TWO PROTEIN-PACKED BREAKFAST RECIPES

Plus some thoughts/experience on food insecurity

Today’s post was originally going to feature two high-protein breakfast recipes I love and eat on rotation, but I took an unexpected detour to cover something very important and dear to me first.

Protein is having a moment.

For years and years, all anybody ever talked about was how a plant-based/vegan lifestyle was the healthiest way to eat. While eating various plants is undoubtedly essential for quality nutrition, protein was seemingly an afterthought in these conversations.

Personally, I grew up in the Midwest on a meat and potatoes diet, as well as packaged Little Debbies and the like. We did not have much money, so my mom had to stretch the dollar and the food stamps out in the grocery store. Unfortunately, this meant she purchased mostly low-quality, highly processed foods. Nutrition was never top of mind, only that we needed food; the cheaper the better.

With this upbringing, a few things became ingrained in me. I had very poor eating habits, ate incredibly fast and always a large amount (which I have learned is quite normal among those who didn’t know when the next meal would come), and I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Unfortunately, I was well into my 30s before I even started considering my nutrition. The one thing that has been ingrained in me to this day due to my lived experience, which I hope never leaves me, is my sensitivity to food insecurity.

Food insecurity is an official term from the USDA. It's when people don't have enough to eat and don't know where their next meal will come from. It's a big problem in the United States, where over 44 million people, including 13 million children, experience food insecurity annually. - Feeding America

Spend any amount of time on social media, and you will be subjected to someone’s version of the “best and only way to eat,” which usually means a trip to Erwehon (or similar) for $50 worth of ingredients for a single meal. For most of America and the world, this is outrageous.

I am a huge fan of food education and sharing healthy lifestyle tips - 1000%. But I think it’s absolutely important to address the fact that not everyone has the means to buy crazy expensive ingredients, and there must be sensitivity to all of this. Ideally, we are sharing nutrition with simplicity and value and how to make good choices with what we have. I do not want to participate or facilitate in needing to keep up with the Joneses, with food or anything.

One of my favorite follows online is Sophia Roe. She has a magical way of sharing healthy eating with a sensitivity that I think everyone could learn from.

Check out the video below to learn more and delve deeper into food insecurity and, most importantly, solutions.

MY TWO GO-TO PROTEIN-PACKED BREAKFAST RECIPES

Once I started tracking my macros to see what I was actually eating in a day, I was shocked that my typical daily protein intake was hovering around 40g. Today, I aim for 100-120g a day. Everyone needs protein; the amount is determined by the individual. I detailed protein needs in Midlife part 3(b) Nutrition.