Breakfast, they say, is the most important meal of the day. This is totally true for me; I’ve always needed a full breakfast to get me going since I’m not a morning person. A complete breakfast, thanks to the cereal ads of our childhood, conjures up images of 2 margerined slices of white wonder bread, a tall glass of orange juice, a bowl of sugar-laden, extruded grain cereal, and perhaps eggs and bacon of some kind. I’ll keep the latter, and replace the sugar/grain component with some more filling, lower-calorie, nutrient-dense foods!
I give Rachel Albert-Matesz all the credit for enlightening me to the notion of how to eat a complete, healthy, grain-free breakfast, from her amazing book The Garden of Eating. She offers a simple breakdown of proteins, veggies, and fruit. The way I interpret this is:
25% protein
50% vegetable (half starchy, half non-starchy, but include leafy greens!)
25% fruit
On fasting days when we don’t eat meat, I emphasize the fruit and vegetable and just make sure I stock up on protein the other days of the week.
Here are a few ideas, inspired by The Garden of Eating, for grain-free, wholesome breakfasts:
*scrambled eggs with leftover veggies and apple slices
*bacon and fried eggs with broccoli and oranges
*hard-boiled egg, sardines, leftover vegetable soup, grapes
*nitrate-free apple sausage with cooked butternut squash, butter, honey
*smoked salmon-egg scramble with roasted asparagus and blueberries
*almond butter pancakes topped with raspberries
*herbed hamburger patty with sauteed greens and apples
And my favorite, which is displayed in the photo above, is:
scrambled eggs topped with cortido (Latin American sauerkraut), green onions, raw cheese, and salsa, with a side of collard greens and orange slices. Delish!!
Some tips for eating breakfast:
*Upon rising, drink a tall glass of lemon water or a lacto-fermented beverage. I love to drink a glass of coconut kefir first thing. It really enlivens me.
*Take your cod liver oil next.
*If you must do coffee, please partake after you have hydrated yourself with good-quality water as mentioned above. When we awaken, our bodies are relatively dehydrated from the night’s hard work of digesting, repairing, and detoxifying. Since coffee is so acidic and dehydrating, it’s very contracting and therefore not the best thing first thing in the morning.
*I love to enjoy a tablespoon of coconut oil (the best price is here) melted into a cup of herbal tea. I try to take this about 20 min. before I eat breakfast in order to prevent over-eating. I sip on this as I make breakfast.
*I usually use leftover veggies from the previous nights’ dinners to accompany eggs for breakfasts. This is a great way to use up leftovers.
*Soups make very filling and nourishing breakfasts. They are great when you’re missing that piping hot bowl of oatmeal.
What are your favorite, nourishing breakfasts? Please feel free to leave a comment!
Strong flavours are difficult for me to come at first thing in the morning. My stomach just turns at the thought. Poached eggs with a side of mushrooms or yoghurt and fresh fruit are usually what ends up on my plate.
What great ideas! We eat a lot of fruits and eggs and fermented salsas with our breakfasts too. But I never thought to scramble in smoked salmon or serve with something like collard greens. With those additions, your breakfast is much more like something I’d serve for lunch. Interesting!
Yeah, my breakfasts are more like brunches! It’s strange because I have such an appetite in the morning, but I totally understand that there are those need something simple in the morning! I guess it all depends upon what we’re doing with our day
I often eat veggies for breakfast or have an otherwise savory start to the day, or a meal without grains. It’s great to have alternatives when one is off grains (in my case, for an anti-candida diet). I’ve just posted a recipe for Grain Free Lemony Almond Pancakes as well, if you’re interested!