Make protein a breakfast staple

Tired of eggs? Try steak, chops, cheese

Dana Carpender, United Feature Syndicate, Mar. 10, 2004 12:00 AM

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarep...0lowcarb10.html

Breakfast should be the cornerstone of your low-carb diet. It has a profound impact on hunger all day. In one study, subjects who ate a cheese omelet for breakfast ate fewer calories during the day than subjects who ate instant oatmeal. Eating the right breakfast also can improve your energy, mood and mental clarity.

Eggs are great for people following a low-carb meal plan, and are infinitely variable, but my mail tells me that many of you are heartily sick of them.

Here are some ideas to vary your breakfasts:

• While bacon is too low in protein to serve by itself, sausage and ham make fine high-protein breakfasts. Throw sausage patties on your electric tabletop grill, and they'll cook quickly, with little tending.

• Burgers, chops and small steaks make great breakfasts, and also can be cooked quickly and easily on that grill.

• Leftovers, such as warmed-up meat loaf or stir-fry, make a good breakfast.

• Cottage cheese is cheap, high-protein, low-carb and loaded with calcium. If you like, add berries and a little sweetener: 1 cup of cottage cheese plus 1/2 cup sliced strawberries has 27 grams of protein, 11 grams of carbohydrate and 2 grams of fiber, for a usable carb count of 9 grams. ("Usable carbs" is the number of carb grams minus the number of fiber grams.)

• In The GO-Diet (GO Corp., 1999), Jack Goldberg and Karen O'Mara explain that the 12 grams of carbohydrate per cup listed on a container of plain yogurt is high. Yes, the milk the yogurt is made from has 12 grams of lactose, but the yogurt bacteria convert it to lactic acid, giving yogurt its characteristic tangy taste and leaving the yogurt with just 4 grams of usable carb per cup (and 9 grams of protein). Add a little low-carb "granola" - one-third cup of Gram's Gourmet Flax 'n' Nut Crunchies (buy it at carbsmart.com) for another 7 grams of protein, 6.7 grams of carbohydrate with 4 grams of fiber, for a usable carb count of 2.7 grams and plenty of minerals and healthy fats.

• Protein bars and shakes make grab-and-go breakfasts. I prefer shakes, because they usually don't contain polyol sweeteners. With the new carb-reduced milk on the market, you can easily make your own. Just put 1 cup of carb-reduced milk through the blender with a scoop (about 1/4 cup) of whey protein powder, a few ice cubes and the extract and sweetener of your choice.

• Other breakfasts-to-go include individually wrapped string cheese or cheese chunks, hard-boiled eggs, cold cuts and cottage cheese in individual containers with peel-off lids.

Dana Carpender is the author of 500 Low-Carb Recipes. Reach her through her Web site, holdthetoast.com.