Ricotta Breakfast Sundae

Besides watching carbohydrates, Diabetics also need to be aware of their cholesterol and high blood pressure, so a healthy and balanced diet is essential in managing our disease. Breakfast can be particularly difficult for me as I need something tasty and fast, and that will last me several hours until lunch!  I have always needed a good source of protein at breakfast, or I am hungry all day long.

These little breakfast sundaes are fun and easy to prepare ahead of time. By my calculations 1 Ricotta Breakfast Sunday ( made with strawberries) will have approximately 40-45 grams of carbohydrate. (or 3 carb choices, depending on how you keep track)   When choosing your ricotta, keep in mind that Whole Milk Ricotta  has slightly more cholesterol and fat in it then Part Skim Ricotta. Fat free Ricotta has even less cholesterol and no fat, but watch out, because many times Fat Free products add sugar to make up for the lack of flavor! I typically use either Part Skim or Fat Free Ricotta depending on the ingredients in the brand I am able to buy.

Ricotta Breakfast Sundae

Serves 1

½ of a 15 oz container of Ricotta Cheese (approximately 1 cup)

2 tsp honey

½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup fresh fruit – your favorite is fine.  I love Strawberries, peaches, blueberries, raspberries. 

Mix together Ricotta, honey, ground ginger and cinnamon.  This can be done several days ahead. Just put it in a covered container and keep refrigerated.

 

Just before serving, top ricotta with fruit.  Enjoy.

You can also substitute canned fruit for the fresh in the winter months, just read your labels carefully and portion out the serving sizes suggested - usually 1/2 a cup instead of a full cup of the fresh.  Canned peaches are particularly delicious(canned in light syrup or juice of course!)

If I have this for breakfast, it usually keeps me well satisfied until noon.  If you want to reduce the carb count further, decrease or eliminate the honey.  You could also substitute Splenda or Stevia in much smaller amounts.

Here are my calculations for this recipe - keep in mind these are only estimates as each brand of ricotta and each type of fruit vary slightly.

1 cup Whole Milk Ricotta = 13-20 grams of carbohydrate, 28-32 grams of fat, and 24-28 grams of protein, The majority of the fat in the whole milk ricotta is the saturated fat, and there are anywhere from 80- 125 mg of cholesterol in one cup of the ricotta, depending on the brand.
or
1 cup Part Skim Ricotta =    8-16 grams of carbohydrate, 20-24 grams of fat, and 20-26 grams of protein.   There can be anywhere from 70-120 mg of cholesterol in this ricotta.
or
1 cup Fat-Free Ricotta =      12-20 grams of carbohydrate, 0 grams of fat, and 22-28 grams of protein.       Some brands of fat free ricotta have no cholesterol, others have 20-50 mg.

1 cup of fresh fruit =              between 12-20 grams of carbohydrate - Berries are on the lower end of the     scale while a banana would be on the high end.

2 tsp honey =                       12 grams (a full Tbsp is 17 grams)

Cinnamon and ginger =          0 grams Carbohydrate.