Holy Omegas!: Flax & Oat Breakfast Muffins!

Nothing makes me happier than a muffin in the morning. But what makes me even happier is a muffin that's packed with good-for-you ingredients! A muffin you can feel good about! A muffin that will power you through the day.

If you've never been on Oh She Glows, you should stop what you're doing right now and start surfing the web immediately. The site's filled with amazing recipes that will give you plenty of ideas for making breakfast, lunch AND dinner the healthy way. Today, I wanted to make Angela's Flax & Oat Breakfast Power Muffins. Having a pre-made breakfast that you can grab on the go this week will leave you plenty of time for a few moments of peace and quiet before you book it out the door!

So here we go...

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mash 1 very ripe banana in a large mixing bowl.

Grab some extra-virgin olive oil, brown sugar and 1 organic egg.

Add 2 tsp. of the olive oil and 1 organic egg to the banana mixture.

Now add 1/4 cup non-packed brown sugar. This is the minimum for a hint of sweetness. If you want them to be a bit sweeter, add a bit more (I rarely advocate sugar, but sometimes a recipe just needs a bit!). Now mix well to combine all the ingredients.

In a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup ground flax seeds and 1/2 tsp. baking soda. Mix well (NOTE: You can find ground flax seeds in a bag near the vitamin section of Whole Foods).

Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture - mixing as you go.

Mix in 1/4 cup of chopped nuts if you have them lying around. We only had peanuts, but I imagine walnuts or almonds would be better!

Check out that batter!

In a greased muffin tray, distribute your batter into 6 cups...

...and bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Look at that simple, healthy breakfast goodness!

And here's why this is the perfect breakfast-on-the-run...

FLAX SEEDS - These little guys are packed with omega-3 essential fatty acids, the good fats that aid in heart health and help prevent inflammation. Flax seeds are also full of antioxidants, which help you fight cancer-causing free radicals.

BANANA - The potassium in bananas help maintain the fluid balance in your body and literally helps trigger each beat of your heart.

EGGS - If you eat animal products, eggs are a great source of protein to fuel you through the day and help your muscles repair after a workout. Eggs are also high in antioxidants, which help you ward off illness.

Seize the day, my friends, with muffin in hand!

The Breakfast Revolution: Recipe Time!

Image courtesy of blog.sweetlydias.com

I have a BIG FAT BREAKFAST DILEMMA. As you know, I'm not a fan of the traditional breakfast fare. Breakfast is my least favorite meal. Though I fantasize about avoiding breakfast completely, my body is just not cooperating. I'm literally starving the second my alarm goes off. 

My stomach and I are fighting right now.

Here's the problem. The more I read and the more I learn, I'm beginning to see the problems with eating a traditional breakfast. Take yogurt for example. If you're skeptical of dairy or it doesn't sit right with you, then that's out. Then there's eggs, which don't seem so appetizing when you're trying to eat less animal products. Oh...and bagels! Unfortunately, they're not really the best choice for fueling up either!

Thankfully, I stumbled across the site YumUniverse last week and after looking around a bit, received  the perfect dose of breakfast hope! A recipe sent straight from heaven to solve ALL my breakfast problems! 

I humbly present to you... Honey Chia Pudding with Pomegranate Seeds and Toasted Pepitas! It even sounds glorious!

Let's break this one down. First there's the chia seeds, which are a perfect source of complete protein, packed with antioxidants and omega-3's. Best of all, they keep you hydrated throughout the day! Next up - pomegranate seeds! In addition to being high in fiber, pomegranate seeds are packed with vitamins C and K and have proven cancer-fighting effects! Then there's the pepitas, or pumpkin seeds, as I like to call them! The combination of zinc, selenium, essential fatty acids and vitamin E in pumpkin seeds make them great for skin health and radiance. They also help to reduce cholesterol and prevent kidney stones! 

Sounds like one powerful breakfast to me! 

This weekend I decided to give YumUniverse's recipe a try! Here's how it went down...

The ingredient army - chia seeds, hempmilk, raw honey, raw pumpkin seeds, a pomegranate, vanilla extract and sea salt.

Because I didn't have cashews in the house, I went with her alternate suggestion and mixed 2 cups hempmilk with...

2 Tbs. raw honey...

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract and...

a pinch of sea salt.

Then for the fun part, the blending.

Add the blended mixture to 1/2 cup of chia seeds in a separate bowl and stir well.

Let the mixture sit for about 10-15 minutes, in or out of the fridge. This gives the seeds time to absorb the liquid mixture, creating  the desired pudding consistency.

Cut the top of the pomegranate off, like you would to an onion.

Score the pomegranate into 4 pieces and pull apart with your hands.

Look at all those beautiful seeds!

Now toast a handful of pumpkin seeds in a pan over medium-high heat, stirring or flipping constantly for about 5 minutes.

Looking good!

The toppings for your breakfast creation!

Once the pudding has thickened, top with the pomegranate and pumpkin seeds and you've got yourself one snazzy breakfast!

And if you need some extra help figuring out how the hell to get into that pomegranate, here's a quick (and very cheesy) tutorial to give you an idea, but keep in mind, you don't have to use the water (you can just pick them out with your fingers). The kiddos might enjoy this project too!



One more thing... for those of you who are hitting the gym hard this month, chia seeds REALLY do give you a boost of energy and hydration. I ate some on Sunday and had more energy on my run this morning than I've had in awhile! The proof is in the pudding!

If you don't have a blender or want to keep this simple, here are my suggestions...

1) Just add hempmilk/almond milk/oat milk/etc. to the chia seeds and add honey later when you're dishing it out for a meal.
2) Buy pomegranate seeds instead of a whole pomegranate - no prep work required!
3) Add any topping your heart desires... nuts, fruit, granola, etc! Make it your own!

Here's to a happy breakfast!

Amaranth: Spicing Up Your Breakfast The Aztec Way!

Image courtesy of southernexposure.com

You may recall my breakfast confession from a few months ago. You remember, right? How I used to eat anything BUT breakfast food for breakfast? Seriously, when I was in elementary school a bowl of spaghetti or some leftover meatloaf would do just fine in my book. Gross, I know.

Though I've graduated from leftover meatloaf, I still feel like something's missing in the breakfast arena. You've got your eggs, your granola, your toast... maybe even your healthy smoothie if you're feeling spunky... but all these choices still leave me feeling like something's missing. This past weekend I decided it was high time to try something new... something old school yet little known... a little something I like to call amaranth.

Excited? Ok, good. Here we go! Let's talk about amaranth.

Image courtesy of yumuniverse.com

Amaranth is usually grouped into the 'grain' category, although it's not really a grain. It's actually the seed of a flowering herb. Amaranth has been around for a long, long time. It was a dietary staple of the Aztecs. At one point in time, it represented almost 80% of their daily caloric consumption! To this day, amaranth is generally grown in Mexico, Peru and Guatamala, although many Asian countries now grow it as well. You can find it in your local health food store or natural grocery store (think 'Whole Foods')!

And great news for a few of my sensitive friends out there, amaranth is GLUTEN-FREE! Happy stomachs everywhere!

(Insert happy stomach dance here)

Amaranth is a very concentrated source of nutrition. Let me explain why amaranth is so great...

HIGH IN PROTEIN - Just 1 cup of amaranth equals about 28 grams of protein. If you remember from my previous posts, the average person needs approximately 50 grams daily. That's almost half your daily requirement! What's even better is that you're getting the plant-based protein without the fat! Perfect combo! 

CHOCK FULL OF CALCIUM - I don't want to burst your dairy bubble, but amaranth is a better source of calcium than milk. Because amaranth also contains magnesium and silicon, which aid in calcium absorption, you are better able to use the calcium in amaranth.

GLUTEN-FREE GOODNESS - I know I said it before, but I'll say it again... if you're gluten-free, amaranth is a fantastic 'grain' source because it contains more iron and fiber than other GF grains.

HEART HEALTH - Studies have shown that amaranth consumption lowers cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood, keeping your heart healthy and strong.

This weekend I wanted to experiment with amaranth. As many of you know, I'm in the midst of becoming a Certified Health Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. As part of this week's material, we were encouraged to try cooking with something we'd never used before. That's where amaranth comes in. 

Nothing like a warm amaranth porridge to get the day started right.

For 2 servings, soak 1 cup amaranth in a bowl of water overnight for 8-12 hours (amaranth is most nutritious and digestible if it's soaked prior to cooking).

When you're ready to cook the next morning, bring 3 cups of fresh water to a boil. Meanwhile, pour the amaranth through a strainer (just make sure your strainer's holes are tiny enough to capture the amaranth, which is fairly small, even after soaking). Discard the leftover water and pour the amaranth into the boiling water. Add 1/2 tsp. of sea salt.

Reduce to a low simmer for 30 minutes and cover, stirring periodically. At the 20 minute mark, grab your healthy ingredients
and get busy doctoring your porridge. 

Throw in 1/2 cup of dried goji berries (a fantastic superfood).

Stir in 1/4 cup of milk (or a milk substitute like hemp milk in this case)... if it's not creamy enough for your liking,
don't be afraid to add more.

Add 2 Tbs. of honey...

Add 1/2 cup of currants, raisins or cranberries, whichever you prefer.

Top with raw pine nuts or any other nut that you're digging on (pecans, walnuts or
slivered almonds would work well too).

Grab a cup of hot tea and you've got yourself one impressive, immune-building breakfast!

Starting Your Day Off Right: Breakfast Doesn't Have To Be A Burden!

Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

I have really vivid memories of being in second grade and hating breakfast food with a passion. My mom, being the nutrition nut that she was, insisted that I eat before I went to school, but I found cereal, oatmeal, eggs and the rest of it to be extremely disgusting. It wasn't that I wasn't hungry... I was! I just didn't like the taste of breakfast food.

Clearly, my taste in b'fast was not the only
thing questionable about me. Check me out,
there on the far left.

Sharona (as we call my mother, in loving reference to the 80's jam by the same name) solved the problem at hand by feeding me leftovers from dinner the night before. It wasn't odd to find me eating a plate of spaghetti at 7 am, or maybe munching on some squash casserole. That was my jam. Problem solved! I could finally enjoy breakfast!

My 'breakfast high' was short-lived though, when I was confronted with a bit of a pickle in Mrs. Harrison's second grade classroom. Mrs. Harrison let us come up to the front of the room for reading time, and when she finished the book, she would dismiss us in groups (so as not to cause a stampede). I can't tell you how many days she dismissed us by 'what we had for breakfast.' I would watch nervously as the other children scampered off in groups when she called out 'cereal' or 'eggs'... sometimes she'd even make it all the way to 'croissant' or 'yogurt' ...and still I sat.

Not to be upstaged, she eventually said, 'Lauren, what on earth did you eat for breakfast THIS time?' and I would have to admit, in front of EVERYONE, that I ate a huge plate of beef stroganoff before school. Needless to say, I was always the last person on the floor in the front of the room and I'm sure Mrs. Harrison questioned my mother's rearing techniques.         ...But that is neither here nor there.


The point of the story is: find a breakfast that works for you and start eating breakfast! It REALLY is the most important meal of the day and here's why...

• During the course of the night, your glycogen stores (which supply your muscles with energy) start to wane. If you don't refuel your body with breakfast, you'll start to lose energy and feel fatigued before lunch.
• If you start the day with a nutritious breakfast, studies have shown that you are less likely to succumb to cravings and make bad choices throughout the day.
• Breakfast is an extra opportunity to get your daily requirement of nutrients. 
• Breakfast helps to jump start your metabolism by helping your body produce the enzymes needed to metabolize fat and drop those extra pounds. In fact, studies have shown that people who consistently eat a balanced breakfast tend to be less overweight in general.
• Eating breakfast has been shown to improve your concentration and your work or school performance.

Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

So what exactly is a balanced breakfast? You should focus on foods that are high in fiber. Carbohydrates are not the enemy when they are the right kind, full of fiber. Stay away from the bagels, donuts and muffins and instead opt for a piece of whole grain toast, a whole grain waffle or a piece of fruit. You'll also need some protein for energy and alertness. You could go with an egg or even some natural peanut butter (ie. not JIF or PeterPan). It's also good to throw in some low-fat dairy options (if you eat dairy). Yogurt is my top pick because the good bacteria, or probiotics, in yogurt help the body absorb nutrients and regulate the growth of harmful bacteria in the body.

If you are the type to bolt out the door in the morning and just don't have time to sit down for a meal, here's an idea! The night before, blend together a fruit smoothie and refrigerate it overnight so that all you have to do in the morning is open the fridge, grab it and go! I find that if I make things ahead of time, I'm more apt to stick to my guns and actually eat something good in the morning!

And hey... if your thing is beef stroganoff in the a.m., who am I to judge?!?