Heart Healthy Breakfast Recipes

For a heart healthy lifestyle, it is important to eat nutritious meals. Breakfast is one of those meals that people tend to ignore or eat convenience foods for. If you are focusing on a heart healthy diet, then breakfast is important! You want to choose recipes that are low in sodium, high in fiber and protein and low in saturated fats. This breakfast recipe is easy and simple. It has extra fiber from the wheat flour and oatmeal and is low in sodium and cholesterol. Resist the urge to top the pancakes with butter, try a little bit of sugar free syrup, fresh fruit or even applesauce and cinnamon! These are great pancakes to make ahead and freeze for convenient and healthy breakfasts throughout the week. You can also add cinnamon or nutmeg to the batter before cooking for a great flavor!

Oatmeal and Applesauce Pancakes

Ingredients

¼ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup old fashioned oats

½ cup skim milk

1 teaspoon of baking powder

½ teaspoon of baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar or Splenda Baking blend

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

2 large egg whites (You can now purchase egg substitute that is only egg whites!)

1 Tablespoon of Canola oil

Directions

Place all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and whisk until well blended.

Heat your griddle or pan to 375 degrees or medium heat. Use a fat free cooking spray to grease your pan or griddle.

Pour about ¼ cup of batter per pancake onto the pan or griddle. Cook each pancake until bubbles appear and the edges are puffed. Flip the pancake and cook until golden brown and done.

Makes about 8 pancakes but can easily be doubled or tripled for larger batches.

You can also make a heart healthy french toast recipe for those mornings when you want a change!

Citrus French Toast Bake

Ingredients

1 ½ cups egg substitute

1/3 cup orange juice

1/3 cup skim milk

3 Tablespoons of sugar or Splenda Blend

1 Tablespoon of orange zest

1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

slices of whole grain wheat bread

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray fat free cooking spray in baking dish and set aside.

Combine all ingredients except for bread in a bowl and whisk until well blended. Arrange the slices of whole grain wheat bread in the baking dish and pour the egg mixture over the top of the bread. Allow the mixture to set for several minutes so that it can soak into the bread.

Bake in the oven until the egg mixture is set. Serve with sugar free syrup or fresh fruit!