Gerd-friendly breakfast burritos

 If you're a regular reader around here you know I live for breakfast burritos. Problem is I've suffered from GERD for years now and spicy foods can cause flareups. So can some ingredients, like my beloved onions, and cooking methods like frying and sauteing.  I went through a phase of frying potatoes and onions on a cast-iron grill pan for the browning. Every burrito gave me indigestion and I questioned every ingredient but the potatoes. It's the oil, and the oils that are transformed by the heat. Recently I've gotten good results when I follow a low-fat, high-carb diet, vegan except for eggs. No meat, no dairy, no processed oils. Lots of vegetables, mushrooms, and grains. So here's a breakfast burrito that is tasty and filling and works to calm your inner fire too.

Ingredients

--Potatoes. Figure one small potato for each burrito, one medium potato for two, one large potato for three.

--whole grain tortillas

--one pound of dry beans

--one onion, skin removed

--two cloves garlic, skin removed

--four bay leaves

--1/2 green bell pepper, diced 

--1/2 cup corn kernels

--teaspoon each of thyme, cumin and paprika

--one bunch cilantro

Method

Required equipment: large pot with lid, stovetop grill pan

The night before, soak the beans in water. Rinse in the morning. Add fresh water so it is at least 3 inches above the beans.

Cook the beans on low with the bay leaves, half the onion (whole. Store the other half, or finely dice for burritos if fresh onion doesn't bother you), and the two cloves of garlic. About an hour in, add half the bunch of cilantro, whole. Cut up the other half and reserve.

When beans are soft, add the spices. Let it sit in the pot to absorb the flavor, about an hour.

At this time bake some medium russet or gold potatoes if you choose to bake them.

Remove the bay leaves and cilantro stems from the beans. Let the potatoes cool.

Cut a baked potato into cubes, or microwave a whole medium potato for 3-4 minutes until tender, then cut it into cubes when it's cool enough to handle.

On the grill pan, let the green pepper cook a few minutes. Add the corn kernels, salt and pepper to taste, then set aside.

Dry grill tortillas until starting to brown. Warm the tortillas before serving if necessary. 

To a warm tortilla, add any cheese you like, I use a commercial vegan shredded cheese usually.

Add some potato, drained beans. Sprinkle on reserved cilantro.

That's basically it. You can add a sauce, if you can tolerate it. If not, a spice mix of smoked paprika, crushed thyme and oregano, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper is nice. you can toast that on the stovetop grill for a couple of seconds after the tortillas are finished. 

I avoid onion and garlic powder as those give me problems whereas onions and garlic stewed low and slow, as we did above with the beans, don't.

Fold the ends in and then tuck the filling into the middle as you roll the closer end away from you. If using a fresh tortilla, take it oout of the pan before it is browned, tuck the sides in like forming a pocket and finish on the hot grill until it browns lightly.

Hope you enjoy!

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30 days of vegan: my favorite vegan eggs

Recently I posted my musings on my favorite breakfast food- the burrito. In it, I blithely said go forth and find one of the many, many copycat recipes on the web that rely on kala namak and turmeric to impart eggy color and flavor. 

But that was lazy of me. And a bit disingenuous. When I first endeavored to go vegan, I knew meat would not be a problem for me. I've never been a meat fan, even in childhood. I always went for the most processed meats: sausages, hot dogs, things that didn't seem like meat. A slab of flesh always freaked me out. One encounters weird flavors, textures, chewy, slimy, stringy bits. Gross.

I always thought cheese would be the really hard thing. I've had love affairs with whole branches of cheese. In the fake cheese realm, varieties such as Swiss do not translate nearly as well as cheeses like Cheddar. Parmagiano and Romano are struggles, too. The substitute recipes often have Italian herbs or spices, as if to say, we know this isn't going to work, the best we can do is remind you of a food with real cheese in it. 

But I got over cheese (thanks in no small part to nutritional yeast). It turns out the very hardest thing for me to abandon was the humble chicken egg.

I have always loved eggs. As a kid, while my classmates sat at tray tables watching cartoons and guzzling down sugar bomb cereals, I was feasting on fried eggs and bacon, scrambled eggs and toast, omelets stuffed with ham and cheese, or my beloved creamed eggs. I come from farmer stock. I spent a lot of days and nights sleeping under the roof of my maternal grandparents. They raised chickens and ate a lot of eggs. So really, eggs are my soul food.  The prospect of giving them up was, ultimately, the most difficult choice. The heavy-handed treatments that are the gold standard for vegan eggs in the online cooking sphere- heavy with garlic and onion powder, turmeric, soy sauce or liquid aminos- while not unappetizing, scream "I am not eggs" to this egg lover. And so a suitable egg substitute has been my philosopher's stone.

I've settled on tofu as a base, just like the most popular variants out there. But I forgo the firm and extra-firm refrigerated packs for the silken tofu-based shelf-stable aseptic packs. All of the aseptic grades you find are based on silken tofu, though you can find soft, firm and extra-firm varieties. My favorite for this dish is firm.

Of all the common flavorings used for tofu eggs, I have found only black salt, nooch and butter to be indispensible. I don't like turmeric for the coloring agent; in terms of flavor, I prefer annato or saffron. Both impart delicate color and flavor- exactly the mood I want to strike with simple scrambled eggs.

There are different ways to achieve the flavor and texture of butter. Cooking the tofu in coconut oil mixed with nutritional yeast works nicely. But I find using a plant-based butter-like spread to be perfectly fine.

I prefer a healthy grinding of black pepper, but that's a personal choice.

So, here's how you make my delicate, simple take on classic scrambled eggs.

Ingredients

• 1 brick of aseptic pack tofu- any grade is fine, but firm is probably best
• 1 tsp black salt
• 1 tbl plant based butter, or 1 tbl coconut oil
• 1/2 cup plant milk- I prefer organic, unsweetened soy milk with no fillers
• 1 tsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 tsp annato or a healthy pinch of saffron
• 2 tbl nutritional yeast
  

Method

1. If using saffron- heat the plant milk in the microwave for 15 seconds. Add the saffron to the milk and set aside to bloom.
2. Put the tofu, salt, flour, baking powder, nutritional yeast and milk in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
3. At this point, you can add any veggie additions. Some ideas are sliced green onion, diced roasted red pepper or tomato, precooked broccoli florets cut small, or thinly sliced cooked mushrooms.
   
4. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium. add the butter or oil. use a brush to coat the pan entirely.
5. pour in the mix. This will lower the temp of the pan. Give the mix two minutes to cook. Turn heat to medium low.
   
6. This is when you can decide if you want it omelet or sandwich style, or scrambled. If scrambled- break the disc up into large pieces and start tossing them gently. Break them up a second time if you want the pieces smaller. They should be starting to brown, but not completely set. If going for an omelet, begin checking the edges. the flour and baking powder give them a little structure, so you should be able to flip as one whole disc. But be careful to not overcook, this is why we've turned the heat down. The top should be lightly browned. Give the bottom another minute to do the same.
   
7. Remove from the pan to a bowl or plate covered with a lid until ready to serve. If you are melting vegan cheese on top for sandwiches, put it on now and cover.
8. Enjoy!
   

30 Days of Vegan: Breakfast Burritos

Is there a more perfect food than a burrito? Right off the bat, it has portability going for it- something I apreciate it because I rarely want to sit down for a meal. Just how I'm wired I guess. The burrito is like a Rhumba: it has key ingredients and signature moves that define the category, but beyond that, the sky is the limit. It can be made up of almost anything. It varies from the Guisado, basically in a stew in a tortilla- to the Mission, with its massive girth and plentiful rice and beans; to the Chimichanga, essentially a fried burrito; to Korean versions. And what is Moo Shu, if not a stir-fry burrito with paper-thin pancakes and plum sauce? The breakfast burrito is yet another variation, and can consist of whatever you like for breakfast wrapped in a tortilla. 

I tend to be pretty trad about mine: they are usually a combination of beans and avocado, sometimes with cheese, sometimes with potato or rice, slathered in taco sauce or salsa. But I've been known to take last night's curry, wrap it in a tortilla and call it breakfast. My choice of bean is usually black, but I go for pintos and red beans too. Avo is pretty much a requirement. Stacey's organic are the best vegan premade tortillas on the market. Violife makes an excellent shredded cheddar-like product that is my current choice for breakfast burritos. I recommend pico de gallo or corn relish as additions, and taco sauce or homemade salsa as condiments. But honesty, like its cousin the sandwich, almost anything is possible.

In terms of preparation, I don't have fixed directions for that, though I follow general guidelines. Generally I like to get all of the ingredients that should be warm heated up before wrapping, Further cooking is for the benefit of the tortilla or to melt any cheese. I prefer avocado to be sliced thinly and plain as opposed to chunked or made into quacamole- makes for a more consistent flavor and it's easier to layer with other stuff. 

If you lightly oil and salt the tortilla and cook them on cast iron, they take on a delicious, crispy character. You can also stovetop grill them for some retention of tenderness with flavorful sear lines and good inside warming. If you make your own tortillas or find raw tortillas at the store, you simply must try baking them in the oven for an incredible taste experience. Heck, even using the microwave works. I'd suggest lightly wetting the tortilla, wrapping it in a towel and 'waving the tortilla for ten seconds, then filling and building, rewrapping and giving it another 20-40 seconds depending on size.  

I gravitate toward the grilling method and a "soft taco"-sized tortilla that yields a burrito about  2" in diameter and 6-7" in length. Anymore is too much for me in the morning. But you probably like something else! And that's the great thing about burritos.Wrap one up in parchment paper and take it on your next morning journey.

30 days of Vegan: Creamed tofu eggs

 It's been a tough winter. COVID is still everywhere, but we are at the point of the pandemic where we have to go to the office anyway. Russia has invaded Ukraine. I've had work-life balance problems trying to go to grad school and work full time at the same time. Our youngest is a senior in high school, and after over a year of lockdown and virtual learning and masking up, she's been anxious to have the life any kid at this age should have, though that comes with its own set of dangers and challenges. I'm stressed. I've got the makings of a winter muffin top, my hormones are all out of balance, and I have oral surgery coming up. I find myself increasingly wanting to retreat to comfort things, including comfort foods, but I've just got to get a grip. For the next thirty days, I've decided to go strictly vegan and focus on habits and meals that make me feel good but don't add to my cold-season bloat. 

I'm interested in recreating some of the foods my family would make that I found utterly comforting, and near the top of my list is creamed eggs. No breakfast made me feel more at ease than this old-fashioned marvel on a cold winter's morning. 

I've looked in cookbooks to find any mention of this dish- the preparation, which seemed quite fancy to me as a kid, is apparently not in the egg dish pantheon. But I have found recipes for it in charity cookbooks of a certain age. I've heard these called "housewife cookbooks" but that term feels a little derogatory. Most often the function of these spiral or comb-bound books of amateur recipes was fundraising for social groups or churches. Exploring them makes me feel like an anthropologist: they form a massive cooking underground, made of common dishes with a personal twist, original inventions, or everyday meals just as delicious as more formal dishes but not fancy enough for proper cookbooks. It's a shame too, because it's this private area of inspired, impromptu meals that give us joy on a daily basis, with off-the-cuff combinations that just work: cream cheese and marmalade on a bagel, smoked fish and dill nipped into scrambled eggs, or egg nog in the morning coffee.

In the original of my memories, creamed eggs are hard-boiled and peeled, the whites and yolks separated. A cream sauce is prepared, usually well-salted and peppered. Toast is made, buttered, topped with chopped whites, which are then smothered in the cream sauce, and the yolks are run through a ricer to top. It's finished with a healthy dash of paprika.

In my version. I've scrambled half a brick of firm tofu. Now, recipes for scrambled tofu are a dime a dozen on the interwebs. But some are not so good. The seasonings, though, most people agree on, so probably no surprises. Where recipes frequently go catty-wampus is not leaving the tofu alone to brown, which is in indispensable part of the flavor profile; and not adding the seasonings as a liquid mixture. Doing so makes the tofu creamy and unctuous. Tossing the flavors in dry don't allow them to distribute properly, and run the danger of burning, which makes the dish bitter. Yuck!

The cream sauce is a simple affair with vegan margarine, flour and soy milk. I an not sponsored by them, but the very best soy milks for making cream sauces are Edensoy and Westsoy, the organic and unsweetened varieties of both, in aseptic packs. Refrigerated carton milks employ two big no-nos for me: sweetening them- even "unsweetened" soy milks can have added sugar!- and thickeners, which complicate and sometimes ruin textures of cooked dishes. Edensoy and Westsoy haven't abandoned those of us who actually cook with soy milk.

I serve it on toast and topped with my favorite vegan cheese. You probably already have a favorite!

Ingredients

For the scrambled tofu:

• half a brick of firm or extra-firm tofu- the kind that you find in the refrigerator case. Nasoya is my favorite.
• 1 tsp oil (I used olive)
• 1 tbl nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp black salt (kala namak)
• 1/4 tsp garlic granules or powder
• 1/4 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1-2 tbl water

For the white sauce:

• 1tbl vegan margarine
• 1tbl AP flour
• about 1 cup soy milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat a small to medium pan to medium. Add the oil.
2. Crumble the half brick of tofu into the pan. Do not press it beforehand. It's ok if there is some liquid. Leave the tofu in chunks perhaps 1" in diameter. Leave it to fry for at least 5 mins.
3. In a saucepan, melt the vegan margarine. add the flour and whisk until incorporated.
4. Add the milk a little at a time. Whisk until smooth. Let it come to a light boil, take off the heat and cover.
   
5. Flip the tofu. The bottom sides should now be toasty brown. Let it brown another 2 mins.
6. Combine spices in a small bowl. Add the water to the spices to make a paste, and drizzle on the tofu. Using a spatula, incorporate the liquid thoroughly. As you do, break up large clumps so the texture is uniform- I usually aim for  1/2" chunks. 
7. Take off the heat and cover. Toast a slice of bread.
   
8. Stir sauce. Add salt and pepper to the sauce to taste.
9. Place toast on a plate. I like to butter it, but it's not necessary. Top with as much tofu as it will hold. 
10. Ladle sauce on top.
11. Add shredded or a slice of vegan cheese of your liking. The heat of the ingredients should at least soften the cheese. For more melt and slightly softer toast, microwave on high for 15 seconds.

Slice into quadrants or triangles. Serve with whatever you like. Crinkle fries left over from last night tasted great to me. But you can certainly opt for, say, mashed cauliflower, sauteed beets, a shredded carrot and cabbage salad, a little sauerkraut- I think a variety of things would go well with it.

 

 

Getting your gut right: veggies in the morning

As habits go, getting a veggie in with every meal- including breakfast- is hard to beat. Vegetables are the core of every truly healthy diet.  A plant-based diet doesn't cause any long-term damage, unlike keto which can lead to heart problems and organ failure. Sorry, but its true.

Last night we went a little nuts and had a tempurafest. Sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, shrimp. We wanted to make broccoli but just ran out thanks to something else earlier in the week. Jasmine rice with a tasty dipping sauce and a variety of beers were consumed as well.

In the hangover haze I realized a great many sweet potatoes and onions remained. Sitting out on the cutting board. Drat! What a waste. Well, gentle reader, what happened next I don't recommend ANYONE do, but I have survived too many slices of cold pizza for breakfast still found in the box on the counter the next morning to not do this. As the cutting board was otherwise pristine, and the ambient temperature cool and humidity low, I cut everything up and made it into breakfast tacos.

To reiterate: I do not endorse this. And I would disavow anyone suggesting I told them to.

But, to continue the recipe, dear reader, I persist. I live on. I thrive. And sweet potatoes fueled me that good spring day.

The sweet potatoes and onions were in 1/4" slices already, prepped for their sacrificial batter bath and dip into the oil volcano. All I had to do was basically quarter them. I don't know about you, but I like my sweet potatoes sweet and smoky, and I want to put an egg on anything sweet and smoky. and eggs before noon make me think of breakfast tacos. Not the most coherent of thought connections, perhaps, but in the end it made glorious sense.

The ingredients

Corn tortillas- however many fulfill your taco lust
Pinto beans- about a heaping tablespoon per taco. Possibly chili powder or adobo sauce to season
Sweet potatoes- for this I used about half a potato's worth. Sliced then quartered
Yellow onions- three or four slices of a medium onion, quartered
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tbl water
1 tsp soy sauce- to flavor the cooking water
sesame oil- one squirt, for same

Sriracha- a good drizzle, exact amount up to you
1 tsp-1 tbl sweet and smoky BBQ sauce
1 tsp taco sauce per taco
Scallions
Eggs- I fried one and split it across two tacos. One per, if you're that kind of person, and you know if you are. Poached would be delicious too.
1 tsp cooking fat, more if cast iron or steel probably. Was adequate for non-stick
Cheese- slice or two or some crumbles. I actually prefer a fake cheese for tacos, Daiya American style- but I'm weird. Use whatever you like- Monterey Jack, Asodero, go nuts.

The method

The sweet potatoes are going to take the longest. Heat up your pan to medium to medium low, melt your fat (in the case of butter or coconut oil) or bring up to temp if olive oil. I don't recommend a polyunsaturated oil for this. Sweet potatoes are sweet, like water is wet, and sugar sticks like crazy. Drop in the sweet potatoes and onions. Warning- following my recipe will render your onions well-browned- the way I like them. Hold off adding the onions five to ten minutes if you don't like the idea of that.

While the sweet potatoes and onions cook, bring beans up to temp in another vessel. I'm going to assume if you have pinto beans in the fridge, they are already seasoned to perfection. That's just how people with pinto beans already in the fridge roll. If you are opening a can, drain and then bring up to temp on medium to medium low. add a pinch of chili powder or a half teaspoon of adobo from a can of chipotles in adobo sauce, then salt and pepper. When they lightly bubble, reduce to low/keep warm.

Move the potatoes and onions around and turn over until the potatoes start to brown. at that point, add the cumin and chili powder. add the water, soy sauce and sesame oil. Lid and cook until the sweet potatoes are soft and buttery.

If you can heat a third pan, preferably a cast iron pan, do so and toast the corn tortillas on each side then add some cheese, reduce to low and let melt. remove at that point, no one likes overly chewy tortillas.

Un-lid the potatoes and add a squirt of sriracha and the BBQ sauce. Stir to incorporate. Top with scallions and set aside.

Cook egg or eggs as you see fit.

top the tortillas with beans, a splash of taco sauce, an egg or half-egg each.

Spoon some potatoes on top and/or have on the side.

Enjoy your sweet, smoky, spicy, buttery, savory creation.

Why eat breakfast?

Here are some words of wisdom about eating breakfast, from that seemingly inexhaustible supply of the wisdom, the Dad's Bible:

Have you ever wondered “Why is breakfast so important?” Breakfast has so many hidden benefits for our own health and wellbeing. Firstly did you know breakfast is recommended to eaten within 2 hours of waking up, because this provides us with energy and nutrients the body requires to fire on all cylinders so to speak. Eating breakfast has the following long term benefits too.

• It can reduce obesity.

• Reduce high blood pressure.

• It helps fight Heart Disease and diabetes.

• It fuels our bodies for the long day ahead.

• Helps with our cognitive functions.

• Research shows that people who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight.

Read more: http://dadsbible.co.uk/healthy-breakfast-recipes

We need to eat less

On the planet I come from, this is at least two, if not two and a half breakfast burritos. Why does it even occur that someone thinks it's ok for people to eat 1200 calories of fat and carbs first thing in the morning?

 There is a place where thriftiness meets sensible portions,  and we aren't trying to find it at all.

Best scrambled tofu ever

We make a lot of scrambled tofu around here, so I've had some practice. It seems every recipe is  good, but has some aspect I don't like- too much spice, not enough spice, tofu is too dry, tofu is too wet, etc.

The one I made this morning was a sort of synthesis of what I've learned from those recipes that I have tried, and turned out to be pretty amazing.

Warning, this is not strictly vegan. I used Go Veggie grated topping, which contains casein. You could substitute nutritional yeast for similar results.

Ingredients

a brick of firm tofu, drained. It's also important to pat it dry.
a couple handfuls of raw spinach
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
a couple grinds of pepper
1-2 scallions, green parts only, approx. 4 stalks, thinly sliced
1/4 cup water
generous shakes of Galaxy foods Go Veggie grated topping
1-2 tsp oil, I use avocado

Preparation

Heat the oil in a nonstick pan on medium. When the pan is up to temp, break up the tofu into large chunks and place in the pan. leave it undisturbed for at least 5 minutes.  While this is happening, mix the spices and salt with the water and set aside. Flip one of the pieces over and see if it is browning. If it is, it is time to flip all of them, otherwise leave it for another minute or so. Once everything is flipped, toss on the spinach- basically enough to form a shallow mound covering the tofu. When the spinach starts wilting, turn the heat up to medium high and pour in the water and spice mixture. Let the water evaporate; this should take about 2 minutes. at this point, toss in the scallions and flip everything over again. the tofu should be uniformly yellow at this point. Give it another minute for the onions to soften. It's quite delicious served with spelt toast.

Veggies for Breakfast: Sweet Potato Hash

We've been trying to incorporate more vegetables into breakfast. Abbey made a dish yesterday that involved simmering tomatoes and onions,  adding beans, then poaching an egg on top of it. That inspired to me to get up this fine Sunday morning and make a dish we have been discussing recently, a sweet potato hash. It's savory, sweet, creamy and delicious. Plus, the way I've made it, it's vegan.

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
green onions
1 cup of Gimme Lean, sausage style
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbl vegetable oil of your choice

Microwave the sweet potato. I used a pretty big sweet potato and cooked it on high for 9 minutes, which was just about right.

Meanwhile, saute the bell pepper and Gimme Lean in a skillet. use 1 tbl of the vegetable oil if needed. If you have a nonstick pan, dry saute. Set aside when done.

Dice the cooked sweet potato, and saute it with the vegetable oil. keep an eye on it, it can burn because of its sweetness; but leave it alone mostly, so a crust will form. Add the cumin and paprika.

When the sweet potato has some nice browned bits throughout, add the Gimme Lean and pepper back in and warm through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place in a serving bowl and snip green onions- green parts only- over the dish, about 2 scallions in total.  Parsley or red pepper flakes might be nice too.

It was a satisfying and hearty way to start the day. It will add some nice variety to our breakfast lineup, too.

... MOSTLY Vegan...

You know the joke from the Princess Bride. As Miracle Max examines a seemingly deceased Wesley, this transpires:

Inigo Montoya: He’s dead. He can’t talk.
Miracle Max: Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there’s usually only one thing you can do.
Inigo Montoya: What’s that?
Miracle Max: Go through his clothes and look for loose change.

That sums up my vegan experiment pretty well. No matter how hard I try, I find a part of me that is only mostly vegan. It is not an easy thing to be 100% vegan without a complete readjustment in your senses. Cheese is something I really needed to kick- I've had serious problems with overindulgence. I talked about my difficulty in abandoning it entirely here. After about two weeks of mostly veganism, I can say my cheese habit is nearly dead. I don't crave it anymore. Well, I do crave the slight tang that a good aged parmagiano reggiano imparts to pasta dishes. I don't think I will ever be able to kick that. But all of the other cravings are seemingly gone. I can't afford to lose that momentum.

One of the factors that killed my cheese desire was, ironically, the nasty flavor of most fake cheeses. I struggled in vain to get into Teese and Daiya. I still can't stand them. They taste so obviously artificial; it never blends in with the other flavors. (Although I do kinda like daiya browned in the pan and eaten on its own as a cracker of sorts.) So, in response to this, I have adjusted recipes so they really don't require cheese. And that is how I kicked the habit.

I do have to give a special shout out to Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese, though. It may not be better than cream cheese, but it is remarkably tasty. I use small amounts of it to give pasta dishes just enough creaminess.

Another factor has crept into our meal planning: the high cost of vegan replacements for non-vegan products. (that's the "checking the pockets for loose change" part of the analogy.) We really can only afford to have one or two of them around all of the time. The one dairy replacement that is not expensive at all is nutritional yeast, which is pretty darn cheap if you can get it in bulk. So we keep some meat replacers- mostly Morningstar and Quorn- around, and the Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, and the nutritional yeast. fake cheese we'll get periodically (Abbey finds the taste of Daiya just fine, thank you very much) but I don't think it will make a constant appearance.

Also, tofu, as versatile and genuinely tasty as it is, is a little hard on the budget if you want to use it many times throughout the week. Especially if you buy organic, which I usually try to do. So, for a cheap source of protein, I've decided to morph into what you might call an ovo-vegetarian and eat eggs. For breakfast this morning we had burritos with black beans, salsa, Morningstar sausage, scrambled eggs and green onions. I put some diced green pepper in mine as well. I don't anticipate going overboard with eggs, but I think I will have some periodically to simplify the preparation of some dishes and, as I said, gain a few protein points.

Other dairy issues have been solved for the most part as well. I gave up my much beloved lattes for black coffee and the occasional soy latte, which I discovered is not gross. Soy milk is also great in smoothies and with cereal. Abbey prefers almond milk, which she likes for the same purposes. I can definitely say my desire for milk is gone.

Milk caused us health issues, anyway. After not eating any dairy for a couple of weeks and then having a pasta dish with milk in the sauce, Abbey had some familiar bad feelings in her gut that reminded her a lot of her problems with IBS. Could she have been lactose intolerant all that time? Maybe or maybe not, but it seems she definitely to be now. For me, my sinuses are bothered by milk, so that was an easy choice.

This morning we had a nice treat: a chocolate smoothie made from chocolate syrup, frozen chunks of banana, and soy milk. I added just a splash of vanilla and blended it until smooth. It tasted decadent.

Mike's Health Bomb

Sometimes, a measured, reasonable pace is not what's required. What's needed, instead, is drastic intervention. Mornings are like this for me, every single day. It takes extraordinary measures to evaporate the fog that's been accumulating in my head all night. Two cups of coffee are my usual poison; however, I'm changing my tune somewhat. Given: I've decided as the family morning riser it's my duty to be the one to work out in the mornings. Also given: my stomach is a barely caged beast in the A.M., demanding nothing less than immediate gratification in my first waking moments lest it reward me with it's other major morning mood, nausea. Impending workout + need for something in my belly asap = smoothie. You can see my logic here, right? Thanks to Smoov-E, creamy drink manufacture has become a snap. Additionally, it's easy to pack a whopper load of nutrition into 8 oz. of smoothie.

I have this other morning habit: I take probiotics, digestive enzymes and a multivitamin, and supplemental fiber in some form. I had the orange flavored citrucel before. What corporate genius decided people who are taking fiber for their health would find a significant dose of aspertame along with it just hunky dory? I did find some unsweetened citrucel (straight up psyllium husk, in actuality) which I dose juice with in the evenings. But I like another source of fiber better: Hemp. Not only does it have a significant dose of the required roughage, ground hemp seeds are also loaded with the all important Omega 3s and many trace minerals. Plus, it is loaded with protein. This stuff really is health food. The only obstacle you'll encounter with it is palatability. It's not unpleasant in flavor, but the powdery texture leaves something to be desired.

Enter: the smoothie. All of the above issues are easily addressed with a formula Abbey laughingly calls the Health Bomb. My guidelines are not strict (that's how I am with everything); what I made this morning is pretty representative of the idea, and, despite it looking like mud leaning mildly toward purple, it was very tasty. First, the supplements. I dumped two heaping tablespoons (which is about 16 grams of fiber) of hemp in the blender. Looks appetizing, yes? Then I disassembled two probiotic supplements and added that. To ensure a mix on the thin side to compensate for the hemp, which has a thickening effect, I added some almond milk and organic unsweetened grape juice. Finally, the solids: a banana (for the sweetness and the potassium) and a good handful of blueberries (for the anthocyanins and other good stuff). The product was ugly, yes, but actually very good. Abbey, who very sportingly tried some when I exclaimed in surprise, "It tastes good!", observed the almond milk compliments the flavor of the hemp; I agree, it really does. Now my belly is happy, I've added no caffeine to stress out my system so I can go work out, and I've got all the nutrition I need to feed my muscles. Problem happily solved. I'm looking forward to my next one, which judging from an inventory of the freezer will have a strawberry theme.

Mike's Second Favorite Breakfast

The honor of first favorite goes to Frijoles Charros and eggs, which I'll save for another post. This is a close #2: Huevos Rancheros. If you're a regular reader, my Mexican food fetish is probably known to you by now. If not... now you know. I could start every morning with eggs, beans and salsa and probably never grow tired of it. I don't think. Anyway, I was captivated by a version I found at Smitten Kitchen, but the task of flipping a tortilla with a raw egg sitting on top of it without making a bloody mess proved to be elusive. So, I made the salsa cruda as instructed on SK- which is devastatingly simple and delicious, just diced fresh tomato, onion (I used a sweet yellow, which I like best for salsa) and raw jalapeno; dismembered several stalks of cilantro; heated up the tortillas in a hot oiled skillet, melted cheese on each; and fried eggs in a separate pan, with the yolks still runny, naturally.SK's devilishly clever take was to use, as a delicious shortcut, Goya Black Bean soup for the bean side dish; I simulated this by spicing the beans with garlic, cumin and chili powder and copious amounts of black pepper, then letting a cup and a half of chicken broth reduce in the pan until the beans were sauced with the reduction. It felt strange trying to recreating canned soup manually, but the results were fantastic, I daresay better in the end for having been made from scratch. I doubt if I'll ever master that egg and tortilla over easy method, but this was mightlily satisfying, regardless.

Hey Man, I Just Want Some Muesli...

Another first for me.  Seems I'm exercising all of my 1970's health food craze muscles.  Muesli was big back in the day.  And these days, maybe only if you're in a kiwi novelty band do you think regularly of muesli as a viable breakfast option.

As my man is currently into his superfoods, I decided to make a muesli that combined as many as I could.  This meant dried blackberries, strawberries, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and maybe a bit of flax seed for good measure.  Here's the recipe:

Berry Muesli

5 cups rolled oats
1 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup wheat bran flakes
1 cup shredded coconut
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp flax
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
3/4 cup of honey
4 tbsp canola oil

Preheat the oven to 300F degrees.

Put rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, slivered almonds, wheat bran flakes, shredded coconut, sesame seeds, flax, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a large bowl. Stir to combine.

Heat up the honey and canola oil in a small sauce pan over low heat.  Pour the warm honey mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until your arm is about to fall off.

Spread the mixture on two large rimmed baking sheets and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every ten minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  (Depending on the size of your baking sheets, you may need to do more than one round of muesli-toasting.)

Add 1/2 cup sliced dried strawberries and 1/2 cup dried blackberries. Stir to distribute the berries throughout and store in one of those plastic cereal storage boxes.

When you're ready to serve the muesli, you have a few options.  The easiest way to enjoy muesli is with a bowl, a spoon, and cold milk, just like regular breakfast cereal.  You could also heat a bowl of muesli and milk up in the microwave for a hot breakfast.  Finally, you could do what we did, and have your muesli Swiss-style.  We put the muesli in a sealed container with some kefir and let it soak in the fridge overnight.  I think the traditional thing is actually yogurt, but since we had a surplus of kefir, that's what we used.  Honestly, I think I would have preferred just plain old milk and muesli when all was said and done.  The kefir was so tangy and strong that it overwhelmed the light sweetness of the muesli.  Next time, we're gonna try it as a hot cereal with just plain old milk.