Good Morning,

So, as promised, let’s get back to breakfast and how I do it.
In yesterday’s post, My Vegan breakfast (Part One) I mentioned that I start my day with a freshly made fruit juice.
Sometimes I follow a recipe, sometimes it is my own concoction, based on my imagination and limited only by what I have sitting in my fridge and my fruit bowl.
Oranges and Apples
Greens and Fruit
Fruits
Veggies

 
 
 

And then there is the coffee with the whipped almond milk-so good!!

So what is next? Well, I have a few options from which I choose at the moment. I choose what I feel like having, which I think is a good way to do things for me as long as variety is a consideration.

Brown Rice and Toasted Almonds

Very tasty any time of the day!

I will begin by sharing with youhow this breakfast came to be. Four years ago, around this time of year, I developed a chronic, fairly severe digestive problem that would just not go away. I will spare you the details of my symptoms (LOL!!), but I will tell you that I visited my family doctor, a naturopathic doctor and a gastroenterologist.
After quite a few conversations with these esteemed professionals, as well as the dreaded colonoscopy, we settled on an acceptable diagnosis-antibiotic induced IBS. In other words, the antibiotics I had taken twice for a  bronchial and lung infection  had compromised my gut.
 
Long story short, the naturopath recommended a few changes and amongst them was a new breakfast for me.
 Brown Rice with Coconut Oil, topped with a few Toasted Almonds. I cannot remember why she recommended this specifically, but this, along with the other suggestions cleared up my symptoms in fairly short order.
I had forgotten about this breakfast until fairly recently (not sure why), but I have  put it back on the menu. I season with a little salt and pepper, heat it up in the microwave and voila, breakfast is ready. It is nutritious, filling and yummy.
Sounds like a lot of work, you say-not at all, I say. Cook up a pot of rice at the beginning of the week and keep it in your fridge fora myriad of uses-breakfast bowl, stir fries, rice patties, soup, rice pudding and on and on…
How to make rice!- 2 parts liquid (water, veggie stock, coconut milk) to one part whole grain or wild rice-rinse rice to remove some of the surface starch, checking for debris like unshelled rice, then put ingredients together in a saucepan (I use one with vents in the lid. It is not foolproof, but helps to keep the contents from overflowing),
Bring to a boil and then turn down to a slow simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes. When it looks like there is no liquid left, use a fork to move a bit of the rice away from the side of the pan to check for any liquid that may be hiding near the bottom of the pan.
 Cook for another 5 minutes or so, if necessary and then if the rice is good to go, remove from the heat and let stand covered for ten minutes. Fluff up with a fork and season if you wish. 
It will keep for quite a few days in the fridge.
General rule is that one part dry rice will double in size when cooked.

Keep the almonds on hand too.

Toasted Nuts and Seeds- Place nuts in a skillet (I like to us a cast iron skillet, but this is a matter of personal choice), being careful not to overfill. You want the nuts to have enough room to toast on all sides.
 Start out on medium heat, but turn to low when nuts start to brown a little. Nuts and seeds tend to burn quickly, so this is a job that needs watching. You can try to eat the burned bits if you like, but I find them quite acrid.
 Stir gently to avoid breaking soft nuts and pour into a container to  when they are ready. If you leave them in the skillet, they will continue to cook and will, most certainly, burn.
Pretty huh! I like to store my toasted nuts and seeds on the counter, so I toast only the amount that I think I will need in the next few days. Also, a word to the wise, toasted nuts are very tasty and make a great snack, so if you have a nut gremlin in the house and need your toasted nuts for a specific purpose, do not hide them in plain sight…just saying!!!

 

Fruit and Veggie Smoothie
I love a Smoothie in the morning and even in the afternoon and sometimes in the evening. They are easy to make, portable, nutritious, colourful and the list goes on.
Now, over the years I have fiddled around with Smoothie recipes.-In the beginning they were made with fruit and almond or soy milk and that is about it. My daughter would sing the praises of using water instead of a nut milk and adding flax seed (for  omega-3) as well as some type of greens. With some resistance, I finally tried this one day at her home and found it to be too thick, too sludgy tasting and not good at all. What I realized, after some contemplation, is that the real issue for me was the thickness of her Smoothies, not the ingredients. Quick fix for me-add more liquid.

Grammie Annie’s Go To Green Smoothie Recipe
One banana (needs to be ripe)
2 cups or so of greens (spinach, romaine, kale or whatever strikes your fancy)
1 cup liquid (I use water or coconut water, but nut milks are great too)
1 cup frozen fruit (I like the peach, strawberry, pineapple, grape mix)
2 tbsp. ground flax seed
Sometimes I add 2 Tbsp raw cocoa powder, leftover silken tofu, cinnamon to taste, leftover pumpkin puree… you get the picture.
Lettuce begin!! LOL!
Put banana pieces and greens in blender along with liquid. Whir until blended-sometimes I need to use the pulse button to get this done.
Then… add the frozen fruit and whir until smooth-you may hear a bit of clanking and clunking, but don’t be afraid, this is just the fruit resisting the pureeing process. When all is quiet and the smoothie is smooth add the flax seed and whir just until combined. and about the flaxseed….
I keep my whole flaxseed in the freezer. When I am out of ground, I take my handy dandy coffee grinder, fill the bowl with flax seed, and grind until…

 

it looks like this. I store the ground flax seed in a small container in the fridge and use it until I need to grind some more. Sometimes I run out of ground and am in a hurry (like, I mean out the door yesterday with my smoothie in hand) so I will use flax oil. I admit, I like the taste of my smoothie better with the flax oil, but because I am adhering to a whole food, plant based diet (emphasis on whole), I use the oil only in a time crunch.
LeftUnders
 When my son was living at home as a teenager and young adult, he would often have last night’s supper for breakfast. I found this so odd and unappetizing to boot. Out from the fridge would come the chili, the stew, the pasta sauce, the  mashed potatoes (my son’s favourite food).
But I have had the chance to think about this and although I have not done a lot of travelling in my life and have not searched this topic extensively, I do believe that we are one of the few cultures to have specific breakfast foods-usually not healthy ones at that.
 Many cultures eat similar foods for all of their meals. So, because I eat many more whole foods than I used to, the idea started to become much more appealing to me.

So, how about last nite’s supper for breakfast?

..the remainder of the rice that was in the cute purple bowl, along with roasted parsnips and carrots, topped with cashew sour cream. And you know what?–I loved it.
 GRAMMIE ANNIE’S VEGAN VIEW
 
A whole food, plant based diet can open up a whole new  view of what food is and can be for all of us. If you would like to try some of these foods out, or are already doing so and would like to know the easiest way to do it, follow some of my handy tips for managing in the kitchen. You will see that this way of eating does not have to include time consuming prep.
Let’s  break out of the  limiting breakfast lunch, dinner mode. Have lunch and supper  leftunders for breakfast, fruit filled oatmeal (my grand-chiblets love this) and pancakes for supper, beans and rice for breakfast. There is no wrong or right way to do it. The main thing is to eat healthy food and to enjoy!!!!
Until next time,
May all beings be happy and free.
Anne
MY VEGAN BREAKFAST(PART TWO)

2 thoughts on “MY VEGAN BREAKFAST(PART TWO)

  • January 19, 2014 at 7:46 pm
    Permalink

    So much helpful information! I have been contemplating using other grains besides oatmeal in the morning – particularly maybe quinoa, or things like flax, hemp, etc. Any ideas on how to do it, or if it’s good?

    Reply
  • January 20, 2014 at 12:17 pm
    Permalink

    Glad you find the info helpful-thanks. I have seen some recipes for quinoa porridge, but have not tried them. Offhand, I am thinking that quinoa cooked in coconut milk, dates and other dried fruits, then topped with walnuts might be very tasty. I am not that familiar with hemp and don’t know about cooked flaxseed-something to look into!

    Reply

Leave a Reply