Breakfast Tea for Balancing Blood Sugar

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.

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Patty Pan Squash and Artichoke Saute for Breakfast

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.

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Strawberry Breakfasts are in Season

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.)

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

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.

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Mangú - Traditional Dominican breakfast

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

1. 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.)


2. 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.


3. 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.




4. 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.
   


5. 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.
   


6. Serve the plantains and drizzle the sautéed onions on top.


7. 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

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Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Apple Pancake Balls

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.)

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Milky Goodness! Choosing the Right Milk Substitute

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

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Garbanzo Wonder Salad

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

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Warm Healing Breakfast: Pumpkin Soup

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.

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Help! I Can't Have any Butter or Cheese. What Do I Eat With My Sandwich?

My mother, a woman who glorifies nutrition and gives unwanted health lectures to my cat and random strangers, has yet to let go of her habitual coffee with a cheese sandwich in the morning. I suspect she has paid for her wanton ways with unstable blood pressure, general crankiness, nervousness and insane arthritis.*

While it's hard to change our habits, especially if we have been doing the same thing for decades, it's easier to ease into it slowly, substituting one thing, and slowly training our tongue to new and exciting flavors.

This is the first post of my most loved, tasty and easy "butter"/"cheese" substitutions, with my mother's reactions as she tries all of them.

Spreading on a sandwich:

1) Avocado
It is smooth and creamy and fatty, just the right consistency as butter. And yes, avocado does pack about 300 calories per fruit, most of which is fat. We do need healthy fats, though, so slather on.

Mom loved it. In fact, she said it was better than cheese. Creamier and had more flavor.

2) Roasted garlic.
Cut the top of the garlic bulb and roast for 15 minutes on 365 deg F. Spread the roasted garlic on bread and add arugula. Enjoy.

"Very tasty but a bit too dry. The consensus was to combine the avocado with roasted garlic, making a sandwich spread."

3) Pesto or Pistou. Pesto is very easy to make. Combine 1 cup of parsley, basil or any other dark green herb with olive oil, garlic and a little bit of pine nuts in the food processor until it is of spreadable consistency. Spread on whole grain bread. Enjoy. Mom did. Not as much as avocado though.

4) Hummus. Look on any shelf in the supermarket. So many varieties! There's no sense in me writing a recipe, when so many good ones exist elsewhere:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Appetizers-and-Snacks/Dips-and-Spreads/Hummus/ViewAll.aspx

5) Crushed beets with garlic
Fiery and almost purple, it's a very bright, healthy spread.

... more to come. I got sick today, so going to go rest now and dream of some more substitutes...

*Read more about how dairy foods affect arthritis here: USA Weekend.com

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Asparagus with Burdock Root

Burdock root is known as a blood purifier and garlic, Nama Shoyu and asparagus support the immune system. Asparagus also has a diuretic effect, which is good for treating water retention. But more importantly -- it tastes absolutely amazing!

Recipe
1 cup Asparagus Stalks 40 cal more nutrition data
1/2 cup of Burdock Root 55 cal more nutrition data
2 tsp of Nama Shoyu
1 clove of garlic

Scrub burdock to get the skin off. Cut it into matchsticks. Throw burdock, asparagus (with spices or finely chopped garlic, if you wish) in a pan to lightly sautée or pan-boil in minimum amount of water on high heat. When the asparagus turn bright green, turn off heat. Eat, enjoy and laugh at how easy this was.

Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 4-5 minutes

You might want to eat this in combination with brown rice or some other whole grain, since it is very low in calories.

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Bacteria Breakfast! Kefir with Cranberry Walnut Pecan Raisin Trail Mix

Sour-sweet-crunchy mix of frozen cranberries, raisins and nuts combined with the creamy and smooth taste of kefir.

Recipe
It's very simple: combine raisins, frozen cranberries, nuts and whatever else you'd like. Pour yourself a cup of kefir and you're out the door.

Kefir is a fermented milk drink, originating from Caucasus Mountains. It contains beneficial bacteria that contribute to the health of the digestive system, strengthen the immune system and protect against colon cancer.

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Açai Fruit Smoothie

I do love a frozen treat for breakfast. And when that frozen treat tastes like chocolate and berries, packs a "superfood" punch and wakes you up, all the better.

Deep in the Amazon rain forest grows a berry that is assumed to be one of the most nutrient rich foods in the entire world - the Açaí (ah-sigh-ee). It is crammed with more anti-oxidants than blueberries or pomegranates, and has healthy omega-3 oils, protein and dietary fiber. Good for your skin, heart, body and brain. And now, through the wonder of modern food distribution, I found it in the freezer section of the NYC Union Square Whole Foods.

I would love to find an original recipe that Amazon tribes have eaten for centuries, but for now, I will have to console myself with a simple frozen slushy experiment:

Ingredients
frozen açai
organic peach
pineapple

Blend together in a blender or food processor. Salivate, serve, eat and enjoy. :)

My Other Frozen Concoctions
Watermelon Slushy
Mystère de Chocolat

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Breakfast Omelet with Sweet Beet Greens Splashed with Balsamic Vinegar

The slightly sweet taste of the beet greens is accentuated by the darkness of the balsamic vinegar, sweet warm apples, dried plums and walnuts. Lying on a bed of cooked eggs, it's a dish for kings and queens - but assembled from humble ingredients.

Recipe
2 eggs
1 apple
a bunch of beet greens
dried plums
walnuts
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
spices: pepper, turmeric, etc to taste

Make omelet: Heat a small amount of olive oil in skillet on high heat. Crack open eggs into a bowl, add spices and mix together. When skillet is hot, add the egg mixture, cover and 30 seconds later, lower the temperature to low heat. Let it set for 5 minutes.

Cut greens and apples. Add them to a skillet, when omelet is cooked. Heat until the beet tops turn bright green and apples are a little soft. Top with warm spices like cinnamon, dried plums and walnuts. Serve, eat and enjoy.

Why It's Good
I remember hearing about the plight of the Russian retirees 6 or 7 years ago. Without enough money to live from their pensions, they plowed through the garbage bins looking for potato peels, scraps of food, and discarded greens to feed themselves. While this fact still fills me with pity and shame, years later I found out that the best nutrition lies in peels and those discarded leaves. So why do we throw them out?

Beet greens contain significantly more iron, calcium, vitamin C and A, than the roots. They help protect against cancer, heart disease, cataracts, and other diseases of aging as well as help support bone, heart, eye, nervous system, liver and colon health.

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Days#12-17 If In Doubt, Go Hunt Somewhere New

These are days 12 through 17 of my Eating Green Experiment. You can read about why I began it here.

It's been a hectic week with dangerous and wild recipes. My favorite so far has been:
---
Ostrich Meat Stewed with Collard Greens
ostrich hamburger meat
a bunch of greens
spices to taste
garlic sauce

Throw meat into a pan. Stew it in some water and spices. Add greens. Cook until they become bright green and add sauce. (Roasted garlic sauce went well with this.)

That combination was so good! Mmmm.... and ostrich is a much healthier red meat than beef. Low in fat and high in protein.

2-3 servings
Time: 10 minutes
Cost/serving: $4.50

---
Conclusions

So, it's the end of March and my brave experiment. What have I learned?

1. There are way too many ways of cooking and eating greens to just make a month of it.

2. If you get bored, go hunt somewhere new. A new store, a farmers market, a flower garden or even a huge supermarket. That's where I found the ostrich.

3. If someone says, "So what will you eat for breakfast today?", and proceeds to chew meat and fried rice in sludgy brown sauce, don't sulk - instead bite your spinach and munch as loud as you can. Moan with pleasure so that he/she gets jealous of your leaf eating. Your body will thank you.

Image by Lollie-Pop used under the Creative Commons License.

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Day#6 Collard Green Wrap

This is Day 6 of my Eating Green Experiment. You can read about why I began it here.

The Wrap. The epitome of portability. The melding of flavors, one rolling upon the other. Just the right size to grab with your hand and go. It's becoming my favorite food in the world, but the whole wheat wraps that I've seen in the supermarket have ingredients that I can't pronounce, and they make me extremely sleepy, so I've found a substitute! Big leaves!

Collard Green Wrap
1/2 avocado
red cabbage
baby leaf greens
1 cucumber
1 radish

Cut away the tough stem of the Collard green so that it can bend. Stuff with with your favorite veggies and it's good to go.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

And collard greens are a nutritional cancer bomb:
"A study of Chinese women in Singapore, a city in which air pollution levels are often high putting stress on the detoxification capacity of residents' lungs, found that in non-smokers, eating cruciferous vegetables lowered risk of lung cancer by 30%. In smokers, regular cruciferous vegetable consumption reduced lung cancer risk an amazing 69%!"

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Days 2 through 5. I'm Eating Green Experiment Continues.

These are days 2 through 5 of my Eating Green Experiment. You can read about why I began it here.

I went shopping finally. Only organic markets have customers who don't get weirded out from my happy tiny squeals of "Arugula! Oh dearest, I will EAT YOU UP!" Or maybe they do, but I did not notice.

Anyway... so how am I doing? Doing well, thank you. I've been trying everything including the quite unoriginal (but tasty) old standby:


Take a bunch of green veggies, cut/tear them, then steam/boil until they're bright green and eat. Add olive oil if you wish. Very good in the morning, for it's warm and less abrasive on the stomach. 5 minutes preparation, 3 minutes to cook. Yes! It really is that quick. The wormy looking white things are sprouts and brown rice which I added in a moment of inspiration.

Price: (estimated) $2.00

The Effects

Day#2 I did not sleep the whole night, tossing and turning. While detoxification symptoms on the internet include insomnia and I am not an insomniac, I figure my money worries were the real reason. Sigh.

Day#3 Worn out, but surprisingly focused and awake, I munched on a salad and ran off into the urban wild.

Day#4 Fully worn, I tried to keep awake long enough in the morning to make myself a sandwich out of some whole grain bread, avocado and greens. It worked. My brain worked, the job interview went very well and I was unusually happy the rest of the day, though can't say how much of that happiness was food related.

Day#5 I need to get some sleep so that I have strength to write further!

Till tomorrow...

Your Crazy Breakfast Madam.

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Green Day # 1 - Saladicious

This is Day 1 of my Eating Green Experiment. You can read about why I began it here.

Late Saturday morning - the fridge looks like a bunch of hungry gnomes have been sleeping there overnight. All that is left from the week are some carrots, a tiny limp bok choy, a nearly empty jar of miso and the whistling wind, (or is it the hum of the refrigerator?) Definitely need to go shopping.

I grab a lonely carrot, some leftover romaine and dill, and start creating magic.

Recipe
carrot
romaine
dill
scallions
bok choy

Dressing
1 tsp of white miso
1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp of omega 3 oil
1/4 of tsp raw honey

It's a salad - so obviously you chop it up or tear it up and it's ready to eat.
For the dressing, combine all the ingredients until it tastes amazing. Munch gratefully and loudly.

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Tahini Apple Sandwich

Sometimes I just want to make a pretty pyramid and then eat it. And this pyramid is the healthy kind - healthy satisfying fat from the sesame seeds drenched over the sour sweetness of the granny smith apples intermixed with thin slices of toasted whole grain bread. Taste it, I dare ya.

Ingredients
granny smith apple slices
whole grain bread
sesame butter

Toast the bread. Smooth sesame butter and place apple slices on top. Eat. Enjoy.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Apples contain pectin, which removes cholesterol, toxic metals such as lead and mercury, and the residues of radiation. Though I don't know whether this breakfast will protect you from turning into Spiderman.

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Yammy Breakfast

This winter breakfast is delectably sweet and rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin C, that help my eyes see my enemies in the morning darkness and protect me from flu and colds.

1 acorn squash
1 butternut squash
2 yams
cinnamon and pumpkin seeds to taste
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

Bake squash and yams in 350-375 F until it's soft and smells like heaven. Mush it all together, muttering and salivating. Then sprinkle some cinnamon and pumpkin seeds in.

I served it with some blue corn tortillas I found in Whole Foods.

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