Eating for IBS Recipes ~ Breakfasts & Breads

Breakfast is often the trickiest meal of the day for IBS, for several reasons. Your stomach is completely empty, and you're probably a little stressed if you're in a hurry to get out the door. You may also be tired because you haven't gotten enough sleep, making your digestion even touchier than usual.

The result is that mornings can often trigger problems, and this means that breakfast has to be the safest meal of the day.

For rushed mornings when you don't have time to cook the breakfast recipes below, here are some fast, safe choices:

Toasted French, sourdough, potato bread with unsweetened applesauce

Instant oatmeal made with soy/rice/oat/almond milk, brown sugar and sliced banana

Hot cream of rice cereal, with maple syrup and diced mango

Toasted plain bagel with a smidgen of soy cream cheese and smoked salmon

Toasted sourdough English muffin with marmalade

Toasted French bread with any seedless jam

Bowl of Rice Chex or Corn Chex with soy/rice/oat/almond milk and a sliced banana

Leftover bowl of Will's Dreamy Lemon Rice Pudding

Leftover bowl of Banana Pecan Breakfast Rice Pudding

Leftover bowl of Indian Pistachio Orange Blossom Tapioca Pudding

Glass of High-Energy Banana Carob Breakfast Shake

Slice of any fruit bread from the Bread Chapter

Have a cup of hot peppermint tea with any of the above breakfasts and you should be off to a tasty, quick, and safe start to your day.

For more leisurely weekend mornings, or holiday breakfasts and brunches, the recipes in this chapter offer a wide range of delicious, nutritious, and attractive dishes. All of them incorporate cooked fresh fruits or veggies into a high soluble fiber, low fat base.

The really wonderful news here is that although typical breakfast foods such as omelets, pancakes, and French toast are full of triggers like egg yolks, butter, and milk, they are all easily adaptable to the IBS kitchen. By simply using egg whites and no yolks, cooking in non-stick pans without oil, and substituting soy or rice milk for dairy, you can once again enjoy the hearty breakfast treats you love. Who could resist a Mushroom, Crab, and Dill Omelet, a Caramelized Vanilla Pear Pancake, or Baked Blueberry Pecan French Toast with Maple Blueberry Syrup, knowing that you don't have to worry about the consequences? I certainly can't - I indulge my morning appetite, and I hope you'll do the same.

Breads are one of the most important staples of the IBS diet. French and sourdough breads are the safest everyday choice, as they are fat free and low in insoluble fiber. Homemade fruit breads are terrific any time of day or night, for breakfasts, desserts, and snacks, as they combine the goodness of fresh fruit into a low-fat, high soluble fiber base, making them as safe as they are delicious. Breads are easily adaptable to the IBS kitchen. Whole eggs are replaced with egg whites, butter is replaced by canola oil, and fruit purees such as applesauce, pumpkin, or banana substitute for much of the fat while increasing the nutrient value.

Breads are a perfect example of how the special considerations required for IBS cooking do not result in deprivation. You simply haven't had the best banana bread in the world, period, until you've tried my Brown Sugar Banana Bread. There's no flavor missing, just fat. It's equally impossible to feel deprived when you're snacking on a warm piece of Sweet Cinnamon Zucchini Bread, Pumpkin Apple Spice Bread, or my grandmother's heirloom Chocolate Applesauce Cake. So get in the habit of baking large batches of bread every other weekend or so, freeze the extra loaves, and you'll always have a delicious, healthy, and safe staple on hand for yourself as well as a special treat for the rest of your family to enjoy.

Breakfast & Bread Recipes

Mushroom, crab and dill omelet

Caramelized vanilla pear pancake

Sweet cinnamon zucchini bread

Brown sugar banana bread

Will's dreamy lemon rice pudding

Old-fashioned vanilla French toast and apricot caramel sauce

Fresh basil omelet with sundried tomatoes

Hearty Mexican omelet

Homemade applesauce

Banana pecan breakfast rice pudding

Banana cornmeal pancakes

Banana-banana French toast with nutmeg sugar

Heavenly lemon French toast with blackberry lemon syrup

Baked blueberry pecan French toast with maple blueberry syrup

Cinnamon French toast with spiced plum sauce

Decadent strawberry-cream cheese stuffed French toast with fresh berry syrup

Blueberry-brown sugar Scottish oatmeal

Lemon-glazed sticky bread

Old-fashioned orange blossom bread

Sweet-tart orange cranberry bread

Cinnamon-lime pecan bread

Sunshine bread

Pumpkin apple spice bread

My great-great grandmother's chocolate applesauce cake

Simple sweet cornbread

Gingerbread

Parisian baguette

Garlic rosemary French bread


All recipes included in Eating for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) have a nutritional analysis per serving of calories, protein, percentage of calories from protein, carbohydrates, percentage of calories from carbohydrates, total fat, percentage of calories from fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and total dietary fiber. (Analysis provided by NutriBase Nutrition Manager software.)

All content is copyrighted by Heather Van Vorous and MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED without permission.