Starting Off Right

They say breakfast is the "most important meal of the day". I've always been one to rise and shine. A cereal lover since I was a kid, lately as an adult I've gotten away from this staple to things like scrambled eggs, frozen waffles, (and sausage whenever I can get it). And orange juice almost always.

Well, Diabetes had us reading labels. We went from whole milk to 2% (my cholesterol was also up in my original blood work), and a few of my favorite cereals were a bit high in sugar. I never really expected otherwise from Cap'n Crunch, but couldn't resist reading it anyway. Fortunately, Spoon Size Shredded Wheat and Wheaties passed the 4-grams-of-sugar-or-less test.

But my wife is into a few other foods. So we found Aunt Jemima whole grain pancakes, Hungry Jack sugar-free syrup and oatmeal bread (so light in color it even almost looks like ordinary bread).

One of the things we quickly discovered: when you substitute whole-grain, multi-grain, wheat for white, suddenly almost everything you eat seems to turn brown. Don't get me wrong. We enjoy whole-wheat English muffins, multi-grain bagels, crackers and such, but once in a while, you just have to go back and read the label again to make sure you're not missing out for no reason. (It turned out that one of our favorite cracker's original brand had less sugar than the whole-grain version!)

What about juice? It helps to look for Diet instead of Light. Most Light-versions seem to read like the original cut in half with water. That's okay if you're just counting calories. But sugar's another thing altogether. Diet versions can reduce the sugar to one third or even less -- and they still taste great. Try diet Cran-Grape. You'll love it!

As time goes by, I'm branching out, reading labels on cereal I never used to eat much, but now willing to try again (for the sake of variety). This week, we bought a box of Rice Chex. Next time, I'm looking to try a box of Kix.

I've been eating hard-boiled eggs (yolk removed -- that cholesterol thing, again). We bought some Egg-Beaters for baking, though we haven't tried it. And we figure one whole egg isn't so bad once in a while for certain recipes, like tuna fish. We got whole wheat flour too. One of the things we really love once in a blue moon is home-made pancakes, from scratch. I'm still waiting to try that with all new ingrediants.

We drink drink coffee black, so that's no problem. We found low-sugar Swiss Miss hot cocoa, but that's more of a winter beverage in our house. Hot tea with a little Splenda tastes the same as always.

By the way, we found some great cream cheese from Weight Watcher's. Even comes in nice little individual serving size, eight to a box. Makes you feel like you're eating continental breakfast somewhere.

So, what are we NOT eating? No more toaster pastry, no honey. But we can still spread low-sugar jam on our toast. And sausage? We found a veggie version at Sam's Club that tastes just fine, thank you. (Next time we'll try some veggie meatballs.)

We keep an eye out for Weight Watchers and other low-sugar, low-cal versions of almost everything (my wife is trying to lower her caloric intake). This week we made another fantastic discovery. Frozen potpies have always been a favorite, but most run around 500 calories. In the "special foods" section of our neighborhood Giant Eagle, we found some topped with mashed potatoes instead of crust -- at only 140! (Pizza too with only 3 grams of sugar per serving. I can't wait.)

Not that we're obsessed with food or anything. But we've learned from experience. If it doesn't taste right, don't waste your time, because you won't eat it and it won't do you any good. And you can't live without snacks. We're not playing that game with carrots and celery sticks -- although fresh celery with peanut butter is still pretty darn good once in a while.

I keep getting away from breakfast, but it's still one of my favorite meals. All this talk about food is making me hungry. It's 5 am and I haven't had anything to eat (still waiting to do my daily blood test).

So, what are you having?