McBreakfast vs Madam Breakfast

Seattle Times reports on Fast Food giants fighting over breakfast market share. While Wendzilla and Rodan McD are battling it out over you and your money, here are my top five reasons for choosing homemade:

1) Homemade can be just as quick. Really, how long does it take to mix some fruit into oatmeal? Or peel a banana? Or grab some nuts?

2) Rats. Cockroaches. Teenagers cooking your food for minimum wage. In other words, stuff happens:

"In a Chicago Wendy’s, inspectors found dead rodent decomposing on a rat trap. At a California Taco Bell, someone bit into a taco, only to find chewing gum. An inspector in Texas found a worm in a Wendy’s salad. At a Hardee’s in Florida, a customer was handed a cup of soda with blood dripping from it. There was blood on her change as well. The list goes on. A cockroach in someone’s soda, a sharp metal object in a man’s sandwich." Dirty dining? ‘Dateline’ hidden cameras investigate cleanliness of America’s top 10 fast food chains

3) You are what you eat. And in case of fast food, you are a cocktail of flavor chemicals created by flavor chemists. An imitation, if you will. Eating real whole food will create real healthy cells. That's a promise.

4) Science. "Eating at Fast-food Restaurants More than Twice Per Week is Associated with More Weight Gain and Insulin Resistance in Otherwise Healthy Young Adults" What a mouthful. Bad pun so totally intended.

5) Better relationships. Eat together, stay together. Slowing down to chew, to laugh, to talk and actually enjoy your breakfast makes all the difference.

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Corn Bread Part Deux - A Very Aztec Breakfast

"Ceremony of Huitzilopochtli, Aztec God of Sun and War
People fasted, or ate very little; a statue of the god was made with amaranth (huautli) seeds and honey, and at the end of the month, it was cut into small pieces so everybody could eat a little piece of the god." - Wikipedia


While this is not exactly the ceremonial bread of the Aztecs, I am still trying to perfect this experiment, so that at least it smells of the legendary city Aztlán.

In any case, here's part deux:
1 cup of whole grain corn flour
1 cup of amaranth flour
2 eggs
+ water
+ agave syrup or honey

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and add water until dough is of pour-able consistency, but not too liquid. Pour into a pan and bake at 400F for 25-30 minutes.

Voila. Tasty, tasty bread. Very good for lifting your spirits and energy, due to a good amount of thiamine in corn, which maintains body energy supplies, coordinates the activity of nerves and muscles and supports heart function. Amaranth also has a good amount of iron which enhances oxygen distribution and helps body produce energy. Great stuff to know when you need to greet the sun with a battle cry.

Allergy warning: some people might be allergic to corn.

This recipe is shamelessly adapted from a book called The Aztec Way to Healthy Eating by Sonja Atkinson. Buy this book, it's awesome.

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Breakfast Threads

It used to be, every morning, dressed like Smeagol, I'd crawl downstairs to devour my breakfast. But now I discovered these shirts, and my breakfast will never be the same.

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Corn "Bread"

3/4 cup amaranth
3/4 cup whole grain corn flour
2 eggs
water to make medium dough
optional cinnamon and/or honey to taste

Combine ingredients and mix until you have dough. Pour into a pan and cook at 400 F for 25-35 minutes.

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