An Ode To Breakfast

          I love breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day. It provides fuel for my body and keeps hunger far away until lunch.  My earliest favorite breakfast was two boiled eggs and toast. It was one of the first things I learned how to cook when I was a little girl. I could eat it every single day of the week. When I was little, I would only eat the egg whites. It used to drive my mother crazy because I was throwing away the Yolks(they are her favorite). I would take a yummy first bite and pop the yolks right out. I would eat the toast crust first and then the middle ( still my favorite part).

          As I got older, I learned how to cook the adult breakfast; bacon, scrambled eggs and toast. I got so good at it that I could crack an egg  with one hand. I learned to make sunnyside up eggs with perfection. Breakfast to me was a work of art. Breakfast was the only thing I knew how to cook until my early twenties. Eventually I learned how to cook dinner, but that's another story.
          I remember being on a diet in my twenties and I had decided that breakfast needed to be eliminated. I figured out how to get by on coffee and orange juice everyday and not eat breakfast. It sort of worked. I actually was not hungry for most of the day. Another time, I tried the Atkins Diet. It said to have eggs and bacon for breakfast. I remember thinking that I loved breakfast so much that I could do it easily. Unfortunately, I grew sick of the sight of scrambled eggs and bacon. I would take a few nibbles and toss the rest out.
         Weight Watchers taught me to eliminate points by having egg whites. No one was happier than me to hear that because I love egg whites. Monday through Friday, I began starting out my day with one egg white on an english muffin with a slice of cheese. The cook in the deli in my office building knew what I wanted and it worked out until he quit. They replaced him with a cook who decided it was more important to flirt instead of listening to my order. When I got to my desk,I realized he kept forgetting the cheese. I was really pissed off since breakfast was an enjoyable part of my day. But even I realized that I did not need cheese. I began requesting two egg whites instead. It turned out that the two eggs whites were more filling. 

I also have one or two oranges with my breakfast. This is important for a few reasons.
1) Fruits were low points. Now they are zero points.Yaay!
2) It is better to eat fruit to add fiber to your diet than to drink it.
3) I take blood pressure medication and sometimes it depletes my potassium levels. My docter suggested that I eat a banana or drink orange juice.

        Sometimes my money is tight or I feel like a change. When this happens, I kept sugar free instant oatmeal packets in my desk drawer. I will purchase a container of blueberries from the local fruit vendor or frozen blueberries from the grocery store and bring some to work with me. I have tried other fruits in my oatmeal but I do not enjoy them as much as the blueberries. I also have the orange on the side in addition to the blueberries.
        Most Sundays, breakfast is special to me. I go into the kitchen and cook for me and the family. Here are some of the breakfasts we frequent;

frozen hash brown baked in oven

Scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast. ( I still have egg whites. I cook regular bacon for the troops and eat turkey bacon for myself.)

Whole wheat blend blueberry pancakes with light syrup and brown and serve maple sausages. (Jake usually has plain or banana pancakes. He does not like blueberries.Also I do not have sausage to save on points.)

           On the days that I eat breakfast at home, I go back to my old favorite two boiled eggs, a light english muffin with Smuckers sugar free strawberry preserves and two oranges. I no longer throw away the yolks and I still eat my toast crust first. I only make it for myself. It's my selfish breakfast . That breakfast and a taped episode of Morning Joe or The View are a sweet experience.