Breakfast!

The most important meal of the day!


Many of us grew up running out of the house with a bagel in one hand and a banana in the other.


Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day. If you begin the day with enough fuel, and the right kind of fuel, the rest of the day seems to run smoother. If you're anything like I am, life is better when I'm not physically drained... emotionally, I'm much more stable and able to deal with the ups and downs that come every day.


In my diet, protein is a must! Eggs are my favorite... simple, easy to vary, lots of protein, filling but not heavy on the stomach.




The Best Scrambled Eggs Ever:
My favorite, and the easiest, scrambled eggs are Gordon Ramsey's, which I found on youtube. Although I don't add the butter and cream he does every time, I find my eggs are much fluffier when I cook them in a sauce pan and continue stirring them while moving the pan on and off the heat source. I also wait to season until the end, right before I put it on my plate. So... watch this video and then read below.





What you need:

• Sauce pan
• Oil/Butter
• 2 Eggs (3 Egg whites if you're worried about cholesterol)
• Spatula
• Seasonings: my favorites are either 1) sea salt, dill; 2) sea salt, oregano; 3) add garlic to either one of these.

What I do...

• I cook more with oil than butter, usually grapeseed oil because it has a higher flash point than olive oil (meaning, it doesn't sizzle or "spark" as easily and it doesn't flavor the food).
• Begin with medium to low heat, drizzle a little oil in the pan.
• Crack eggs directly into pan. If you're doing only egg whites, spoon out the yolks.
• Immediately begin stirring with the spatula, following Ramsey's instructions of on and off the heat. 
• ~This really doesn't take as much time as you might think, nor is it much work. Your focus on the eggs is only for about 1-2 minutes max, then they are "done" and finish cooking off the heat as you stir in the seasonings. The entire process takes five minutes from the time you begin to warm up your pan.
• Once the eggs begin to take shape, almost done but still wet looking, take them off the heat and "fold in" in your seasonings (about a 1/4 tsp or so of each). You can use fresh seasonings or dried. I mostly use dried because they're quick and easily accessible.
• Slide the eggs out onto a piece of toast, any kind of bread you'd like. My favorite is Ezekiel Bread or Bran for Life from Wholefoods' freezer section.

Variations:

1) If you'd like to add some veggies to this meal for a scrambled-omelet feel, use a skillet pan and begin with a touch more oil/butter. Add diced veggies of your choice. Let them cook 2-3 minutes on medium-low heat. Add a little more oil and crack eggs directly into pan, stirring in the same way as before. Turn down your heat and use the same on/off heat as before until eggs are almost done. Season the same way.

To make this easier for you so you're not chopping several vegetables every morning, use frozen diced veggies from the store or spend some time chopping your own and freeze them.* 

2) Instead of cooking veggies with the eggs, have them on the side. Cook a mixture of vegetables, the best are stir-fry veggies. You could even use the frozen packages of stir fry vegetables or use your own frozen veggies. 

Walk the freezer section of your grocery store to glean ideas of vegetable combinations. Anything to give you new ideas.

3) Cook your scrambled eggs and eat them with a bowl of healthy cereal (Kashi 7 Grain Flakes or Cascade Farms Purely O's or hot cereal) or a hearty buckwheat pancake with peanut butter and fresh fruit spread. **

Tasty Veggie combinations:

red peppers, onions, portabella mushrooms

red peppers, onions, celery

mixture of squashes

just add a Tbl or two of salsa

tomatoes, broccoli, peppers

really... whatever you have is great - I've even used frozen green beans :)

*Tips for freezing vegetables:

• My favorite, must-have, kitchen gadget for chopping is Vidalia Chop Wizard from Target. Only $20 and makes chopping quick and fun!
• Great veggies to freeze: onions, peppers, celery, carrots, squashes.
• If you freeze mushrooms, cook them a little before freezing - they do better.
• Place them in quart sized freezer bags.
• Don't fill them too full, then you'll have room to "break them apart" as they begin to freeze and won't freeze in a giant heap.
• This tip takes a little more time, but is well worth the effort: lay veggies out on a tray in your freezer (if you have room). Allow them to mostly freeze and then place them in freezer bags. They'll stay "loose" and separate rather than freeze in a huge block.

**Fruit Spreads and Syrups

If you want a break from eggs, eat a healthy pancake/waffle with healthy peanut butter (my husband blends his own or you can check labels to find a brand with only peanuts, oil, and salt) and some kind of fruit spread. 

Here's my favorite quick spreads and syrups:

• Blend together 2 Tbl of Apple Juice Concentrate (yep, right from the container), a couple handfuls of berries or red cherries (any berry will do... use a couple if you wish), and a cup or so of water. Once blended, you can either serve cold or pour into a small sauce pan and cook on medium until it begins to thicken, stirring almost constantly. To help it thicken quicker, whisk in some arrow root powder or corn starch in the beginning, about 1-2 tsp.
• Use the Vidalia Chop Wizard to dice a cup of fruit (as much as you need to cover your pancake/waffle). Strawberries, peaches, and nectarines are my favorites. Then mash a cup of fruit and combine it with the diced fruit, spreading across your pancake/waffle. Using ripe fruit create a sweeter spread and the need for more sugar or honey is lessened. 
• Plain old diced bananas or strawberries taste great on top of peanut butter. Just remember, the more sugar you add, the more protein you need... keep it balanced.

Buckwheat Pancake Recipe

My husband is mostly gluten free, so I no longer do whole wheat pancakes, but a combination of Buckwheat and Almond Flour. The basis for my recipe comes from http://www.elanaspantry.com/, her flapjack recipe. Buckwheat is extremely hearty and filling, soaking up liquid easily, so I've had to change it up a bit. Also, I don't use Agave Nectar anymore since James learned at school that it is used as Birth Control in other countries. Here's my recipe:

• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 cup water or milk (I like milk)
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil (again, it doesn't flavor it, just keeps it from sticking)
• Heaping 3/4 cup Buckwheat Flour
• Heaping 1/2 cup Almond Flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• grapeseed oil for sauteing if making pancakes (waffles are fine as they are)

Blend liquids in a bowl. Add Flours, salt, and soda, lightly blending with a fork the dry ingredients on top first, then the whole thing together. Batter will be thick. For pancakes, warm pan and drizzle 1 tbl oil in pan. When scooping batter into pan, use the fork to shape it into a small circle. Keep the pancakes small otherwise they're too difficult to flip. Continue to add oil between each pancake, since the buckwheat flour will soak up the oil. For waffles, use the fork/spoon to scoop batter into the waffle iron, spreading it the best you can.

This recipe makes for a very filling breakfast, especially when topped with peanut butter and fruit, with a side of 1 scrambled egg. I don't feel hungry again until 1 pm when I fix this breakfast. Cook extras, if you can, and eat them as a snack or for breakfast the next day. They are great either cold or warmed up in a toaster/microwave.