Breakfast is commonly referred to as the the most crucial meal of the day. There is no scientific basis for that statement, but some research indicates that having breakfast may lower the risk of metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases. Some kind of breakfast is better than no breakfast.
Growing up in the British West Indies, visiting my grandmother in the Grenadines meant a breakfast of fresh oven-baked bread or fried “cou-cou”, a fried “sprat”, and a large enamel mug of “cocoa tea” (hot cocoa1). That was my favourite break, especially the fried cou-cou2. Delicious.
On the island of St. Vincent, where I was born, we would sometimes have bread with salted butter and English black pudding. Sometimes we ate roast breadfruit, fried and slathered with salted butter, fried sprat, and a few slices of fried sweet plantain.
These were hearty meals meant to get one going for a day of work.
I’ve now lived in the United States for over thirty years, most of that time in New Jersey. Black pudding is challenging to find in New Jersey. So are sweet plantains, sprat, cou-cou and breadfruit. I’ve had to adapt to my breakfast.
My current favourite homemade breakfast is thick-cut bacon cooked in the oven at 204ºC (~400ºF) for twenty minutes, with eggs cooked in the bacon fat, and a double protein Thomas’ English muffin.
That’s 27g of carbohydrates, 20g of protein, and 24g of fat. Healthy.
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- Cocoa nibs ground up and mixed with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, then rolled into tube-like cocoa sticks. The stick is ground up or boiled into hot milk and served in a mug. ↩
- Cou-cou, coo-coo (as it is known in the Windward Islands), or fungi (as it is known in the Leeward Islands and Dominica) makes up part of the national dishes of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It consists mainly of cornmeal (corn flour) and okra (ochroes). ↩
I agree that breakfast is a very important meal. I also agree that there are numerous ways to add nutrition to your morning. I personally lead a vegetarian lifestyle. I like having soup to help prepare my body for its first meal, and all subsequent meals. Then I have fruit and usually some granola. It lasts until my next meal at around 4pm. I love your variety of choices too, especially the ones that if found in stores here in my hood are vegetarian in nature. Thankfully, there are many new healthier shopping venues all around. Great image! I can eat this breakfast choice with my eyes.
Works for me...
Great post and I really like your choice of breakfast!