Magical Breakfast Cream

When "French Women Don't Get Fat" Meets Weight Watchers

A simple yogurt breakfast from the "French Women Don't Get Fat" Cookbook, whose promise is to help us lose 10 pounds over the summer, ahem, effortlessly. Years back, I loved this easy yogurt breakfast all summer long. But thanks to a reader's reminder, it's become my go-to simple breakfast again! Magical Breakfast Cream is an easy, make-ahead breakfast and totally satisfying.

Great for Breakfast Meal Prep, Fresh & Inventive. Mere Minutes to the Table. Hearty & Filling. Budget Friendly. Easy DIY. Low Fat. High Protein. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegetarian.

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This recipe is so quick and easy
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published every summer since 2009.
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COMPLIMENTS!

• "I love this stuff and so does my husband!" ~ Martha
• "Yum!! I can hardly 'weight' for breakfast tomorrow." ~ It'sMe
• "Enjoyed my Magical Cream again today :)" ~ It'sMe
• "... it was delicious. Light not so heavy ..." ~ Pat

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Altogether Now?

So echo “Oui! Oui” if you’d love to lose 10 pounds over the summer, all without dieting, all without exercising.

That’s the premise of the first recipe in the brand-new French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook (affiliate link), the recipe edition of French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure (ditto).

Author Mireille Guiliano tells a long, fond tale of summers with her favorite aunt, Tante Berthe, movie-star glamorous, squired by many a beau. Tante Berthe was both a gourmet and a gourmande and tended to plumpness. But by the end of each summer, she managed to look sleek and svelte.

Her Trick?

For a week, a serving of Magical Breakfast Cream for breakfast, followed by a light lunch and light supper, all the while giving up two treats entirely, wine, say, bread, say, or sweets, say. For the rest of the summer, eat lightly, just nibbling at bread and sweets.

Now far be it for me to promise weight loss without dieting and really, neither would Tante Berthe. Note how she starts off with a low-carb-style "phase one" period at the front end, then carries on with Weight Watchers-style sensible eating.

It’s a sort of front-end cleansing, a diet "correction" to use a term from the financial markets, all to adjust the body and the mind to a "new normal" while all full of decision and determination.

But what I can promise is a satisfying summer breakfast, one that takes just a couple of minutes to stir together.

It tastes great, it’s a healthy breakfast. And if 10 pounds happen to slip away? All the better.

What's In Magical Breakfast Cream? Pantry Ingredients!

In all my recipes and most well-written recipes, every ingredient serves a purpose. Each one matters. Each one contributes to the overall dish. It's not that an ingredient can't be substituted by something else but when choosing the substitute, it's important to understand why the original ingredient was present in the first place.

• Plants walnuts + lemon or lime or orange
• Dairy Greek yogurt
• Pantry shredded wheat cereal + olive oil + honey

How to Make Magical Breakfast Cream

The detailed recipe is written in traditional recipe form below but here are the highlights in two easy steps. You can definitely do this!

• MEAL PREP Use a small food processor to grind a week's worth of cereal and walnuts.
• MAKE BREAKFAST! Stir together the "cream" portion, just healthy Greek yogurt, a little oil and honey, the juice and pulp of citrus fruit, then stir in some walnut-cereal mix. (I meal prep this too, often in seven small glass containers with lids. Each morning, I just spoon in the walnut-cereal mix.)

You'll Like Magical Breakfast Cream If ...

• ... your breakfast habit is something simple and light
• ... quick preparation with common pantry ingredients is important
• ... you work to limit morning carbs and build in morning protein
• ... you work to limit morning carbs and build in morning protein
• ... you like a grab 'n' go, portable breakfast

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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this simple breakfast combination inspires you, please do save and share! I'd be honored ...

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MAGICAL BREAKFAST CREAM

Hands-on time: 5 minutes up front, 5 minutes for breakfast
Time to table: 5 – 10 minutes
Serves 1

NUT & CEREAL MIX
(enough for 7 days)
• 1/2 cup (42g) toasted walnuts
• 2 cups (115g) Original Shredded Wheat or another low-sugar shredded wheat

PER SERVING
• 1/2 cup (115g) 0% Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Juice & pulp of half a lemon or lime or orange (my favorite)
• scant 3 tablespoons Nut & Cereal Mix

NUT & CEREAL MIX In a small food processor, grind the nuts and cereal. Transfer to a covered container, I use a quart jar. For easy measuring later, tuck an extra tablespoon right inside the container and refrigerate.

PER SERVING To serve, spoon the yogurt into an individual serving bowl. Stir in the oil first, then the honey, creating a lighter, slightly sweeter yogurt. Sprinkle the lemon juice over top, top with the Nut & Cereal Mix, then stir it all up. Serve and savor, one small bite at a time.

A SKINNY FRENCH WOMAN’s TIPS

• Consider the ingredient list more "guide" than recipe, make it work for you.
• Substitute another nut for walnuts but do toast them first (how to toast nuts) to draw out big flavor.
• For yogurt, substitute any thickened milk product, cottage cheese, say, or kefir, even ricotta.
• For olive oil, substitute any good oil.
• For honey, substitute agave or maple syrup, even sorghum.
• For lemon juice, substitute a squeeze of orange juice or grapefruit juice.
• Feel free to play with the proportions to fit your own eating and pantry style.
• A little fresh fruit, summer’s best, can be turned in too.

ALANNA's TIPS

• I love Fage 0% Greek Yogurt but it's gotten to be soooo expensive! My go-to Greek yogurt right now is new in 2017, two large tubs for $5 at Sam's Club, their house brand. I also like Trader Joe’s Greek Style 2% Yogurt and Trader Joe's European-style full-fat yogurt.
• Oranges are big and I hate to waste the fiber so I usually toss a peeled orange into a mini food processor, then dole it out into individual serving containers.
• Oranges are also way sweeter, I just might love the orange juice a little bit too much. To like it all a tiny bit less, I force myself to choose tart lemon and lime juice more often than not.
• When filling individual serving containers ahead of time, include everything except the Nut & Cereal Mix, add that at the last minute or hmmm, maybe an hour or two before eating.
• Since I make a week's worth of the Cereal & Nut Mix and use it up within a couple of weeks, I don't bother to refrigerate the Mix, zero trouble with nuts turning rancid.

SHOPPING FOR SUGAR-FREE BREAKFAST CEREALS The cereal aisle in my grocery stretches half the depth of the store, five shelves high. In all this, there is just one – ONE! – sugar-free cereal, the Original Shredded Wheat which is 100% whole wheat, nothing more. What’s up with that, Kellogg’s and Post and General Mills? But? Once again, Trader Joe's to the rescue! Their shredded wheat cereal is wonderful, just avoid the one dipped in sugar.

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2010/06/magical-breakfast-cream.html .

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving: 230 Calories; 8g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 43mg Sodium; 25g Carb; 2g Fiber; 11g Sugar; 14g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 5 & PointsPlus 6 & SmartPoints 7 & Freestyle 6 & myWW green 6 & blue 6 & purple 6 & future WW points CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = scant half serving (6g protein).

Adapted from French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook My Disclosure Promise

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Seasonal Eating: Mid Summer Across the Years

Strawberry Ice Cream Maple Glazed Salmon Those Pink Potatoes Herbed Saltines Magical Breakfast Cream Citrus Slices with Orange Flower Water, Spices & Chocolate Shavings Simple Grilled Salmon One Quick Tip: Tomato Knife for Clean, Sharp Slices Mini Blueberry Tarts Easy Ham Salad Fried Egg Quesadillas Five-Minute Shrimp Cocktail Sauce

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Would Tante Berthe Approve?

more
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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ yogurt recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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