Big Healthy Breakfast

Henry and I woke up this morning to a cold house (had to replace the batteries in the thermostat), hungry bellies, and no desire to go out in the chilly weather. Our conversations about meals tend to go like this:
Henry: I'm le hungry.
Me: What would you like to have?
H: I don't know.
M: Me neither. What sounds good?
H: I don't know, but something BIG.

I heard this again this morning and instead of cold cereal, I decided to actually go big. Look out.

So before I tell you about what I cooked, I want to tell you about where I'm coming from.

Hi. I'm Kimb. I love food. I might even venture to call myself a foodie. Henry is my six year old who likes to tell people that he likes fancy food, which is partially true, but he's pretty picky too. Within the past couple of months, I've been convicted to really clean up my diet. I came to realize that about 90 percent of what we were eating was providing no actual nourishment to our bodies. That plus the statistic that absolutely floored me, that health experts are, for the first time ever, predicting that my generation will outlive Henry's generation, made me ready for a big change.

So with those two revelations, I decided to make a lifestyle change. Cut WAY back on the processed fluff we currently call food (I'm calling it "fluff" because the majority of it has no real use in our bodies. It goes in, it comes out, and maybe leaves a little behind to add a little fluff to our bodies. ;)), and try to use as many whole food options as possible. I'm trying to veer away from food that has been made with artificial sweeteners, chemicals, hormones, and antibiotics. That's kind of the premise. I'm not saying I'll never eat any of that again, I just want to change it from being a major part of my diet to minor one.

Let me also state this, I'm not saying this is what you should do, it's just what we've decided to do to try to get a little more healthy.

Oh, one more thing, being a food lover, there's no doubt in my mind that I will be able to find and make food that tastes amazing while still being good for you. It's an adventure. And a tasty one at that!

Okay. Back to breakfast!

I cooked some turkey bacon, egg whites, and leftover Italian bread. I'm not a connoisseur of bacon, but I prefer turkey bacon. It tastes just as smoky and wonderful, but I know it has far less fat than the kind that oinks.

Egg whites might be hard to adjust to for some, but for me, I've always preferred the whites over the yolks and they have the added benefit of no fat, no cholesterol and loads of protein. I cooked them with a little olive oil PAM spray and a slight sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Next, I brushed some olive oil on the leftover Italian bread that I split in half, and put it in the skillet, Texas toast style. While the bread was browning, I put the eggs and bacon on an oven safe plate and put it in the oven at about 225 degrees to keep warm. There's really nothing worse than cold eggs for breakfast.

I had a giant, fresh pear on hand, so I sliced up that bad boy and poured a couple glasses of strawberry banana smoothie. The smoothie wasn't homemade, but from Bolthouse, who makes terribly wonderful ready-made smoothies that are jam packed with real fruit. No really. It's real fruit.

 When the toast was done, I took the plate out of the oven, added the sliced pear and bread, and we chowed down.

How's that for a big, healthy breakfast!?