Ok, seriously, I don't mean to advertise for Hamilton Beach, but this little countertop steamer is proving very useful. There are other brands, and you could just get some round steamer trays that fit on top of a pot you already own; I just want to make it clear that I'm not trying to get paid for endorsing their product. That being said, if Hamilton Beach wants to send me a big cheque, I'll take it - but I'm still going to tell my readers if the trays on this little appliance crack.
Lately I've been eating Red River hot cereal for breakfast; also not an endorsement. I would, however, like to endorse eating hot cereal for breakfast. I often have Quaker Steel-cut oats. I used to love Sunny Boy hot cereal but can no longer find it in my main grocery stores. You could go to the health store and find some 'seven grain' organic hot cereal. My point here is that hot cereal makes a great breakfast and a steam-cooker really makes cereals with longer cooking times, like Red River hot cereal, a lot easier to fit into your morning routine.
Do you know why a hearty breakfast is so important? I don't really know myself, because I'm not a doctor, nutritionist, or even that well educated. I do know that when I eat a solid, no-added-sugars breakfast, I feel energized and I don't feel hungry for hours.
My Red River hot cereal takes a while to cook in a pot, requiring a lot of stirring, and by the time it is nice and thick it has started to stick to the pot so there is some clean-up required. If I toss it in the rice tray in the steamer with the right amount of water, a pinch of salt, and 25 minutes on the timer, it is cooked to perfection and kept warm for me when I get out of the shower.
I use little 2-ounce sauce cups for measuring my rice and cereal. For the cereal, I put 1 sauce cup Red River hot cereal, two sauce cups water, and a pinch of salt into the steamer. I prep my fruits (about a cup) and put them in the fridge while I shower.
By the time I'm out of the shower and half dressed, my cereal is the perfect consistency. I pour my 3-ounce glass of OJ, and a 3-ounce glass of 1% milk that I use on my cereal and in my coffee. I also have a 1-ounce slice of roast pork with Dijon mustard because that's just how I roll. Please don't shame me for drinking instant coffee - I'm letting you see my life as it is so please be polite.
So, here we have my typical breakfast. I have hot cereal (225 cals) topped with fruit (75 cals) and some 1% milk (15 cals), one ounce of roast meat (100 cals) with Dijon mustard, a small glass of OJ (38 cals), and a large coffee with 1% milk (15 cals). That makes for 468 calories. I know I'm shooting for 600 per meal, but I really can't eat more than this at breakfast. I try to have some fruit on my way to work, often 10 cherries, but that is about as much as I can get in me because the hot cereal really sticks to my ribs.
Once you start eating healthy, it's really hard to eat as much as you are supposed to eat. The steamer has helped me finally get enough veggies in me and now, as I look at my breakfast, I realize that I'm only taking in 3 ounces of 1% milk a day and no other dairy. At some point in the day, I need to drink a big glass of partially-skimmed milk. I could eat a little cheese, as long as it's not double-cream brie, but that's about where I'm at these days - trying to eat more, as long as it is more of the healthy stuff.
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