Breakfast Protein

I'm looking for a way to put more protein into my breakfasts.  At the moment I eat a 400-calorie (or so) breakfast that includes fiber one cereal, milk, juice, and yogurt or cottage cheese.  I don't have much time in the morning (or I'd go for omelets/scrambles), but I do have 200 calories left to add in.

I've already thought of protein bars and hard boiled eggs.  (As a side note, any suggestions for cooking hard boiled eggs consistently?  Ours always seem to end up with green around the yolks.  Icky!)

Nuts and peanut butter also come to mind.  Any calorie-cheap peanut-butter delivery devices come to mind?  I guess I could eat it straight off a spoon.

Any other ideas?

Scrambled eggs take only a minute or two in a microwave....  Wouldn't need you to get up all that much eariler.  Mix eggs and a little milk and then whisk & cook, whisk & cook in 20-30 second bursts until done.   For hard-boiled eggs, start the eggs in cold water, boil for about 7 minutes and then immediately plunge them into very cold water.  That stops the yolks going grey. 

Peanut butter on wholegrain toast is a good combination. (Replace the cereal with toast?)  Or you could add chopped nuts straight on top of cereal.   Baked beans on toast is another classic... beans being a great source of protein.

I use a 50 cal slice of whole wheat toast as a PB delivery device, and count the package at 140 calories.  This is more interesting for me than the spoon lick method.

Other alternatives high in protein and low in cals are tuna and fat free feta cheese.

I eat a cereal mix I make myself (Fiber One, Total, and Multi-Grain Cheerios) with skim milk, and than I mix some chocolate protein powder into that, and than slice some banana on top. Keeps me full for hours.

Maybe try breakfast burritos that you make the night before? Load them up with protein-dense foods, freeze or refrigerate them, and then pop them in the microwave in the morning. I *think* you can do this with eggs. Or a protein smoothie.

Consider using textured vegetable protein or a tofu to add to something. I have a bowl of oatmeal every morning where I use 1/4 cup dry oatmeal and 1/4 cup TVP. It looks like dried up granola, but it takes the flavor of anything you put it with and puffs up just like oatmeal. At 80 calories and 12 g of protein for a 1/4 cup serving of TVP, it's been a great addition to my day. Add a banana and some cinnamon, and you're set!

Original Post by ostephka:

Consider using textured vegetable protein or a tofu to add to something. I have a bowl of oatmeal every morning where I use 1/4 cup dry oatmeal and 1/4 cup TVP. It looks like dried up granola, but it takes the flavor of anything you put it with and puffs up just like oatmeal. At 80 calories and 12 g of protein for a 1/4 cup serving of TVP, it's been a great addition to my day. Add a banana and some cinnamon, and you're set!

Mmmm...TVP. Sometimes I forget how amazing that stuff is.

Make a quiche or frattata on the weekend or in the evening and then reheat all week long!

what in the world is TVP?  You guys know everything.  I don't know what I would do without you!

try 1/2 cup steel cut oats, 2 tbs of peanut butter and 1/4 cup of mixed nuts mixed in.  Thats about 640 cals and will for sure keep you full with tons of protein.

I usually eat 1 cup egg beaters and an english muffin w/ laughing cow cheese for about 250 cals, you could double it for a ton of protien

Instead of fiber one, try kashi go lean crunch, it has way more protein in it and still a lot of fiber.  I like to mix it with greek yogurt(tons of protein here as well) and fruit.  1 cup kashi, 8 oz of greek yogurt, and frozen fruit = about 350 cals

I love minced hard boiled eggs with sauteed onions & bell peppers!!! This way you are not only UPPING your protein intake but you are also boosting your fiber intake for the day too and getting antioxidants from the veggies and the OLIVE OIL you would be using to sautee them in! ha ha! Plus, you would also be getting good fats from the YOLK of the egg (buy Omega-3 enriched!) and from the olive oil! - This is the ideal breakfast: I would minced up 3 hard boiled eggs and sautee one medium sided onion and one medium sized bell pepper in about 2 tsps of olive oil - while you may think this will take a lot of time, it honestly won't! You will feel really good during the day too because you won't be thinking to yourself "man I am hungry" which tends to distract people when they are trying to get work done... 

You can also try canned salmon or tuna with olive tapenade & spinach - while I know this is not exactly "breakfast food" it still gets the job done and is super healthy & VERY high in protein - exactly what you are looking for! 

An ensure shake is 200 calories and they have extra protein ones. They are really good to drink. Easy solution.

Original Post by mscarol1:

what in the world is TVP?  You guys know everything.  I don't know what I would do without you!

TVP (texturized vegetable protein) is a product usually used as a ground meat substitute. Morningstar crumbles are made out of this, I believe. It's tasteless on its own, but takes on flavor very well. Here's my fave TVP recipe (for tacos).

whey protein drink 150 cal you can add milk to increase cals

You can make a protein shake with fruit mixed in and water or milk

I hard boil eggs and eat one each day.  The green is not a problem, you can boil a little less time but then you may wind up with a yolk that's not completely solid.  If you drink coffee, I recommend using a scoop of whey protein along with a bit of sweetner for a mocha coffee:

I use this every morning in my coffee for 120 cals, 23 g of protein:

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-eas-10 0-percent-whey-protein-i84161

I like a blended mixture of 8oz skim milk with 1 scoop of whey protein powder and 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter along with a bowl of flax cereal or a half cup of oats in the shake itself and another 8 oz glass of milk. I shoot for 400-600 calories per meal depending on when I am training that day and what meal it is, and what is described above with the oats ends up breaking down to about 500 calories, ~50 grams of carbs, and close to 60 grams of protein (depending a bit on what brand of whey you use).