Recipes
You guys know by now I love my oatmeal and overnight oats. I’m moving more towards the hot oatmeal these chillier mornings, but I’ve got one more overnight oats recipe for you today. The great thing is that these recipes can be taken out of the fridge in the morning and quickly reheated for a deliciously warm, satisfying and fueling breakfast. The athlete could also take this to practice cold and then eat right after practice cold or heat it up if he/she has access to a microwave. Perfect!
This month I have decided to focus my thoughts and recipes mainly on calcium and vitamin D for the athlete. This is probably the topic I talk about with young athletes most frequently. I know calcium and vitamin D probably do not seem like a big deal when new to your sport or injury-free, but it can really be a big deal if you are cutting it out of your diet completely! Not getting enough calcium can lead to low bone mineral density, and not only osteoporosis later in life, but stress fractures now if the athlete is overtraining and not resting and eating adequately.
When I meet with athletes, the hardest meal to pack nutrition into always seems to be breakfast. So, for that reason I started looking at what I eat for breakfast and what clients eat for breakfast most frequently and then see if I could make these breakfast choices more valuable to an athlete’s nutrition and training plan. Today’s recipe is an oatmeal recipe. I am an oatmeal fan because you can easily pack a lot into it. This oatmeal can be made the morning of or prepped the night before and then heated up in the microwave while getting ready for work or school in the morning. I love it because it’s hearty, it’s super satisfying and it packs in protein, quality carbohydrates, fiber and healthy fats in just one little bowl. For those athletes who have morning practices, it can also be stored in a small airtight container in a lunchbox with a cooler and heated up in the microwave after practice. I have really been enjoying this for breakfast these last couple of months and hope you enjoy it as well. I use a sunflower butter typically but, of course, you can use any nut or seed butter that you prefer. Here you go - the recipe for my Sunbutter Banana & Chia Seed Oatmeal…
Happy Fueling!
Taylor
Makes 1 bowl
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup dry rolled oats
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon flaxseed or chia seeds
1 teaspoon Sunbutter (or nut or seed butter of choice) + about 1 teaspoon more drizzled over the oatmeal*
1/4 cup mashed banana (about 1/2 medium banana)
The other half of the banana, sliced over cooked oatmeal
Dash of cinnamon, to sprinkle over the top after cooked.
I like this Sunbutter and this Sunbutter because they are super simple and doesn’t have added sugar and lots of other added ingredients (not sponsored at all. I’ve just discovered these to be my preferences after lots of trial and error of different products).
DIRECTIONS
Combine first 5 ingredients in a cereal bowl or travel container and stir together.
Microwave 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.
Stir in the mashed banana until well incorporated.*
Microwave another 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Stir together and top with sliced banana, extra bit of nut or seed butter and sprinkle of cinnamon.
Enjoy!
If taking to the office or school, you can go ahead and add the mashed banana in with step one. I think it just mixes in better if you add it once the oatmeal has cooked some.
NUTRITION INFO (per bowl)
294 cal; 10.75 g protein; 6.38 g fat; 48.5 g carb; 6.6 g fiber; 22.75 g sugar; 1.38 mg iron; 205 mg calcium; 0.53 mg zinc; 250 mg vitamin A; 50 IU vitamin D; 27 mg magnesium; 22 mg phosphorus, 326 mg potassium; 1 mg sodium; 20 ug folate
I discovered the breakfast sandwich by chance. It wasn't at McDonalds or another fast food place. It was something my mom would make on slow Saturday mornings for herself to sit and enjoy. I remember one morning at our place on the lake in Hot Springs, Arkansas, waking up and walking into the den to find mom taking her first bite of that eggy cheesy sandwich. It looked like she was loving it and so, of course, I was curious. I asked for a bite and was hooked! After that, slow Saturday mornings (which typically meant the ones at the lake because all other Saturday mornings I was up at the rink at 5:45 AM skating) meant egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches. It wasn't anything over the top, simply 2 slices of whole wheat bread, egg and American cheese, but to me it was just a touch away from gourmet.
Today, I still love a good breakfast sandwich, but I like to play around with ways to mix and match ingredients & flavors and, of course, find ways to make it simple and workable for busy schedules. The other weekend after a good Saturday morning run and nothing on the calendar in the near future I decided to bring out the breakfast sandwich for a little Saturday morning brunch. I've tried different recipes in the past but this one is my favorite so far. I have made this particular recipe for Kyle and my dad, and both gave it a thumbs up.
The thing about this sandwich is that while yes, it does take more time to make as opposed to pouring yourself a bowl of cereal or topping some yogurt with fruit, it's still relatively quick and simple. If you really want to simplify, you can make the goat cheese - tomato spread the day before to have ready to go or you could even make these guys a night or two before, wrap them tightly and then freeze them to be quickly heated up the next morning before heading out the door!
So, whether you're looking for a slow savory Saturday morning breakfast or a quick and simple bite to grab and go, I think I've got you covered with this small but mighty 5 ingredient breakfast sandwich.
Happy Fueling!
Makes 1 sandwiches (but makes enough goat cheese spread for 2 sandwiches)
INGREDIENTS:
1 whole wheat English muffin
1 tablespoon goat cheese
About 4 sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil, lightly blotted to remove some of the excess oil, and diced
1/2 small avocado
2 eggs
DIRECTIONS:
1. Toast one English muffin in a toaster.
2. In a small bowl crack two eggs and whisk together, adding a pinch of salt.
3. In a small mixing bowl, add the diced tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of goat cheese.
4. Mash and mix together with a fork until the two ingredients are well incorporated.
5. Set aside.
6. Heat a small non-stick pan on medium-low heat.
7. Add your 2 scrambled eggs to the pan, letting them get firm on the bottom, but turning the pan frequently to let the liquid uncooked egg spill over to the outside of the pan and cook.
8. Push the sides of the eggs down as you go to keep the eggs in a thin circle shape at the bottom of your pan (this should only take a few minutes).
9. Once there is barely any liquid left on top, fold over one side of the circle so that the outer side is touching the center line - like in the picture above.
10. Now fold over the other side so the outside of the opposite side touches the center as well - see picture above.
11. Now fold over the other sides to create a small square pocket.
12. Now flip the square pocket over with a spatula and cook for one more minute so that any uncooked egg gets cooked. I usually flip it and then put a lid on top to trap steam in and cook it quickly without drying it out.
13. Now that it's cooked, turn off the burner and remove skillet from the heat.
14. Spoon your avocado out into a small bowl ....
15. .... and roughly mash with a fork. I like mine to have some small avocado bites in there!
16. Begin to assemble your sandwich by spreading 1 tablespoon of the goat cheese - tomato mixture on the top half of your English muffin.
17. Place the egg pocket on the bottom half of the English muffin.
18. Dollop 1 tablespoon of mashed avocado onto the top of the egg and spread out gently with your spoon, knife or whatever utensil you are using.
19. Add the top to your English muffin, goat cheese spread - side down and press gently.
20. Voila! The perfect Egg Sandwich!
21. Slice if you'd like or dive in and enjoy!
Egg: protein, lutein, vitamin D, choline, vitamin B12
Avocado: monounsaturated fat, vitamin E, potassium, fiber
Sun dried tomato: vitamin C, vitamin K, niacin, iron, magnesium, potassium
Whole grain English muffin: fiber, protein, carbohydrate,
Goat cheese: protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus
