Breakfast Lab

Breakfast Tea for Balancing Blood Sugar

2009-08-11T19:28:00.006-04:00

Recipe courtesy of Rossana from our No Sugar Cooking Lesson and Breakfast in Honor of Diabetic Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor. This infusion is made from blueberry leaves and cinnamon. Add a touch of blueberries, and you have blood-sugar-balancing beverage that will send you to tastebud heaven.

Recipe for 1 quart of infusion
1/3 cup fresh blueberry leaves
1 cinnamon stick

Add ingredients to a quart-size glass jar. (Reused pasta sauce or pickle
jars work beautifully. Make sure they don't smell like it though.) Add
boiling water to the very top, and cover. The leaves and the cinnamon
bark will soak up that water as it's fibers open, so you'll need to "top
off" the jar with water in about 15 minutes. Wait until the mixture
cools - overnight is best - so that the cinnamon and blueberry leaves
impart their full medicinal value to the water. Reheat (but don't boil!
it changes the flavor) or enjoy with chilled blueberries. Yummy
sugar-balancing goodness! It's the best tasting medicine you'll ever drink.

No Sugar Breakfast in Honor of Diabetic Sonya Sotomayor

2009-08-10T22:22:00.005-04:00

In honor of our new diabetic Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor, we gave a cooking lesson on how to create breakfasts that are low in sugar, but high in deliciousness. This is recipe 1 of 3 that was devoured (with lots of moaning) on Sunday morning.

Green Sausage Wraps

Wraps: Romaine lettuce or any broad dark green leaves

The filling:
1 or natural sausages
1 sweet red pepper
1/2 sweet green pepper
2 tomatoes
1 zucchini
1/2 red onion
1/2 cup parsley
olive oil
1 or 2 cloves of garlic (to taste)

Sauce:
1 tsp lavender
2-3 tablespoons mustard
1/2 cup olive or sesame oil
1 pinch ground cardamom
1 lemon

Cut peppers, onion, tomatoes and zucchini thinly and add to a skillet. Add water, and cook on high heat. Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top, garlic and sausage on top of the veggies to the skillet. Stir occasionally until the mixture is the consistency that you like. Should be about 5-10 minutes.

Let the mixture cool a little bit and stuff the romaine leaves with it. Add parsley on top. Eat. Enjoy. Prosper.

Patty Pan Squash and Artichoke Saute for Breakfast

2009-07-28T06:12:00.001-04:00

If you are lucky to discover patty-pan squash in your local farmer's market, supermarket or your own garden, scream "Eureka" A much flavorful and delicate flavor that the other summer squashes, it tastes amazing with artichokes, spinach, tomatoes, eggplants or any other vegetable you want to combine it with.

Ingredients:
1 patty pan squash
frozen artichoke hearts
eggplant or vegetable paste
avocado

Sautee patty pan squash with artichoke hearts until tender in water. Add a tiny amount of olive oil on top when nearly done. Fold cooked vegetables into the eggplant paste, and add chunks of avocado to give the dish more substance. Enjoy.

or you can eat this with your favorite protein - beans, sardines or breakfast sausages.

Cherry Kisel for Breakfast - Even Presidents Love it.

2009-07-24T06:00:00.004-04:00

Obama and Putin sitting down to breakfast in Moscow:

"The two leaders, however, appeared to hit it off over a breakfast of eggs, smoked beluga, black caviar, olady [pancakes] with cranberry jam, quail-stuffed pelmeni [dumplings], tea brewed in a samovar, cherry kisel and homemade ice cream for dessert. The meal, which was scheduled to last 90 minutes, stretched on for more than two hours." via The Moscow Times

Epic breakfast. You will have to use your imagination to recreate the quail-stuffed pelmeni and get an actual samovar for the tea, but here's a recipe for Cherry Kisel, since cherries are now in season here!

The traditional recipe uses sugar and potato starch. This recipe uses honey and kuzu root, but I imagine one can use a low-glycemic sweetener, like stevia as well.

2-3 cups cherries or other berries
6 cups of water
4 tbsp kuzu
1 tbsp raw honey

Boil cherries in water until water turns red and the cherry taste is unmistakable in the water. In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup of cold water with 4 tablespoons kuzu root. When it becomes a mixture, combine with the juice. Heat for 3 minutes and then turn off heat. Cool, strain and refrigerate for a cold drink.

For a different texture, you can try mashing berries inside, creating a cherry smoothie.

Kuzu drinks soothe the stomach and other inflamed membranes and are known as remedies for digestive upset. If your body is hot, and inflamed in the summer, this might be a great cooling drink. When taken regularly, kuzu drinks strengthen a weak digestive system and reduce symptoms such as frequent indigestion and intestinal gas.

Strawberry Breakfasts are in Season

2009-06-13T09:43:00.011-04:00

In season: Strawberries!

Latin name: Fragraria vesca

Most of us are pretty familiar with strawberries -- they look like the fruits in this picture: little, red, and juicy with tiny seeds nestled in its skin.

But did you know that the strawberry fruit has a cooling nature and has been used to reduce fevers and other hot conditions within the body? As within, so without: for example, if you have a mild sunburn, you can rub a fresh cut of strawberry over the affected skin to reduce the redness.

Another time-tested use for strawberry fruit was to remove discoloration from teeth. Simply rub the berry on to them and allow the juice to remain on for about five minutes. Afterwards, rinse with warm water to which a pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) has been added. (There was no mention of the frequency of this remedy. As strawberries are so delicious, I'd use that as an excuse to do this about once a day.)

Carl Linnaeus, a renowned botanist from Sweden who lived in the 1700's, proved that the fruit was even useful for relieving rheumatic gout!

What's not commonly known is that the Strawberry's leaves are also high in Vitamin C and astringent. As such, they can be brewed into tea to alleviate diarrhea. Hooray! But even if you're not challenged by this ailment, you can still enjoy a cup of strawberry leaf tea - perhaps chilled with mint and fresh lemon for a cool lemonade?

Strawberries’ notable minerals: folate, manganese, potassium; notable vitamin: C. (Comprehensive nutrition facts on strawberries at NutritionData.com)

You can check out more folklore than you ever wanted to know at VegParadise

Sources:
* A Modern Herbal, volume II. Mrs. M. Grieve, ISBN 0486227995

* Nutrition Data: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2064/2

* University of California Museum of Paleontology for Carl Linnaeus' biography -- www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/linnaeus.html
* University of Illinois extension: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/strawberries/history.html

* VegParadise: http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch45.html

* Photograph: Johnnyscriv at iStockphoto

Sighing Strawberry Oatmeal with Coconut Milk

Tools You need:
A stove & saucepan (optional)
A small knife
A bowl and spoon

Ingredients You Need
Milk – rice, almond, soy, cow, goat, etc
Strawberries
Maple syrup or honey
Coconut milk
Rolled oats
Ground spices like cardamom, cinnamon, or ginger.

Do this
Optional: Put your milk on the stove to warm up. Keep it on low - medium. You will need about 1/2 – 3/4 cup.

While it’s heating, grab your bowl and cut up as many strawberries into it as you like. Add some coconut milk (I use about 2 heaping tablespoons), your honey or maple syrup, and about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of rolled oats. Add your spices, if you like.

Pour the milk over your breakfast. If you chose to heat it, wait about 1 minute for the oats to get soft. If you pour it in cold, wait 2-10 minutes, depending on how soft you like your oats. (I’ve been known to eat it right away.)

Crackers and American Cheeze - the Healthier Version

2009-05-14T06:00:00.001-04:00

How do you satisfy a craving for a sweet, flavorful cracker with cheese when you can't have gluten (wheat) or dairy?

Cracker ingredients:
1/2 cup shredded coconut, 1/2 cup flax powder, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1 tablespoon tahini, 1 teaspoon spirulina, 1 tablespoon of raisins, 2 small carrots, 1/2 sweet pepper, 1 tbsp cold pressed coconut oil

Cracker recipe:
Process everything in the food processor. Spread onto dehydrator sheets in thin crackers(or oven at the lowest setting) and dehydrate until solid and crackery like consistency.

American cheeze ingredients:
raw macademia nuts, 1 small raw carrot, 2 cloves or more - a lot of garlic for the funkiness, sea salt and a pinch of turmeric

American cheeze recipe:
Process everything in the food processor until it's spreadable.

Top with sprouts or your favorite vegetable.

Breakfast Lab Pancake Sunday

2009-05-10T06:16:00.002-04:00

Imagine breakfast by robots - ingredients perfectly measured, no emotions, mechanical efficiency of a toaster magnified 100 times... getting your pancake cooked to a perfect crisp, just how you like it.

If you see me cook, with the ingredients spilling everywhere, and songs, and lots of arm waving, you'd think it would be dull watching a robot make okonomiyaki.

But I don't think so. Robots are cool.

(Sample okonomiyaki recipe here)

Green Eggs, No Ham.

2009-04-20T23:47:00.008-04:00

Say!
I like green eggs and ham!
I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat.
And I would eat them with a goat...

And I will eat them in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good, so good, you see!
-Dr.Seuss

Sadly I have no pig or ham,
no bacon or tofurky spam

But i do love green eggs, (no ham)
I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!

Ingredients
swiss chard
salt or dulse
eggs

Pulverize chard through a food processor until it is finely chopped, or chop it fine, until the pieces are smaller than the size of a 1/4 of a penny.

Crack open the eggs in a bowl, add the greens, and use a fork to incorporate them into the eggs, until it's a fine green mess. Add dulse.

Pour into a hot pan, cover and cook on low to medium heat.

Garnish with salsa if you like.

Breakfast Makeover: Celebrating Passover with Amazing Breakfasts (Part 3 of 3)

2009-04-14T21:48:00.000-04:00

It's getting close to the end of Passover. Tired of matza? How about creating a bread substitute that doesn't taste like matzah but doesn't have any leavening?

Raw cracker sandwich with kale and avocado

Crackers
1 cup Flax seeds
1/2 cup Almonds
1/2 cup Sunflower seeds
1/4 Walnuts
2 tbsp coconut butter
1 carrot
1/4 red pepper
1 tablespoon curry powder

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Spread on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate overnight or 8-10 hours.

Sandwich filling:
Avocado
Tomato
Kale
Cucumber

Add the filling in between 2 flax cracker breads to your taste and pleasure. Munch. Enjoy!

Breakfast Makeover: Celebrating Passover with Amazing Breakfasts (Part 2 of 3)

2009-04-12T06:56:00.000-04:00

It's day 5 or day 6 of Passover. Alas, even you lost count on this early rainy morning. You've stumbled into the kitchen in a morning daze looking for anything healthy and quick to grab -- and all you find are matzo crumbs and some wilted dill. The situation is dire. Thoughts of bagels and lox dance in your head as your rummage in the fridge.

No worries. Breakfast Lab is here to help. Grab a tomato, that wilted dill, a can of sardines or another kosher fish, and prepare to create a masterpiece. It's not exactly bagels or lox, but it's still very very good.

Stuffed tomato
Satisfying tomato wholesomeness holding a good protein source to give you energy and brain fuel for the entire morning. Great thing about stuffing things is that you can create your own unique stuffing and each time it will taste a little different.

What you need:
5 minutes
a spoon, a fork and a knife
1-2 tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped dill
1 can sardines or another fish
a few leaves of basil

Chop dill and basil. Mash fish into the chopped greens.

Cut the top off the tomato and cut out the insides. Stuff the fish mixture inside. Bite in and savor the deliciousness.

Breakfast Makeover: Celebrating Passover with Amazing Breakfasts (Part 1 of 3)

2009-04-06T23:31:00.001-04:00

I recently received this letter from Karen, who graciously agreed to get a Breakfast Makeover.

I have been on a quest to eat healthier. I just discovered some breakfasts that do keep me full until I am ready for lunch. I dont know if I really paid that kind of attention to my morning appetite. Since Passover is approaching my choices for eating a healthy & fulling breakfast will be significantly diminished.

I wont eat eggs or beans and I am moving away from eating dairy. I am not a particularly "big" meat eater. I will consider tuna as breakfast.

I wont be able to eat any grains (other than store bought matzoh. Will you or have you already written about what you would do during Passover?

Dear Karen, here is my first choice for a Passover breakfast. It makes me sing anytime I create it. Try to make it and see how you feel!

Purple Breakfast Shake

This is a delicious and energizing way to start any day, but especially so on Passover. Eating all that white flour matzoh, you need to keep your blood sugar levels even and this is just the thing.

The flax seeds add the brain boosting omega-3, blueberries provide antioxidants, kale is rich in cancer-protective substances and the almond butter on top serves as a great bonus Rorschach test. Try to figure out what I drew!

What you will need:
10 minutes (5 to prepare, 5 to eat, 5 to wash the blender)
food processor or blender
1 cup kale (I used my favorite purple/red kale)
1 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)
2-3 tablespoons of flax seeds
1/2 cup or more, almond milk (add as much as you need - less for thick, more for more watery shakes)
2 tbsp of almond butter

Process blueberries, flax, kale, 1 tbsp almond butter and milk in the food processor. Pour out into a cup and sprinkle the rest of almond butter on top. Savor slowly. It's so good.

More amazing Passover breakfasts to come tomorrow!

Do you have any suggestions for Karen in the meantime? Please post in the comments below.

Black (Forbidden) Rice Cereal

2009-03-29T12:15:00.000-04:00

Forbidden rice is a whole grain with a dark rich purple color, almost black. It has a slightly sweet chewy texture, good for puddings, desserts, and breakfast concoctions.

Black rice is rich in iron. If you have symptoms like pale skin, fatigue, irritability, dizziness, weakness, shortness of breath, sore tongue, brittle nails, decreased appetite and frontal headaches you might have an iron deficiency, in which case, this breakfast is a good way to begin your day.

Recipe
1 cup cooked black rice
1 cup of rice milk
1 teaspoon of agave syrup or dark molasses
cinnamon if you are not allergic to it

Combine all the ingredients together. Chow down.

How to cook rice:
1) Rinse rice until the water runs clear.
2) cover with water and soak the rice overnight
3) rinse the soaked rice again
4) place in a pan and cover with water -- about 2:1 ratio of water to rice
5) Boil, cover and reduce heat to the lowest setting possible.
6) cook for about 30 minutes.
7) try the rice -- if it's chewy and soft, it's ready

Breakfast Lab Video Series

2009-03-14T10:13:00.002-04:00

What is it like for musicians on the road? Take a peek into the life and tasty breakfast of Angel, a Dominican-born musician.

Recipe featured in this video: Mangu

This is a first installment of the Breakfast Lab Video Series - interviews with people from all walks of life about what makes their breakfast special.

If you would like to be profiled in the Breakfast Lab Video Series, please email breakfastlabnyc@gmail.com with your name, location and what makes your breakfast special.

You can also add comments and response videos to the timeline: just click on the + symbol above the timeline marker to add your thoughts.

Mangú - Traditional Dominican breakfast

2009-03-14T06:08:00.000-04:00

From Rossana Inez Rossi
This recipe feeds 2-3 people

This is what I like to call A Dominican Farmer’s Breakfast. I LOVED IT when my parents made me mangú with eggs on school mornings because I knew that was the day I wouldn’t be hungry at all before lunch.

And not only that -- Plantains are rich in Potassium, Vitamin C and contain compounds that are beneficial for people with ulcers - British Journal of Pharmacology: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1987262

You will need:
A pot
Sharp knife
Butter knife
Potato masher
Bowl
3 Green (unripe) plantains
1 Onion
Cooking oil
Olive oil
Vinegar (the kind you like best)
½ pot of water
Salt

Put half a pot of water to boil. Add a teaspoon or two of salt, or to your taste. (Don’t know your taste? Taste the water a minute after you’ve added the salt.)

Prepare the plantains by cutting off the ends, then cutting them in half. Cut these halves in half lengthwise. Use the butter knife to peel the skin off.

When all the plantains are peeled, put them in the hot/boiling water. Cook them at a low boil (med-high heat) until a knife or fork breaks them easily - about 10-15 minutes.

While the plantains are boiling: slice the onion. Put the rounds in a bowl, and cover them with vinegar - about ¼ cup. Now, in a frying pan, heat up the oil. When it’s hot, add the onions and vinegar. Cover the pan to prevent the popping sparks from flying out. Check on them! Saute the onions, stirring every so often, cooking them over medium flame until they are soft or turn light brown. Turn off the heat.

When the plantains are done, pour about ¾ of the water into a bowl. Mash them up until they are soft –you’ll need to add some of the plantain-water as you’re mashing to make them nice and soft – like mashed potatoes, but stiffer.

Serve the plantains and drizzle the sautéed onions on top.

Yummy!

Dominicans traditionally eat this with:

Scrambled eggs

Sliced sausages: Cook them first (do not add oil, they have enough fat on their own), and cook the onions with them

Do you Believe Corn Syrup TV Commercials?

2009-02-22T13:16:00.017-05:00

Lucky Charms, cereal for kids: whole grain oats, sugar, modified corn starch, corn syrup, dextrose, gelatin, yellow 5&6, blue 1, red 40. Artificial flavor. Sugar. Oat flour. corn syrup. corn starch. salt. trisodium phosphate, color added, artificial flavor. vitamin E added to preserve freshness. + vitamins

Have you seen the latest tv commercials from the Corn Refiners Association in United States?

Here's a brief synopsis of one: A kid is having cereal for breakfast. His brother joins him and calls the kid a doofus because he's eating cereal with corn syrup. The kid with the cereal retorts with So What? and several great reasons for eating corn syrup. His brother steals the cereal bowl from the kid and starts to devour it.

Cute commercial. Alas, I have no money and no access to kid actors to make my own commercial about corn syrup, so instead, I collected some info about why I think consuming corn syrup is NOT a good idea for breakfast or any other meal.

Fact from the commercials: "Corn syrup is made from corn" and "is natural"
High Fructose Corn Syrup is manufactured from corn starch in vats using genetically modified enzymes.

Did you know? Corn syrup is banned in Europe.
On top of that, some corn syrup is manufactured using mercury-grade caustic soda and is routinely contaminated by mercury. Mercury accumulates in the body, and is especially damaging to women and their future children, as it causes brain damage and lowered IQ in the fetus. Granted, the amounts are small, but -- read it again -it accumulates in the body.

And what food was tested to have more mercury levels than any other from the study? Quaker Oatmeal to Go

Source: Not So Sweet: Mercury in HCFS (A Study by Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy, published January 2009)

Fact from the commercial: It's nutritionally the same as sugar
True. Both sugar and high fructose are refined sugar mixtures - primarily glucose and fructose.

But why is fructose so bad? Cells in our body can metabolize glucose, but only the liver can metabolize fructose. Because it is metabolized by the liver, fructose does not cause the pancreas to release insulin the way the body normally does, and fructose converts to fat more than any other sugar.

Unlike fruits, which have fructose packaged with vitamins, minerals and fiber, refined sugars like corn syrup leech the body of nutrients in order to digest it and metabolize it.

Source: Weston A. Price Foundation and The Double Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup

Nephrologists (kidney specialists) at the University of Florida, found that fructose consumption raised blood levels of uric acid, which can foster “metabolic syndrome,” a condition of insulin resistance and abdominal obesity associated with heart disease and diabetes.

Source: The Endocrine Society

Translation: There is a link between diabetes and fructose consumption.

Fact from the commercial: It's natural
To me, natural means: Present in or produced by nature. Genetically modified foods created in vats by scientists are not natural. You will not find corn syrup oozing out of corn.

Fact from the commercials: It's just fine in moderation
Anything is fine in moderation, even cyanide, but the reality is that corn syrup is in so many foods that it requires constant vigilance to detect it -- it's in ketchup, in "healthy" energy bars, in cereals, in bread crumbs, in "healthy" salad dressings, in cookies, in sausage, and of course, in so many beverages.

Here's another interesting study that demonstrates that corn syrup, when combined with carbonated beverages, is not innocuous at all:
"Researchers have found new evidence that soft drinks sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may contribute to the development of diabetes, particularly in children. In a laboratory study of commonly consumed carbonated beverages, the scientists found that drinks containing the syrup had high levels of reactive compounds that have been shown by others to have the potential to trigger cell and tissue damage that could cause the disease, which is at epidemic levels."
Source: Press release by the American Chemical Society

Want to eat something natural? Try these tasty breakfasts:
Garbanzo Wonder Salad
Bacteria Breakfast! Kefir with Cranberry Walnut Pecan Raisin Trail Mix
Açai Fruit Smoothie
Winter Red Quinoa with Wild Berry Tea

Photo by headexplodie used under the Creative Commons license

Winter Red Quinoa with Wild Berry Tea

2009-02-21T08:47:00.012-05:00

Chewy and warm with fragrant notes of sweet and sour dried wild berries, this breakfast is nourishing and highly satisfying on a cold winter day.

When you need strength and warmth, the best thing for breakfast is a hearty warm grain. The Scots have their oat groats, which have been known to warm the soul on a foggy cold morning and we all know how good they are for us. (That is, of course, if you don't have an oat allergy.)

And then there's quinoa! Ancient people gathered quinoa in the high altitude plains of Peru's Andes, Bolivia and Equador and thrived in those harsh living conditions. And no wonder - quinoa is a complete protein that rivals other grains in nutrition.

What you will need:
a pot and stove
1 cup of organic red quinoa
2 cups water
1 tablespoon or 2 teabags of wild berry tea or hibiscus tea.*
1 teaspoon of dried mint

Soak quinoa overnight and rinse in the morning. Place in a pot with water, mint and tea on the stove on medium-high heat until boiling. It will look like this:

Reduce heat to low and cover. Set timer for 15 minutes and do whatever else you like. Come back in 15 minutes and take off heat -- drain water and serve.

You can also enjoy it with milk or milk substitute.

* If you are lucky enough to find a cheap wild berry tea in an international / specialty market, all the better. I usually buy a Polish wild berry tea in a Russian store here in NYC. If you are lucky enough to have tea or markets like that nearby, good! If not, any dried wild herbal tea or even hibiscus tea would do.

Purple Kale Wraps: Raw Food is Delicious

2009-02-18T07:02:00.005-05:00

I dreamt of this Spring-inspired breakfast on an unusually warm February morning. I miss springtime -- and salty seaweed, fresh sour-sweet tomatoes, smooth avocado and crunchy sprouts inside a kale leaf smell like spring, taste like spring and if I close my eyes I can pretend it is spring.

What you will need:
5 purple kale leaves
1 tomato
1 avocado
dulse and sprouts to taste

Wrap all the ingredients inside a kale leaf. You're done. Quick and easy.

If you are not used to a lot of raw food, especially in the morning, add a healthy salad dressing to the inside of the wrap. I myself love garlicky dressings on these, but not everyone is brave enough to eat garlic in the morning.

Customize your Breakfast Cereal

2009-02-12T22:27:00.002-05:00

I'm a big sucker for customizing my own food. Usually I do it through cooking or buying my own ingredients, but there's something special about getting a box of cereal that is uniquely yours.

MyMuesli has 75 organic ingredients to mix together and uses no additives or sugar. Pretty cool if you ask me...

Tomorrow is a special pre-Valentines day post with an actual recipe. I promise!

How Long Does Healing Take?

2009-02-08T06:00:00.002-05:00

A month or so ago, Seth Godin commented on the concept of success and Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Outliers in his blog.

The main two points that he brought up are:
-> Where you're born and when you're born have an enormous amount to do with whether or not you're successful.
-> Becoming a superstar takes about 10,000 hours of hard work.

Even though that particular blog post dealt with the idea of extraordinary public recognition as success, what a great concept for people interested in becoming healthier, especially people ravaged by chronic disease. It's an especially interesting concept for me at the Breakfast Lab.

People in the alternative health world are very familiar with a "healing crisis" or a "plateau" -- this is where most people get discouraged and quit. Making a recovery through food and lifestyle changes is hard work. What does it take to truly recover? Is it an open mind? Curiosity? Patience? Hours of hard work? Support from family and close friends?

Knowing that it doesn't take a day, what would it take you now to become a healthy superstar? Are you willing to put in 10,000 hours and push through the self-doubt?

Here's a question out there for people in the blogosphere: how many hours have you put into becoming healthy? How much support have you had? And what enables you to go on?

Since I believe in small steps, one in front of the other, here are some suggestions of small changes that you might want to add to your morning routine to start on the path to a healthier you:

# Drink tea instead of coffee

# Eat 3 carrots before you have your morning pastry

# Switch from white to whole grain bread

# Use fresh fruit instead of processed jelly on your peanut butter & jelly sandwich

# Practice drinking a glass of water and waiting for 3 minutes before eating that thing you know you 'shouldn't have'

# Chew your food, 30-50 times a bite. Take the time to really enjoy it and revel in the flavor.

Seth Godin's post

Malcolm Gladwell's book the Outliers: Story of Success

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Apple Pancake Balls

2009-02-05T06:00:00.003-05:00

A delicious no lactose breakfast treat, these baked apple pancake balls are made with whole grain brown rice flour. Unlike white rice, brown rice is highly nutritious - especially full of manganese, B6, niacin and magnesium. Combination of these nutrients is especially good for the morning, as they help relax the muscles and support the health of the nervous system.

Ingredients
2 apples
1 egg
1 - 1.5 cups rice flour
pinch of lavender, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg
1/2 cup of cranberries
1/4 cup walnuts

Shred the apples or cut apples in small cubes. Add flour, egg, lavender, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cranberries and walnuts in a bowl and mix until you form a sticky batter.

Once dough is ready, shape into small balls with cranberries in the middle. The size should be about a tablespoon or smaller. Drop onto a hot pan for baking (20-30 min 325 deg F), or steamer for about 10 minutes or until they look and taste ready.

This is how the balls look steamed: (Please be aware that they will be gooey, because apple gets softer as it heats up.)

Do You Think Oats are Sexy? Rude Health thinks so

2009-01-08T13:02:00.032-05:00

"Morning Glory...contains organic British oats which the makers claim 'enhances libido by re-balancing oestrogen and testosterone levels to help keep your stamina up all morning'....

Previous medical studies show oats can improve sex drive, help hangovers, prevent heart disease, fight infections, heal skin and even help smokers to quit because they have a calming effect on the nervous system." - via Scottsman

True. Steady blood sugar from oats (in a good breakfast) gives energy to frolic and makes a mind feel good and balanced. And feeling good makes everyone else feel good. And isn't love about feeling good? Wouldn't it be funny if breakfast is all it took to help us reach world peace?

Conversely, with no food in the belly, people tend to make poor choices, get cranky and suffer from that mid-morning energy crash.

A recent study in Japan points to the differences between teens who have breakfast and those who don't: teens who don't have breakfast tend to get pregnant much earlier and have worse relationships with their parents than teens who eat a meal in the morning. Crankiness and poor choices indeed.

Which factor affects the other? Is it the bad family environment or the way teens feel inside? While we can debate forever, I'm going to stick with my healthy breakfast.

Funny, isn't it? All it takes is a little oats. And some loving.

I don't have any recipes with me today, but check out www.rudehealth.com for some oat recipes.

Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
http://www.rudehealth.com/

Milky Goodness! Choosing the Right Milk Substitute

2009-01-06T06:00:00.003-05:00

Photo by Gwire used under the Creative Commons license

Hitler's breakfast usually consisted of a glass of milk and 2 slices of dry bread. The internets told me.

That is not to say milk is bad because Hitler enjoyed it. I can't blame him for that, afterall... If you've ever tried dipping crispy fresh bread into milk, and biting in, you know what I'm talking about -- the soggy smooth pleasure mushing inside your mouth, the textures and the taste - satisfying milky smooth taste.

But milk can also play havoc on the human body - from digestion, increased cancer risk, to that whole dioxin thing.* And with milk substitutes and the real thing's popularity increasing worldwide, what's the best and healthiest choice for our morning's cereal?

This is Part 1 of 5 of the Breakfast Lab milk series which examines milk substitutes available today.

Part 1: Almond milk
Popular since the Middle Ages, when it was called Almond Mylk, almond milk keeps fresh longer than cow milk, and is a rich source of vitamin E and magnesium, nutrients that are vital to human health.

Good for lactose-intolerant or gluten-intolerant people, for general brain and heart support

Bad for people with nut allergies

Sample Recipe: Spiced Raisin Almond Milk
1 cup ground almonds (please do NOT use bitter almonds.)
3-4 cups water
(if you want to make more, keep a ratio of about 1:3)
soaked raisins
cinnamon, nutmeg, salt if you need it

Grind almonds and raisins in a food processor or a mortar if you want to go medieval. Pour water in the almonds. Let stand for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sieve or finish pureeing until smooth in a blender. Add spices to taste. If it's too bland, add a tiny pinch of salt.

(If you sieve, you can use the remaining almond putty for other recipes, like breakfast cake.)

You can also find almond milk in health food stores and online. I like Pacific Natural Foods brand and Blue Diamond Brand unsweetened milk but they don't stand up to homemade.

Homemade spice: about $3 / 4 cups
Pacific Brand: about $4 / 4 cups
Blue Diamond Brand: about $3.50 / 4 cups

What do you like about Almond milk? Have you ever made any interesting flavors? Please share. :)

* More Reading:
Cancer Prevention Coalition
Weston A. Price Foundation
Harvard School of Public Health
www.notmilk.com
www.nomilk.com

Special Holiday Treat! Cranberry / Strawberry Dairy Free Gluten Free Cake with Chocolate Brownie Nut Crust

2008-12-20T06:00:00.007-05:00

If you have any type of dietary restriction, you know what it's like to stare with longing at a trans-fat-laden chocolate-covered high-fructose-corn-syrup infused monstrocity being devoured by relatives/friends/significant others and having none.

It sucks being the "special one," while everyone is eating to excess in drunken holiday mirth, even though it's pretty clear the cake won't be very good if you have it. And after that, you will either be suffering from a belly ache, headache, depression or other symptoms of sugar overload.

This gluten-free/dairy-free cake masterpiece is a favorite in any house I bring it to. Make it and become the brilliant cook instead of a weirdo with a dietary restriction. And then, of course, you can have it for breakfast, if there's anything left, that is...

Recipe
1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 or 2 fresh apples
3-4 tablespoons of agar agar
2 tablespoons of kuzu starch
1 package of gluten-free brownies
1-2 cups of nuts
cinnamon, allspice and dried mint
1 tablespoon of honey or agave syrup

Make the nut shell:
Combine brownies and nuts in a food processor until mixture is even and easy to work with. (should be like play-doh consistency, or a bit stickier. Line a mold or some kind of pan with wax paper (or aluminum foil) and spread the mixture over the paper, forming a shell.

Alternatives for the nut shell:
Another (vegan) option is to skip the pre-made brownie, and try combining nuts with dried fruit, like prunes, apricots, dates or soaked figs. You can also add raw chocolate for that chocolate kick.

Make the mousse filling:
Boil strawberries, cranberries and apples in a pot. Add spices to taste or until a nice smell has traveled through the whole kitchen. When cranberries are cooked, add agar agar. Add kuzu to cold water to dissolve and then add kuzu water to the pot.

Take out half of the fruits and puree them in the food processor. Add it back to the pot. Stir. Pour into your brownie shell.

Stick it in the fridge to set. Should set in 2-4 hours.

For other brilliant variations, see

Passover Blueberry-Prune Cake
Raw Hazelnut Carrot Cake

Garbanzo Wonder Salad

2008-12-15T06:00:00.008-05:00

My favorite breakfast. It is. This salad has a lot of complex carbohydrates and protein, so instead of falling prey to the mid-morning "feed me!" stomach grumble, I last until lunch.

It's also chock full of amazing nutritious properties -- take dill, for example. Did you know that it contains oils that help neutralize benzopyrenes that are part of cigarette smoke? If you're living in the city, this breakfast will help protect your body from free radical damage.

Chickpea Salad Recipe
2 cups cooked chickpeas (also known as garbanzo bean)
1/2 onion
1 cup red cabbage
1-1/2 cup fresh dill or parsley herbs
sesame seed oil or olive oil to taste

Combine chickpeas with diced onion, cabbage and herbs. Sprinkle oil. Eat. Enjoy. Delicious, right?

makes 4 servings
total cost: $2

Warm Healing Breakfast: Pumpkin Soup

2008-12-08T06:00:00.002-05:00

Cold winter days bring wind and snow and sneezing. Lots of it. But I'm not worried -- I have this soup to soothe me on the days I have a sore throat, warm me on the days the icy winds blow and heal me with its immune-boosting Vitamin A, C, beta-carotine and potassium.

Simple Pumpkin Soup Recipe
1/4 of a pumpkin
1 onion
enough water to cover the chopped pumpkin (around 1.5 quarts)
cinnamon, sea salt, pepper to taste

Sautee onions in pan. Peel and cut pumpkin, and throw into a pot with water on high heat. Boil. Add browned onions to the pot with pumpkins and reduce heat to medium. Let it percolate on the stove for 45 minutes or until the pumpkin is falling apart.

Puree the ingredients, add cinnamon or other spices and slurp the sweet deliciousness.

This is a simple recipe of course. You can spice it up, add more vegetables for a more complex flavor or substitute pumpkin with other winter squashes for variety.

Pot of organic pumpkin soup was around $6 and lasted 3 days.