8 Classic Comfort Foods Revamped
Make breakfast more artery-friendly
The classic breakfast that mom made was heavy, tasty, and immortalized in every diner in this country. In our agrarian past when families worked in the fields all day it made sense to eat a breakfast comprised of six-egg omelets, rashers of bacon, and biscuits and gravy. But now that we sit in front of screens all day, we can’t eat that much without jeopardizing our health.
The alternative for many families is to down a bunch of processed food in the morning before running out the door, but that isn’t healthy, either.
Here are some ideas for balancing the breakfast of yesteryear with the expediencies of modern life:
- Skip the frozen waffles. Frozen waffles are easy but contain preservatives and sugar and, like all processed food, are overpriced. Instead, make a large batch of homemade waffles ahead of time and freeze them. Waffles can be topped with fruit and yogurt and made with a mixture of grains and alternative flours. Get a good waffle maker; the lousy ones make waffle-making a hassle.
- Lower the overall fat. Poach eggs in silicone pods or scramble/fry them in olive oil. If you can’t live without bacon, eat it only occasionally and spend the money to get the uncured, reduced-sodium version. Likewise, try to a use a natural brand of chicken or pork sausage.
- Cook whole-grain cereals. Try real oatmeal (rolled or steel-cut oats, NOT the quick-cooking kind), farro, or even classic Cream of Wheat. Prepare vats of your favorite hot cereal ahead of time and reheat portions in the mornings.
- Beware the breakfast cereal. Most commercial breakfast cereals, even many of the “natural” brands, are loaded with sugar and corn syrup. They are also very expensive. As an alternative, make your own granola or buy muesli in bulk.
- Make your own breakfast bars. Try this banana-chocolate breakfast bar recipe or invent your own by mixing nut butter, honey, nuts, finely chopped dried fruits and oats until the mixture holds together and can be molded with cookie cutters or your hands, and then bake them at 300F for 10 to 15 minutes until they dry out a bit.
