How often do you or your loved ones get tired of the same old same old for breakfast? You might like cereals, but have decided you need to up your protein intake, You have upped your protein intake and now you are worried about eating too much fatty bacon. So, you have now moved to ham and all of a sudden the concern turns to too much sodium in your diet. What is there to do now? Steak and eggs? Steak might get pricey and then we are back to the concern of many in regards to saturated fats not being good to eat every day. How about thinking outside the box and trying something a little different for a change. This mid-western boy likes to think outside the box and loves to work around the kitchen trying different flavors combinations. I have discovered that I truly love catfish and or shrimp with my scrambled eggs in the morning, which is also a healthy choice your family might enjoy too. And the great thing is, these meats can come in at a lesser cost per serving than many might thinks. One pound of Catfish can be divided into four, four ounce servings, At a cost from my local Dillon’s of $1.75 per serving. The shrimp at our store is $8.99 for a pound which equals $2.25 per 4 ounce serving. Couple that with the average price per egg in a carton works out to about $.21 you can have a high protein low carb breakfast of 3 eggs and 4 ounces of Catfish at a cost of $2.38, a breakfast with 3 eggs and 4 ounces of shrimp will cost approximately $2.88 per plate. A meal of catfish or shrimp and eggs costs a lot less than anything on a fast food menu for breakfast, takes only moments to prepare and is a much healthier choice for the family.

The nutrition values for either of these 2 breakfasts are, based on 4 oz of fish or shrimp, and 3 eggs comes out to;

• Catfish, 4 ounce serving, 155 calories, 10.3g Fat, 0g Carbs, and 17.5g Protein. Catfish is delicious and fairly low in calories. It is also an excellent source of protein.Catfish is a great source for Omega 3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acids. The American Heart Association recommends including fish in your diet several times per week. The protein in Catfish provids you with all the essential amino acids and being a complete protein helps your body to build or maintain lean muscle mass. Catfish will also provide you with 40 percent of the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin B12 which aids in breaking down foods you have consumed into useful energy.
• Shrimp, 4 ounce serving, 67 calories, 0g Fat, 0g Carbs and 28g of lean protein. Shrimp is a great source of zinc and selenium which your cells need for the activation of enzymes. Zinc provides energy and supports your immune functions. The selenium activates enzymes which are required for muscle metabolism as well as enzymes that fight cancer growth. The Vitamin A in shrimp controls red blood cell development and activates genes that growing cells need to develop from stem cells into function red blood cells. Shrimp is also a good source of Vitmain B12
• Eggs, times 3, 215 calories, 14.3g Fat, 1.1g Complex Carbs, and 18.8g of protein. Eggs are an exceptionally great food source as they also provide plenty of minerals, vitamins and essential fatty acids. Eggs are a rich source of Vitamins B2, B6 and B12 and minerals such as zinc, iron, and copper. The yolks provide fat soluble vitamins such as Vitamins A, D, E and K along with Lecithin. Depending on what the chickens have been fed, some eggs now are an excellent source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Eggs are also a source of complete protein as they contain all the essential amino acids our bodies require. Eggs also contain nutrients that promote good heart health such as betaine and choline.

Ladies, if you have a picky husband who hates the thought of eating “Health Foods”, you can get him to eat a hearty breakfast of shrimp or catfish and eggs and he will never know that you were feeding him a healthy choice.

I like to sear my catfish in a little extra virgin olive oils spray and season with Cajon seasonings. Then I scramble my eggs using the fat from the fish left over in the skillet. It makes for a tasty breakfast.

With shrimp, I will usually have it pre-steamed so all I do is remove the tails, cut into bite size pieces and mix into my eggs as I scramble them. For both dishes, I love to add a little salsa and habanero hot sauce for a little bit of heat.

Give this a try, I am sure you will enjoy it despite the weird looks some might give you when you refer to catfish and shrimp as breakfast meats.