Sunday, September 13, 2015

Rainbow Breakfast

A friend told me I need to start sharing some of my daily "secrets" of healthy/sustainable living in addition to the herbal medicine tips I share. So, I am starting that today.

I start by sharing my standard breakfast with you as it is the easiest way to eat well and get the nutrients your body needs.

I eat a rather unconventional breakfast.  However, it is a very healthy and yummy way to start the day. I call it my rainbow breakfast. I would like to share it with you, as everyone could benefit from eating one meal each day that is a rainbow meal. It is basically a big salad. However, many of them do not contain the conventional lettuce as it is not always available in my garden. As the seasons change, my rainbow breakfast changes. In the winter my body wants warm food for breakfast, so I eat my rainbow salad for lunch or I might make a rainbow savory hot oatmeal on occasion. I feel much better when I get one of these salads inside of me each day. Some days I even eat two. You might consider a rainbow salad each day as you can get a variety of healthy flavonoids, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids etc to start your day off. Additionally, you get tons of prebiotics in these meals to feed your healthy gut bacteria.

The contents of the salad bowl are decided by the vegetables, herbs and fruit in season as well as the stored booty such as nuts, dried beans, grains, fruit, herbs, fermented veggies/vinegars, refrigerated fruit and vegetables, frozen vegetables, meat, oils, etc.

Today's breakfast in the photo contains raw orange and purple carrots, a raw yellow beet, cooked beans called Tongue of Fire, a few snap peas, hazel nuts and a salad dressing of raw garlic, balsamic vinegar, tamari and cod liver oil made by Nordic Naturals. (The fish oil tastes good.) I also added a few spoons of home made sauerkraut on the side.

Todays breakfast was super yummy and it contained dietary fiber - both insoluble and soluble (prebiotics), catechins, epicatechins, epigallocatechins, gallocatechins, apigenin, luteolin, kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin, protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, b vitamins, including folate, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, b-6. It also contained minerals such as copper, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, (No selenium as it is not in our soil here, we have to supplement.) These are just a few of the nutritional elements I know are in here.  You can see having a rainbow meal provides you with a lot of health in one little bowl. 

For folks who eat meat, various meats can be included if you wish. I add a little chicken or fish to mine sometimes.  For those who don't eat meat they can make sure they are getting a variety of nuts, seeds, beans and grains that ensure they are getting all the necessary amino acids and don't forget B12 is often neglected. (If you are vegan or vegetarian and don't know what that means, please find out.) 

Make sure you change it up as new fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits come into season.