Category Archives: Breakfast

Food in technocolor

January 23, 2012 4:16 pmLeave a Comment

Our food has never been so colorful. So full of flavor. We recently watched the documentary Forks Over Knives (wow, I just now get what the title means. Am I the most clueless person ever? I’m thinking yes. Forks over knives. Eat food that requires use of forks instead of knives. Ie: veggies are better than meat.. duh. Makes total sense now. Geez…).

Where was I? Oh yes, we watched that documentary and found it fascinating and just a bit exciting. Not that I’m going to hold to that philosophy in its entirety. We still eat meat and will continue to do so but I’ve cut back in the amount and upped our veggie intake even further.

colorful food!
excuse the photos – taken in a hurry with my iPhone

Look at that plate filled with glorious color. It’s like a painting. Red, green, orange, black, yellow, purple. Vibrant colors that are just bursting with flavor. So much more welcoming to the taste buds than bland rice or a bowl of oatmeal. And infinitely better for you.

Our breakfasts typically look something like this: sliced zucchini, green peppers, sweet peppers, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, black olives, yellow squash, etc. Some days I’ll scramble some eggs over the top or like today, we’ll have some diced up ham. Toss it all in a frying pan with coconut oil and you have a meal that satisfies for hours (we ate 6 hours ago and I’m just now making dinner… I’m hungry but certainly not *starving to death*) and is so chock full of good health, it should come with a prescription. Or at the very least, a brownie point. (mmm.. brownies… best not to go there)

It will take some time for us to arrive at our permanent way of eating. There is so much information out there that one could literally follow a new whole-food diet of some kind or another every day and not run out of different viewpoints over months of doing this. For us, it boils down to several important facts.

1. Whole foods only.

2. Emphasis on fresh vegetables.

3. No processed food. No sugar. No soy. No dairy, corn, gluten (of course), grains of any kind, legumes, potatoes. No natural sugars (honey, agave – horribly allergic to that anyway – and the like). No artificial sweeteners or sugar-subs.

I have learned to love fruit again. I made a list of all the low-glycemic fruits and we have small bowls at breakfast and then for dessert after dinner. Berries, oranges, grapes. Delicious. Fresh. Healthy.

colorful food!
And look at the color. That is real food, folks. Good for you and great tasting. Is it any wonder that I now wake up in the morning craving my breakfast fry-up of assorted veggies? Yum.

(Those sweet peppers are like candy. Crunchy, sweet, bursting with garden-fresh flavor. Nom. Nom.)

Posted in breakfast, chit chat, fruit, vegetables

Egg Scrambles with Veggies

January 9, 2012 11:29 amLeave a Comment

What to eat for breakfast? For many people looking to eliminate things from their diet, this creates a definite quandary and is likely possible for failure before even leaving the starting gate. Breakfast for the typical person consists of one or more of the following: cereal, oatmeal, toast, pancakes, waffles, french toast, muffins, breakfast bars, breakfast shakes, cheese omelettes, etc. Nothing that is even remotely allowed on a diet that removes basically all of that.

For years, we’ve enjoyed an egg-based breakfast that typically included dairy, potatoes, and some form of cured ham. Then when the diabetes news came in, I eliminated potatoes – getting closer, but still not quite there.

Now breakfast consists of eggs, a huge pile of veggies, homemade sausage, and a bit of fruit. Oh, and fat in the way of either scrambling it into the eggs or as coconut oil hollandaise over the top (oh, so yum!).

I was concerned about our morning omelettes and scrambles – how could we live without cheese? We both love cheese. Adore it. The stinkier the better. Extra sharp cheddars. Feta. Swiss. You name it – I’ve put it in our eggs for years. But since dairy is now out, I had to switch my thinking. No cheese but more veggies. Different veggies. Things I might never have put into eggs before.

The possibilities are quite endless. Here is just a sampling of the different vegetables you could put into breakfast.
zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, peppers, spinach, tomatoes, onions (if you eat these – we do not), broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snow peas, celery, etc, etc, etc

Here is an example. Today’s breakfast had mushrooms, orange peppers (so sweet and flavorful), cherry tomatoes (litte explosions of yumminess), spinach. Topped with the coconut hollandaise. Served with a few grapes, fresh sliced pineapple, and a nice homemade sausage patty (sugar and additive free – recipe coming soon).

This could not be easier. Whip several eggs in a good size bowl and salt/pepper as desired. Chop veggies and toss them into the eggs. You don’t even need to stir them up. Just set it aside. In a large frying pan, heat a few tablespoons of the oil of your choice (suggested oils would be coconut, avocado, macadamia, olive, other nut oils) and once hot, dump in the contents of the bowl. Stir constantly to avoid scorching and to fluff up the eggs. Once cooked through – serve. That’s it! Easy, delicious, healthy. The best kind of meal to start your day.

yummy breakfast

Posted in breakfast, comfort food, vegetables