People look at me like I'm crazy when I say veggies should be AT LEAST 50% of each meal... including breakfast. So here are some ideas on how to get veggies into breakfast. Think outside the cereal or microwave box and use your imagination! Food preferences are learned and they can be relearned.
(Remember, eggs are NOT bad. They do NOT cause high cholesterol ---unless you're eating 8 dozen or so a week! Read the book "The Cholesterol Hoax" by Sherry Rogers, MD).
- Get yourself some eggs and some frozen mixed veggies. Scramble up the eggs and add in the veggies. For "portability," put the mix into a whole wheat or other healthy wrap. Make a few and freeze them. If you wrap each one separately in foil you can just grab it from the freezer and put it in the toaster oven (NOT microwave) while you're getting ready in the morning.
- Make a quiche. 4 eggs, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, mixed veggies, whatever mixed with a little feta or mozarella cheese. Pour into ready-made pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes. Make 2 and freeze one. Cut a piece in the morning, wrap it in foil, and toss it into the toaster oven while you're getting ready for the day.
You can even add turkey bacon, turkey sausage, or chicken sausage to the above.
- Veggie soup mixed with brown rice, barley or couscous makes a really good breakfast.
- No one is sure if this dish is an entree or a desert, but I call it coconut zucchini pie. Grate one zucchini and mix it with 1 cup of shredded coconut, 2 eggs, a teaspoon of Chinese 5 Spice, and a tablespoon of Xylitol. Pour into a pie crust and bake at 325 for about 40 minutes or so.
- Long-cook oatmeal with an egg or some seeds in it, with almond milk or rice milk.
- Sweet potato pancakes. These can be made ahead, wrapped in foil, and frozen. If you're feeling adventurous, throw some peas and seeds into them!
- Buckwheat pancakes made with mixed veggies, fresh or frozen. So delicious with real butter! Can be made in advance, frozen, and warmed in the toaster oven.
- Bake some frozen mixed veggies into corn muffins. Wonderful served warm with real butter (no artificial stuff!).
- Beans and rice with veggies. Yes, really! Come on...start to use your imagination!
- Snacks (let's rate these on a 1 - 5 scale; 5 is excellent...like raw veggies, 1 is awful...like a candy bar);
- hard boiled eggs (5)
- seeds (pumpkin, pistachio, sunflower, chia, etc.) (5)
- nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, brazil, pine, chestnuts, hazelnuts, etc.) (5)
- fruit (remember...limit to 2 pieces a day, eaten alone, not after 4 pm) (3)
- homemade trail mix (a box of low-sugar cereal [less than 5 grams of sugar per serving], nuts, seeds, some carob chips, a few yogurt covered raisins, a little dried fruit) (4)
- peanut butter on sprouted grain toast (4)
- raw veggies (celery, carrots, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.) (5)
- If you like crunchy snacks try something called "Snapea Crisps." Yes, they do contain corn oil but in limited quantities they are an "OK" snack, especially for people transitioning away from total junk food. (3)
- kale chips (you can buy them or make them with a food dehydrator --- delicious!!) (5)
- homemade nut rolls (this requires some time but it's well worth it!) (4)
NUT ROLLS
Ingredients for Dough:
2 cups warm almond milk
1 cup butter
3/4 cup xylitol
1 cake yeast
4 beaten eggs
7 cups whole wheat flour
Pinch of salt
Ingredients for Filling:
3 pounds walnuts (finely chopped)
1 cup Mimicreme
4 beaten egg whites
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Coconut syrup
Xylitol to taste (approximately 2 to 3 cups)
Directions for dough:
Heat almond milk, butter, xylitol, and salt on stove until mixture is warm. Remove about 2/3 cup of mixture and dissolve a cake of yeast in it and set aside. Add beaten eggs to remaining liquid mixture. In large bowl put 7 cups of flour. Add yeast mixture to flour, and then add remaining liquid mixture. Knead mixture until dough is soft to touch but not sticky. Place dough in bowl and cover to keep from drying out (you can use Saran Wrap or Foil). Refrigerate dough overnight.
Directons for filling:
Mix Mimicreme, egg whites, butter, syrup, and Xylitol together. Then add chopped walnuts and mix thoroughly. Use approximately 3/4 cups of filling and 3/4 pounds of dough per nut roll. This recipe will make approximately 7 nut rolls. Roll dough with rolling pin. Lightly dust surface and rolling pin with flour to prevent from sticking. Dough should roll out to about 12x8. Spread filling on dough and roll dough so that it is 12-inch long. Note: Roll forward from the 8” side of dough. Place nut rolls on greased cookie sheet. You can usually fit two to a sheet. Make sure that the seam of nut roll is on the bottom when placing on cookie sheet. Let nut roll raise for approximately 1 hour on cookie sheet. Just before placing in oven fork the dough approximately 4 times on top and
Lunch and dinner ideas:
Quinoa with sunflower seeds, grated carrots, diced celery, and chick peas or snap peas.
Sprouted grain bread with lettuce and hummus.
Any veggie soup. Want to thicken it? Add couscous, brown rice, or quinoa.
Stuffed artichokes.
Half of an acorn squash filled with butter, a teaspoon of honey, 1/4 tsp of Chinese 5 Spice, and 1/2 a cup of quinoa with sunflower seeds.
Whole grain pasta with diced or grated veggies and a little cheese.
Grilled cheese made with mozarella, tomatoes, and onion, on rye, whole wheat, pumpernickel, sprouted grain bread, etc.
Red Pepper and Butternut Risotto: 1 lb. of butternut squash, 4 tbspns coconut oil, 1 chopped sweet onion, 2 chopped red bell peppers, 1 cup brown rice, 5 cups of veggie broth, 1/2 cup of feta cheese, and a tbspn of tarragon.
Lasagna made with whole grain pasta. rice cheeses, and a minimum of 2 veggies and perhaps some meat if you'd like, in the form of turkey, venison, bison, or chicken (organic only, please).
Chinese stir-fry: make it yourself. Rice noodles, green beans, onion, garlic, parsley, mushrooms, snap peas, and even squash. Add one of the meats above if you want. Cook in coconut oil and flavor with Coconut Amino's.
Turkey meat loaf made with ground turkey, grated carrots, chopped peppers and onions, organic brown rice bread crumbs, organic eggs, and even a layer of mozarella or rice cheese in the middle.
Turkey burgers rolled up in a whole wheat toritlla with tomato, lettuce, onion, organic relish and ketchup.
