Ah breakfast. That super important meal you aren’t eating? Well, it wants you back. Bad.
By now, most everyone knows they ought to eat something for breakfast. From your mother trying to shove a muffin in your pocket on the way to school, to the coffee fueled mornings of corporate life, the human body craves something prior to the most productive time of our day: morning. In the last few decades, even the government has become involved, implementing universal breakfast programs at schools for increased program participation, attendance, and academic achievement. For grown ups, that means improved awareness, increased workplace efficiency, and elevated daily performance — all from a bit of food in the AM.
Now hear me out, if we are to include some kind of food, we’re likely going to ask what kind of food. While the glycemic load or index (GI) of a particular food does not determine if it is healthy or not, you need to be aware that foods of a higher GI get digested faster and thus converted into glucose (sugar in the blood) quicker. Upon consuming foods of a higher GI your body looses the feeling of fullness faster, causing the hangry beast to roar its ugly head weekdays at 10:00am. By starting your day with foods of a lower GI, you’ll ensure satiety for longer. And that is a good thing!
Now common nutritional advice steers individuals rightfully towards breakfast foods of a lower GI by offering up things like bran cereals, oat meal, or yogurt smoothies. Problem is, the quantity of bran cereal or yogurt most people would have to eat to obtain a feeling of fullness skyrockets the total calories. This instantly becomes problematic for people looking to loose weight and people who can’t stomach five bowls of grape nuts each morning.
So what’s the solution?
Well, a great place to start is nuts, eggs, low GI fruits like avocados, berries, olives, plums, or nectarines, AND MEAT! Thanks right, meat for breakfast! The best way to make the most important meal of the day count is to include a palm size piece of protein (about 3-4oz). The protein in meat provides a slow and steady rise in blood sugar levels (it’s glycemic load is non-existent), while also being a great source of fat. The fat in the meat, or in the nuts and eggs you pair with it, treats the body’s natural glucose levels to bit of stability so that they remain more constant for an extended period of time. No hard crashing around 10:00am, no yo-yoing of blood sugar levels, just a trickle fuel on top of a full belly, propelling you into a dominate work day!
Remember this overly optimistic guy?
Now that you know you need meat, who has time to season and sear a filet before sunrise? Might I suggest a homage to a distant time where a younger you would pull out a Jimmy Dean® breakfast sandwich and fire up the microwave. Thing is, this time you’ll be eating something that tastes much, much better! What follows is one of my favorite breakfast meat recipes. You can make these sausage patties fresh, but they are honestly best applied to weekday meals by cooking them in advance and storing a batch in the refrigerator. I hope you enjoy the patties and include them as part of the most important meal of the day. Tell me your thoughts! Join the conversation on Facebook and let us know how your workday has changed with meat in the AM! Without further adieu…
Easy Peasy Homemade Breakfast Sausage
Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed, then minced small
2 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp teaspoon dried fennel, crushed
2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg
1 Tbsp cooking oil / lard
Directions:
• Using your hands, combine the pork, garlic, sage, thyme, fennel, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
• In a separate, smaller bowl, beat the egg until yoke and whites are incorporated. Mix with meat and seasoning mixture, combining thoroughly.
• To make the patties, shape a racquetball sized portion into a 2-3″ disks. Depending on the size of your disks, 1 lb. of pork will yield 6-10 patties. Ideally, you’ll make 7 for every day of the week! At this point, raw patties can be frozen for later cooking.
• Bring a large skillet to medium high heat, adding in your lard or oil. Cook the sausages for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until completely finished and golden brown. Much like bacon, let rest on a plate with paper towels, draining excess fat. Note: not because fat is bad, but it makes for a neater plate, and stores easier if not refrigerated while hot.
• Sausage patties can be devoured immediately, frozen for a few months, or refrigerated for one week. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop on low.
-Written by Taylor Gish
If you are in the Minneapolis / Twin Cities / St. Louis Park area of Minnesota and are looking for a training environment that’s focused on longterm health, look no further than MSP Fitness! No fads, no gimmicks, no BS! We’ve been applying simple, yet effective training and lifestyle principles since 2009 making our clients stronger and healthier in the process. Come see what people are talking about and CONTACT US TODAY!
