Cake for Breakfast?!

Terry sometimes reminds me that when we first met, I regularly ate cake for breakfast... (implying that marriage has improved my eating habits)!

True. Plain chocolate cake (with no icing) plus a dish of plain unsweetened yogurt was my normal breakfast for many, many years.

I have tried to eat "more healthily" over the years, partly to be an example to my children. But, perusing at the 2014 "milk calendar," prepared by the Dairy Board of Ontario, promoting recipes using dairy products, I ask myself: Has eliminating cake for breakfast really improved my eating habits?!

These days, as a type 2 diabetic, I try to limit my carb intake. My blood sugar rises when I eat carbs, found in starchy foods like potatoes, rice, bread (yes, and cake!) - or in sugary foods (not only cookies and desserts, but also in fruit, milk and other food that tastes sweet).


















As I examine this calendar of recipes and compare the Three-seed Yogurt Muffins and the Chocolate Orange Cheesecake Swirl Brownies, it would appear, at first glance, that the muffins would be a better breakfast choice...

Then I look at the nutritional information at the bottom of each recipe.

Carbs: A muffin has 35 grams of carb; a brownie serving has only 29.
What about calories? A muffin has 269, whereas a brownie has 219.
The fat content of both are about the same, though here again the brownie comes out ahead: 12 grams for the muffin, 11 grams for the brownie.
The only two areas where the muffin ingredients are "healthier" are in protein content and in fiber: the muffin has 8 grams of protein and 3.3 grams of fiber, whereas the brownie has 4 grams of protein and 1.5 grams of fiber.

Really now, overall, which one is a healthier breakfast choice?!!