Breakfast Three Times a Day!

Tags

Breakfast, Cauliflower Porridge, Paleo Diet, Paleo Recipes

I’m a breakfast person. I love breakfast. Pancakes for dinner, amirite? I am going to share my goto breakfast that is nutritious, EASY, and comforting.

Using cauliflower for EVERYTHING that we lost can get old. Cauli-rice. Cauli-pizza. Cauli-taters. But cauliflower is actually a wonderful vegetable:

• Cauliflower is a member of the cancer-fighting cruciferous family of vegetables
• Cauliflower is anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich, and may boost both your heart and brain health
• Eating cauliflower will provide your body with impressive amounts of vitamin C, vitamin k, beta-carotene, and much more while supporting healthy digestion and detoxification (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/22/cauliflower-health-benefits.aspx)

I try to eat 9 cups of vegetables per day. This tasty breakfast takes two cups of cauliflower. It’s a win all around.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked cauliflower (frozen or fresh)

splash of non-dairy milk (I used cashew here, but generally use coconut)

1 tsp. butter or ghee (for taste)

1 tsp. coconut butter/manna (optional, for added healthy fat)

coconut flakes to taste

nuts (I used pecans), separated

dried fruit (Craisins have sugar, so a sugar free option is preferable)

cinnamon to taste

 

Combine all but the dried fruit and a portion of the nuts in a blender. You will likely WANT to keep some texture so be careful about how long you process it. Pour in a bowl. Add nuts and fruit. Heat if necessary. That’s all.

 

Now, we’re tired, right? So since we have all of the ingredients out, let’s combine all but the fruit and nuts in a bag and pop in the freezer for another day. Where it took about 10 minutes today, it will take five the next time.

This is a great base to experiment with. I have,at different times, added apples, avocado, bananas, and honey. I have made it without an ingredient here and there. It’s forgiving. I love to fill it with nutrients just so I can get them in me. And of course, you will need protein. I usually set aside some from the night before to have with breakfast. Last night was chicken so I’ll have that in an hour or so.

Remember, nutrient density is KEY.

 

 

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Making Paleo Realistic

Tags

Charcot Marie Tooth, Paleo Diet, Paleo Recipes, Scleroderma

I am a hoarder. Of cook books. Of PALEO cookbooks. I have them on top of the fridge. There’s one on my nightstand. Four in the bookcase. I have them hiding in my Kindle. I even buy books ABOUT Paleo, and moon over the recipes tossed in at the end. I’m kind of sad. Why? Because I CAN’T COOK PALEO.

Oh, I can cook. I cook Lasagna, Stuffed Shells, and Baked Ziti, all with my own home made gravy (sauce). I make a killer Chicken Parmesan. Taste my Bread Pudding if you want to ruin all other Bread Puddings you will ever meet. But, this stuff is why I am overweight, inflamed, and barely getting through the day.

So I decided to combine my complete lack of cooking expertise with my lack of education about this new lifestyle. The baby they make will be this extremely honest blog about how realistic it is to convert to a Paleo lifestyle when you are tired, weak, and unskilled.

Because isn’t that the reality of it all? We turn to this lifestyle to reduce inflammation so that we can heal. But when we start, we are STILL SICK. It’s overwhelming. It’s expensive. Preparing inconveniently fresh and nutrient dense food takes more than popping it in the microwave and resting your head against the glass until it beeps.

Here’s the skinny: I am disabled. I have Neuromuscular Atrophy (Charcot Marie Tooth). It causes a great deal of pain in my arms and legs. I fall a lot. I am weak. I cannot grip things with any certainty that it will not hit the floor. I have Metabolic Syndrome and Hypothyroidism. I have Spinal Stenosis, causing back pain, to the touch. I have a Right Hip Replacement that is 20 years old and needs revision. And the other hip is acting up, too. Last year I was diagnosed with Scleroderma.

I am 46. What the hell?

After my Scleroderma diagnosis, I went on a loose Paleo Diet. Loose because I was too tired to cook all the time and honestly, could barely think, my brain was so foggy. But I lost 50 pounds in six months and have kept it off for a year. Now I am focusing on the other weight I want to lose. But this will be secondary to nourishing myself.

So I am going to try out recipes from my multiple books and post them, and the wretched aftermaths, for all to see. I will choose EASY recipes because that is all I can do right now. I may even find recipes on websites.

And you are invited to follow this journey with me. Maybe we can heal together.

LW