The Evolution of Breakfast and Other Miscellany

 

Some weeks ago I reported on the purple porridge I had been eating for breakfast - the purple being the blackberries I picked in the autumn. Soon after that Madeleine advised me to add some protein at every meal, plus to eat some prunes as snacks for extra iron. So I added hazelnuts and chopped prunes to the purple porridge which turned it into a much more satisfying breakfast. It had crunch now, and extra sweetness. Then my friend Monique invited me for porridge brunch (I absolutely love that I have friends who invite me over for porridge). Porridge with All The Things. Berries and nuts and seeds and cacao powder and maca powder, goji berries, date syrup, and a yummy mixture of chia seeds and chopped dates soaked overnight in water.

On top of that went chopped apple and a green smoothie with spinach, coriander and carrot. It was an amazingly tasty concoction and we ate on the steps of her deck in the sun and looked at the garden.

Back home I was inspired to take up the challenge and see how much nutrition I could cram on top of one bowl of rolled oats porridge. Then I remembered that Madeleine challenged me to switch up the morning oats with millet porridge sometimes as it has a lot of iron to offer. I was doubtful, but gave it a go. I am so glad I did. Millet porridge is delicious - it has much more of an actual taste than oatmeal does. A little bit nutty. Here's how to make it: Whiz up the millet in the blender. It starts out looking like coarse polenta. You want to grind it until it looks like fine polenta. Then cook it in a saucepan at a ratio of one part ground millet to four parts liquid. I use one cup of ground millet, two cups of water and two cups of soy milk. Cook it like porridge until it resembles creamy baby food. I am sure this would make excellent baby food. 

Then add all the toppings. I added a toasted walnut/sunflower seed mixture, the chia seed and date mixture (I keep a jar of it in the fridge now), and frozen blackberries. I had to leave a space so you could see the millet, but after I took the photo I added chopped prunes as well. This is a delicious and absolutely filling breakfast. I don't need to eat for hours after this. I eat about a third of the above quantity each day and store the rest in the fridge. The next day I mash it up in the saucepan with a little extra soymilk with the back of the wooden spoon and heat it up again on the wood stove. Yum, yum. And so much cheaper than almost any of the fancy cereals and granolas and what have you at the supermarket.

In other news: it turns out that the medical opinion on my dizzy spells is - stress. Yes, I was clenching my teeth so hard I was rearranging the geography of my inner ear leading to dizziness and nausea. Insane, but there you are. One of the many, many negative physical manifestations of stress on our poor bodies. Still, I am pleased it was so dramatic and unpleasant and the stress trigger so obvious and transient. It made it an essential problem to deal with. Now I am practising deep breathing whenever I feel my jaws clench. My lovely doctor said it is obvious I hold stress inside (hence the clenched teeth). She advised loud singing! You can imagine how happy my family is about that. I already cause certain other people stress with my constant humming. It will be too delicious, I mean dreadful, if my enthusiastic, untuneful and medically prescribed singing causes unfortunate stress reactions in certain other persons.. (it's ok, certain other persons are planning on getting noise-cancelling headphones)..

Oh, and a few weeks of not eating any dairy resolved the blocked ears as well. Dang. Cheese.

Still, there is hope that I can eat cheese occasionally as a treat. But not as a major food group. Which it is. Ah well. Millet porridge really is very yummy..