So many of my clients are busy folks and have a tendency to scout out breakfast options on their way to work. One client does a fairly good job of picking from the high fat options and orders a toasted English muffin with egg whites, no cheese, and a black coffee. While that’s certainly lower in calories than a Dunkin Donuts blueberry muffin (510 calories, 16 g fat, 51 g sugar) – or even the fat-free blueberry muffin (450 calories, 10 g fat, 45 g sugar), it doesn’t sound particularly appealing.
Were you surprised at the very little difference in calories between the regular and fat-free muffin selection?
What if I told you that 2 Dunkin Donut glazed donuts have 440 calories, 18 g fat and 24 g sugar? What? I can have TWO donuts or ONE muffin and still have LESS sugar? That’s right. Even so, all of these choices fill you with unwanted fat and sugar that crash down on your spinning, low-blood-sugar head mid-morning and it’s off to find more of the same. Can you say ‘carb and fat’ addicted?
Let’s make this easy for those of us needing a quick morning meal that will give us lasting energy. A couple of options:
- Make your own blueberry bran muffins (recipe below) and take 2 with you. Pair the muffins with 1-2 c. fruit, whole or cut up.
- Toast a small whole wheat tortilla, top it with a scrambled egg, 1 T. shredded cheese, 2 tomato slices, roll it up to go, grab a banana. Bananas come in their own container and it’s compostable.
- Better yet, top with leftover pinto beans from the night before, salsa, and 1/4 of an avocado. Roll up and go. Take fruit!
- Keep a bowl and a quart of 1% or soy milk in the fridge at work, along with a box of high fiber cereal (more than 5 g per serving). Top with fresh blueberries.
- Smoothies are a great way to get in fruit servings early in the day. Use low-fat yogurt or 1% milk (instead of juice).
Blueberry Bran Muffins
Ingredients1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup nonfat milk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries
Directions1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or use paper muffin liners. Mix together wheat bran and milk, and let stand for 10 minutes.
2.In a large bowl, mix together applesauce, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat in bran mixture. Sift together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir into bran mixture until just blended. Fold in blueberries. Scoop into muffin cups.
3.Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly tapped.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 123 | Total Fat: 0.9g | Cholesterol: 18mg
From: www.allrecipes.com
Tags: Dunkin Donuts