When they say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I find that it’s really true for me. I use livestrong.com’s Daily Plate feature to track calories and I find that if I don’t watch what I eat before breakfast then I let my whole day run amok.
This morning I had Cream of Wheat with chocolate chips (and a large glass of water) for a total of about 200 calories. Despite the fact that I hate it, it’s a filling breakfast and it will be awhile before I get hungry again. So I’m looking for something similar in calories and staying power that will taste much better. The catch, I suppose, is that I don’t like fruit other than fruit juices.
Any thoughts for a filling breakfast in the 200-250 calorie range that actually tastes good?
My ex-husband, who was a damned Yankee, claimed that Cream of Wheat was meant to be eaten with milk and sugar. He probably would have gone along with those chocolate chips.
However, I am of the opinion that Cream of Wheat should be cooked with water, and seasoned with butter, salt, or whatever you would put on regular grits. Try it!
By the way, I’m devoted to my daily breakfast. I even take it with me when I travel. Fiber One. Not the flakes with honey and nuts kind, but the good old 57% of your daily fiber kind that looks like Chinese noodles. Tastes good and you will offload some weight at about 9 o’clock every day.
That last sentence has me torn between admiring the juxtaposition of username and subject matter and being horrified by the completely involuntary mental image of you rolling it up and bringing it home to feed the kids…
Cream of Wheat with chocolate chips is my low cal version. I think it would taste much better either of the ways that you described.
I like grits… With lots of butter. Actually, I have some preformed butter pats, I’ll have to see how many calories they have. Although grits with cheese would be good, too.
I’ve never tried Fiber One. Does it have cinnamon in it? I detest cereal with cinnamon.
Can’t help with anything original. My daily start is a bowl of either Cheerios or Special K. Based on the size of my bowl and adding in the calories from the 2%, that runs about 250 calories. It keeps me going until dinner.
I don’t know the calorie count, but everyone I tell this about eventually becomes a convert: uncooked rolled oats stirred into vanilla yogurt. Sometimes I put raisins in there too, and a little wheat germ.
It’s delish, I tells ya. Kids, adults, grandmas … they all love it.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned oatmeal or cream of rice yet. Both are CoW-like, in that they’re pretty neutral until you add something. Oatmeal also has the benefit of smashed/instant, rolled, and steel-cut. It’s very easy to make a week’s batch of steel cut once and reheat every morning. If you’ve only had regular oatmeal, give it a chance–you might waste three bucks on a box but you might find a whole new breakfast pathway.
Given their malleability, there are endless opportunities: fried egg; cheese, garlic and parsley; corn…
I have really gotten hooked on kasha, which is coarse-ground buckwheat groats. It has a nice texture and a good flavor–I usually eat it with dried cranberries and almonds or something like that. Not goopy like oatmeal! The easiest way to buy it is Wolff’s brand in the Jewish section of the grocery store. 1/2 c. kasha cooked in 2 1/2 c. milk makes two bowls, the kasha itself is 170 calories per bowl (I save one bowl in the fridge for the next morning, it keeps well). Keeps me going until lunch, and it’s very healthy.
Nonfat Greek-style strained yogurt with honey. I like Fage brand because it’s firm and creamy rather than watery.
Steel-cut oatmeal. This takes a little preparation, but you can make it a week in advance and just reheat a portion when you want it. If you’re a true Scot, then butter and salt. Otherwise any combination of brown sugar, maple syrup, sliced almonds, raisins, drop of cream.
A microwave-poached egg and toast made from double-fiber bread
It’s also a hot, wheat-based cereal. Very similar texture to farina (the generic term for Cream of Wheat), but Malt-o-Meal uses a mix of malted grain in with the farina, so you get a different flavor.
As a kid, I was partial to Coco Wheats (cocoa-flavored farina); I imagine it’s still made, but I suspect it’s not what the OP is looking for.
Here’s the secret to getting a good bowl of Cream of Wheat: Don’t buy Cream of Wheat. Instead buy the Farina brand, if you can get it. It’s the same thing, only lots, lots better. I’m under the impression that Cream of Wheat used to be good, decades ago, only they sort of ruined it by making it more “instant.” Which is ridiculous, because the stuff cooks in like two minutes anyway. Out of longstanding habit, when I make Farina, I take the liquid measure and do half milk and half water – the legacy of generations-old cheapness, no doubt.
Actually, I have some preformed butter pats, I’ll have to see how many calories they have. Although grits with cheese would be good, too. 
