Is cereal or baguette w/ butter and jam, plus a glass of sugary orange juice, healthier than a croissant and coffee? Because I don’t think so. Seems more like a $/convenience thing than a healthier decision.

Hello from France

No, we don't eat croissants every morning.

Some people will when they have breakfast at a coffee place in town : they take a coffee and a croissant. But this is not a generality.

There are bad quality store bought croissants that people eat everyday but it's not common.

Croissants and "pains au chocolat" (chocolate croissants) are usually eaten on weekends, we go and get them fresh from the local bakery.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. They are skinny fat with clogged arteries.

A black coffee or espresso and a good croissant is really THAT bad?

So sorry to keep posting but you guys have really hit my sweet spot. My personal experience is that, as an American I am a volume eater. Europeans, even the overweight ones, tend to be far less so. It is not the daily pastry that makes you fat but the combination of indulgences. When I was eating a pastry every day with cappucc at home I weighed 130-140 lbs at 5'5. Once I eliminated white bread, pastries, and cookies from my diet my range decreased to 110-120 lbs. I never could stop myself after that one baked good; I had cookies with coffee in the afternoon and chocolate in some form after dinner every night. I think the French can have the one thing and then just stop. Also, smoking rates are higher there, which helps to cut appetite. I knew more than one European woman who had coffee, a cigarette, and square of dark chocolate for breakfast, and then salad or just soup for lunch, and a single plate for dinner. I have never been able to control my portions at any weight, which is why I now eat lots of raw veg.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain the leftover baguette for breakfast thing? Isn't a day old baguette sorta stale? How exactly does one eat it for breakfast -- cut thin slices and put them in the toaster or oven? Butter and jam?

We had this for breakfast today. I split them lengthwise as you would for a hoagie and pop them in the oven at 350 long enough for the tops to get crusty and lightly browned while the inside is still tender. My kids only want butter now but my favorite spread used to be Bonne Maman fig jam -- o! I am careful to wrap any uneaten baguette in foil to keep it from hardening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:EVERYONE? No.

Is it common in say France and Belgium? Who else is know for their pastries.

I lived in Belgium for 8 years. For 5 of those years I had a pain au chocolat 5-7 times a week and there were a few regulars I always saw at the bakery but in most families pastries were a weekend treat and people had bread with Nutella or jam for breakfast. People with kids tended to have bread or cereal. Almost no one ate a hot breakfast at home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Costco croissant and a black coffee is about 345 calories. You can totally lose weight with that kind of breakfast.

Hmmm, thank you for this! I love the craptastic Costco croissants and feel less guilty about them.

My Costco croissant used to be “good” (in quotation marks, people), but the recipe change and now they’re dry and stale. Every time.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain the leftover baguette for breakfast thing? Isn't a day old baguette sorta stale? How exactly does one eat it for breakfast -- cut thin slices and put them in the toaster or oven? Butter and jam?

Big chunk dipped in coffee.

Can someone explain the leftover baguette for breakfast thing? Isn't a day old baguette sorta stale? How exactly does one eat it for breakfast -- cut thin slices and put them in the toaster or oven? Butter and jam?

Anonymous wrote:Coffee or tea + croissant or pastry x 5 to 7 mornings a week?

Yes.

Bernie forgot that one.

Croissants for All!

No they're not eaten everyday (unless you didn't have time to eat before leaving for work and buy breakfast during your morning coffee break, which several of my colleagues did). Otherwise, it's mostly leftover baguette or cereal/yogurt on weekdays. Croissants, pains au chocolat, soft-boiled eggs with mouillettes tend to be weekend dishes since they take more time to buy/prepare.

Anonymous wrote:A Costco croissant and a black coffee is about 345 calories. You can totally lose weight with that kind of breakfast.

Hmmm, thank you for this! I love the craptastic Costco croissants and feel less guilty about them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. They are skinny fat with clogged arteries.

A black coffee or espresso and a good croissant is really THAT bad?

They’re full of butter, my dear.

Of course. But not bad compared to breakfast / lunch of an American: Cereal...orange juice...a sweet drink from Starbucks...Chipotle...burger and fries...sandwich full of processed meat...salad drenched with oily dressing?

Butter does not clog arteries. That is outdated information.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. They are skinny fat with clogged arteries.

A black coffee or espresso and a good croissant is really THAT bad?

They?re full of butter, my dear.

~One tablespoon of butter. Butter is good for you. Good fat and vitamin A, E and others. At least it isn't margarine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. They are skinny fat with clogged arteries.

A black coffee or espresso and a good croissant is really THAT bad?

They?re full of butter, my dear.

Not... BUTTER!

Go back to 1982 and have some cantaloupe and low fat cottage cheese and leave us modern people with our butter.