label instructions to form the consistency of peanut butter would be another substitution. 2 tbsp has 6g of carb, 7g of protein, 2g of fat and only 60 calories
3. Pecans could be replaced with sliced almonds or walnuts.
4. Chia seeds could be substituted for flax seed
5. Any type of fruit could be used instead of strawberries
6. Catalina Crunch cereal is a keto friendly cereal and one of the few keto products that I actually like. I think it provides a really nice crunch to this bowl but could absolutely be removed. 2 tbsp provides 5g of carb, 2g of fiber, 3g of protein and 28 calories