Protein Cookies For Breakfast

Today I'll share two recipes, one for a senior and another for everyone else. First up: For breakfast some mornings I make a hot bowl of cereal for my senior mother. In her cereal, she gets 1/4 cup of 1-minute oatmeal, an overflowing tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter, about 1/4 cup of milk, and sometimes 1/2 banana. Microwave it for 2 minutes and after it cools but is still warm, I dice a Pure Protein Chocolate Chip bar and mix it in. She gets protein vitamins, and fiber but is none the wiser that she's eating a healthy breakfast as it tastes and smells like a cookie! According to her, she doesn't eat breakfast.🙂

Here's how you can turn it into a real protein cookie to eat for breakfast, or anytime you need a cookie. If you're not a senior who's a picky eater, you don't need the Pure Protein bar 😉 --

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies (a complete protein)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups oatmeal flakes

1 cup of crunchy peanut butter

1 large ripe banana, mashed

1 teaspoon vanilla

a pinch of salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

a sprinkle of nutmeg

1/4 cup honey

2/3 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Options: (1) 1/4 cup of raisins - I add raisins to keep the cookies moist longer. You could puree them before adding. (2) Although we're not dried fruit in cookie fans, you could use other dried fruit if you like. (3) If you wish to chop 1/2 cup of nuts like walnuts, pecans, or almonds, feel free to toss them into the batter. (4) A couple teaspoons of flax seeds is another healthy choice.

Directions:

1) In a mixing bowl, mix all your ingredients, one by one, together.

(2) Refrigerate the batter for 1/2 hour or more.

3) Drop a tablespoon size of batter onto a buttered foil-lined cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Flatten the top if you wish.

4) Bake at 375 degrees F for 12 - 14 minutes or until they are slightly golden brown.

5) Remove and let cool before serving.

Protein cookies are for people who don't eat breakfast.🙂

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Skinny Bread Pudding For One

Photo: Arabe Datsh - another good recipe for bread pudding.

Remember when 80s model Kate Moss was criticized for saying "Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels?" Well, I happen to agree with her and think it's good to practice the sentiment 90% of the time, then eat whatever we wish 10% of the time ... and I'm not anorexic or bulimic. I eat healthy, balanced meals most of the time. Nobody said anything about starving!

10% of the time perhaps you can enjoy my Creole Bread Pudding With Bourbon Sauce, but 90% of the time, you might consider a low-fat recipe with a fair amount of nutrition: 

Skinny Bread Pudding For One

Ingredients:

1 piece of whole-grain bread

1 egg

1/2 cup skim milk

A pinch of Stevia or a teaspoon of honey, sugar, or your sweetener of choice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

a sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions:

1) Cut your bread into cubes.

2) In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, sweetener,
vanilla extract, and cinnamon.

3) Toss the bread cubes into the egg and milk mixture and let the bread absorb the liquid.

4) I use either a pad of butter to grease a small baking dish or cooking spray before pouring the mixture into it. (Line the baking pan with aluminum foil and you can avoid washing a pan.)

5) Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Remove from the oven.

6) Wait at least 10 minutes before you eat it. You can also sprinkle the top with a bit more sugar or syrup. A sprinkle of more sugar or a little syrup adds only a trace more calories. 

We develop a liking for whatever food we eat over and over including low-fat desserts. I love skim milk and whole grains. The recipe works especially well with low-fat milk because of the whole-grain bread. Delicious! Moreover, when you eat unprocessed food that is low in fat or sugar soon your palate develops a taste for it. 

We can savor rich, high-calorie treats once in a while and likely enjoy them more if we eat them as treats instead of all the time!

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