Heading down to your local café on the weekend for breakfast is one of life’s simple pleasures. The aromas of bacon and eggs fill the air and it can take a lot of willpower to order healthier options.
It is becoming easier to find healthier options on café menus with fresh fruit, vegetables and low-fat proteins being your first choice. It’s not a nice feeling leaving a café feeling stodgy because of a poor meal choice. Something light and fresh will leave you ready to tackle the weekend with energy.
Here is a sample menu with traffic light colours highlighting the best (green) choices
Here is a sample menu with traffic light colours highlighting the best (green) choices
This is actually not a bad menu, with plenty of healthy options. Eggs, beans (homemade even better and lower in sodium), salmon and yoghurt are great choices for protein, as are with oats, fresh fruit, tomato, spinach and avocado. Anything resembling hollandaise, croissant, panettone, brioche, sausage, hash, creamed eggs and crispy bacon should be viewed as treats because they really are just fat-laden and processed.
Poached and boiled eggs are great choices as are egg-white omelettes because the whites contain all the essential amino acids your body needs to nourish muscle and provide optimum health – without the fat or cholesterol. Scrambled eggs are ok, as long as the chef goes easy on the butter. Avocado and roasted tomato offer healthy omega-3 oils.
Natural oats and wholemeal bread (hold the butter) are the way to go if your after wholegrains which are complex carbohydrates and full of soluble fibre that will fill you up and help lower cholesterol. Hello, bircher muesli…
Ask for skim milk in your hot chocolate/coffee if you’re looking for a way to warm up and remember that smoothies and juices can contain just as many kilojoules as the meal itself so it’s best to choose one or the other.
Just be mindful of the portion sizes also, sometimes hot cakes can be the size of Mt Everest it doesn’t mean you have to eat it all, share it with the kids and save some money;)
What’s your favourite item on the breaky menu? Do you have a favourite café?
