So my day starts with a glass of Lemon Water…
- Although I used to just add slices of lemon as above, I read that unless they are organic, unwaxed lemons, it’s not a good idea as they may have pesticides on the skin which dissolves into the water…
- In addition, I also read that you should take care not to swallow the pips as these contain minute proportions of cyanide… not sure if that’s true or not but I’m a bit more careful about not swallowing any now!
There are lots of health benefits to drinking lemon water including supporting weight loss and aiding digestion… but to avoid the pesticides etc. just squeeze juice of a quarter lemon into the glass.. I top it up with warm water at breakfast time rather than cold water as I find it ‘goes down’ easier. After the first couple of weeks, I noticed that I started really enjoying the tangy lemon flavour which I wasn’t keen on at first and now I love it!
Through the week, I’ll often follow my glass of water with an egg and I vary how I cook it – scrambled, poached or boiled and chopped up in a cup with a little nob of butter… yum..
Or alternatively, I have a selection of berries with some natural plain Greek yoghurt. I don’t go for the ‘low fat’ option any more, as Dr Moseley (8 Week Blood Sugar Diet Guru) advised that it is better to eat the full fat version as it staves off hunger for longer and I have found that this is definitely the case.
However, at the weekend, particularly on a Sunday, it’s got to be what’s known in our house as a FULL MONTY breakfast… AKA – Bacon & Egg etc…
Q) Can You Spot The Difference?
Answer – The Low Carb Version (left picture) includes the bacon, egg, tomatoes and mushroom and excludes the beans & toast (right picture)
Yep – that’s right – Egg, Bacon, Mushrooms, Beans (or not if you’re following low carb) and Tomatoes… it could also include sausages, black pudding and hash browns…. However, as I’m on the ‘Healthy Eating’ plan, I stuck with the ‘light’ version and the ‘semi light’ version for hubby… but if either of my sons turn up for breakfast, they like the hash browns and sausage as well!
Is A Full Monty Breakfast Healthy?
Some people question that egg and bacon could be considered a ‘healthy’ option and yet it’s recommended in the 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet Book for a weekend ‘brunch’….
It’s quite difficult for people who have been told for so many years that fat, eggs, red meat etc. are unhealthy, to now accept that this is a perfectly healthy option and that science is now showing that the advice we were given for so many years was indeed incorrect!
After all the ‘slagging off’ of the Atkins Diet a few years ago, many medical experts are now changing their minds and accepting that higher fat and low carb may be the best way forward to put a stop to the Diabetes crisis…
Certainly for me, this is proving to be the case, as those of you who have been following my journey to put my Type 2 Diabetes into remission, will have noted… I’ve managed to bring my readings down to ‘pre-diabetic’ status over the last 9 months!
So cooking a ‘full monty’ at the weekend means I can stick to my 8 Week Blood Sugar Healthy Eating Plan whilst also satisfying hubby’s need for a Big Breakfast!
ONE PAN METHOD:
The ‘One Pan’ method of cooking is being advertised as ‘new’ and is growing in popularity. I feel like I’ve missed out on another ‘fortune’ as I’ve been cooking breakfasts in one pan for over 40 years. I’ve made plenty of them too with 2 growing lads…
When they had all their mates to stay in their teenage years, I’d often come down to a room full of teenage bodies all over the lounge floor.. I discovered that the best way to ‘get rid’ was to climb over the bodies, go into the kitchen and cook bacon and egg butties… the smell of bacon cooking never failed to wake them up and after they’d eaten their breakfast butty, I didn’t feel guilty about ‘chucking them out’!
I could’ve made a fortune if I’d thought to post this method a few years ago! After 45 years of making a Full Monty Breakfast, I’ve pretty well perfected the art so here’s my method shown in picture cooking stages…
Stage 1: Using a large frying pan, start first with the bacon and mushrooms. Here I’ve cooked chestnut mushrooms and a Portobello Mushroom.. I use the Portobello Mushroom instead of toast for my ‘low carb’ option.
Stage 2: Once the bacon is cooked to how you like it (crispy or not?) remove bacon from the pan and place on plate into a warm oven on a low heat. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes (or you can use fresh tomatoes if you prefer) into the frying pan with the mushrooms and continue to cook for a few minutes.
I like to cook mine until the tomato juice has evaporated down to a thicker paste and cooked in the bacon flavour residue in the pan, they are really tasty. If there is a lot of fat from the bacon then I would drain that off before adding the tomatoes but I buy ‘lean’ bacon so this wasn’t necessary.
Tip: While the tomato continues to cook down in the pan, I use these couple of minutes to empty and stack the dishwasher and stick some washing in the washing machine…
Unlike hubby if he’s cooking the breakfast…..he literally stands and watches it cook… (much to my aggravation although I’m still grateful he’s cooking breakfast!!)…..
Being a ‘multi tasker’ I have to crack on and do some other bits in between.. (occasionally burning the toast as a result… but we won’t mention that!)
Stage 3: Once the tomato has started to thicken, add the beans (or not if your going low carb)..
Stage 4: Now for many years, I cooked the eggs in the same pan too. However, I’ve recently purchase a little mini non-stick frying pan which cooks the eggs perfectly every time so I do now cook the eggs separately. However if you want to cook in the one pan, just move the mushrooms to one side or put on plate with bacon in the oven, which leaves plenty of room for the eggs to be fried..
Stage 5: While the eggs are frying, start to plate up and make the toast….
Full Monty All Ready ..
All that’s left to be done is to decide which flavour sauce to go for…
Heinz Tomato or HP Fruity?
And of course here’s my LOW CARB version without the beans and toast…
And then….. EAT UP!
Oh yep…. ONE MORE THING….
Could you ignore those appealing eyes?
No!!! – I couldn’t either…..
Ahhh…. breakfast over – Time to play!
Beans in any fry up is so wrong LOL !!!! I might have missed it but is there any way to do a healthy fried bread? ha ha
HAha! – beans is a must really – I do miss my beans!!! Definitely no way to cook ‘fried bread’ unless you imagine the Portobello mushroom is bread – … no even my imagination doesn’t quite run to that! xx
Beans!!!! No no no no ha ha! Yes you cant beat fried white bread in lard now ey!!! ha ha Great post btw > Can you do one on chip variations?
I could but…. I’m definitely not allowed potato chips and although sweet potato chips are nice – you just can’t beat the real things – cooked in lard!!! The ‘no beans’ is definitely the healthier option but for flavour… beans meanz …Heinz.. all the way! x
Beans and marmite on toast is awesome. No beans out here!!! How come you cant eat chips then? You poor thing
Ohhhh Scrumptious! – I’ll be trying that combo sometime soon…
Yep – on a low carb mission to reverse Diabetes diagnosis.. hence the ‘no chips’.. and ‘no beans’… for now so I’ll have to wait a bit longer for that marmite/bean combo treat! Hope you have a great week! x
Lemon water is my go-to drink …. the waxed lemon issue is an important one and of course we should all try to buy organic everything wherever possible. Or grow our own (though lemons in Manchester might be a stretch!) That breakfast makes me ache for Britain …. its the first thing I do whenever I land in London or Folkestone (depending where I’m coming from) and I don’t eat the toast!!! X
You’re right of course Osyth – organic is the way when possible… and I definitely won’t be attempting to grow lemons here in chilly Manchester! Yum – you just can’t beat and English Breakfast! x Have a great weekend. xx
This looks so good! Great job Wendy! 🙂
Lisa | http://www.fromdreamtoplan.net/
Thanks so much! Have a lovely weekend x
I shouldn’t’ have read this on an empty stomach!
It’s certainly a dish I never get fed up of! Yum – and it’s weekend again so I suspect that will be my job on Sunday morning! Have a great weekend yourself! xx
You too! Xx
Thanks! x
Great post Wendy. I could almost smell the bacon from here! And If I hadn’t already eaten a full three course dinner at my in-laws tonight it would have made me drool! 😄
I’ll probably get the Full Monty tomorrow morning. Doug’s mum spoils him when we come up which is nice cos at home it’s me that does it, though lately on weekends he’s been the one in charge of the Big Breaky Banh up, as he describes it.
Lemon water’s a great tonic to wake up to. A great revitaliser. Have a wonderful Friday. xo
Thanks Miriam.- 3 course dinner sounds great and hubby on the breakfast – what could be better. … Don’t you think food always tastes better when somebody else cooks it for you?
Hope you have a lovely weekend!
xx
Oh, it sure does Wendy. And especially when we’re camping. Mum used to say to me that everything tastes better outdoors and I think she was right. 😊 Hope you have a great weekend too. xo
Oh definitely – cooked breakfast whilst camping is a MUST! Your mum was right (as they usually were..) x
Lemon water is really great for digestion. And nice post there. I feel hungry just seeing this. 🙁
There is something about egg and bacon that really does ‘tempt’ and make the taste buds drool isn’t there!!
Have a lovely weekend! x
Lemon water has so many benefits. I am going to try to drink it in the morning to see if it can help with my digestion. The breakfast looks amazing. I’ve heard of it before but I didn’t know what it included.
I can definitely recommend the lemon water.. it’s made a really big difference and I notice it when I don’t have it now.. It has definitely helped! I’m glad you like the look of this breakky – it’s tasty! x