I Love Breakfast!

Surprise, for the first time in forever, I am writing a post!! My lack of updating has been because I've been busy with pregnancy stuff.  Yay!! I've been all over the map with food, and as usual have settled back into the "simple is best" routine.  Being as thin as I was to start, my body really needed to gain weight at the beginning of pregnancy, and my body wanted CARBS! Like crazy, and dairy. 

I realized when I started craving the carbs that my diet was lacking in them to begin with.  I actually realized that two weeks or so before I got pregnant.  In those two weeks I gained enough weight, and then BAM, pregnant.  Eating the carbs (in the form of grains - yeah, I know!!) helped me to feel more stabilized.  I also craved dairy like crazy, and these cravings were different than the typical "I want that because it looks good", but were more along the lines of "If I don't have that I am going to kill someone".  So I indulged, figuring it was something that my body needed.  Unfortunately, I am an "all or nothing" type person, and since i was indulging in grains and dairy, I found it really difficult to be as choosy about which grains and dairy that I was eating as I should have been.  And, of course it eventually caught up with me.  To the point where my more bipolar symptoms returned.  Bad.  But luckily, I know how to fix it!

Instead of going back to where I was before pregnancy, I knew that I needed to incorporate some level of grains and dairy because it was obvious that I needed the nutrients.  I just had to be more discerning about they types and how they are prepared.  And I've been pretty good, and it makes SUCH a big difference...but we already knew that!

By far my favorite meal is breakfast.  And that has not changed.  I still devour eggs on a daily basis - packed with protein, fat, and cholesterol - the very building blocks of cells! And of course bacon is super important.  One of my smallest yet most effective changes is that I have been adding fermented foods (finally!) to each meal.  Most typically I use a lactofermented salsa, sauerkraut, and home made raw milk kefir.  I can handle doing the kefir - a very small amount - if I stick to just eating that as my source of dairy.  Unfortunately my grains allow me to make WAY more that I can eat...so if any of you are local and want some, please, please, please come over and I will share - this stuff is almost like liquid gold.  It's amazing!

This is my kefir sitting in my jar on my counter.  This is all there is to making it.

Anyway, making the kefir is super duper easy.  Just put milk over the grains.  Strain and put new milk in every day or every other day.  Drink the cultured milk, or strain out the whey to make kefir cream cheese and use the whey to ferment whatever else you want! To make the cream cheese, just layer some cheese cloth and let the kefir strain overnight.  That's it.  It works better if you have let the milk ferment for 2 days, since it will be thicker.  Then season the cream cheese with cinnamon and maple syrup.  Or onion or chives.  Or whatever other flavour you like!

So, I totally took pictures of half of my breakfasts on my phone and the photos aren't on my computer.  Boo! So you will have to use your imagination, and maybe I will add the photos when I have more time.  (If N is still sleeping when I'm done typing I'll go back and add some).

That is a photo of my egg drop soup.  Another breakfast item that is really, really good and filling.  I make the soup ahead of time (typical bone broth) adding in the carrots, celery, meat, and whatever veggies I have around, except the spinach.  The spinach can make the broth look unappetizing if it sits for too long, so I add that when I add the egg.  Then in the morning all I do is drop the spinach and the egg into the simmering broth and cook for about 3-5 minutes, depending on how "well done" you like your egg.  Then I add a small scoop of sauerkraut over the top with some of the juice.  It tastes way better than you think it does. This obviously can work really well for any meal.  But don't be fooled, this is a filling soup, you won't need to eat much. 

My typical daily breakfast is a quick scramble consisting of one slice of bacon (okay, sometimes it's more...but this is a loaded scramble, so you really only NEED the one), spinach, a couple of eggs, and a scoop of lactofermented salsa.  Usually this works on it's own, but sometimes I add a gluten free bagel with the kefir cream cheese or lactofermented guacamole on it.  So good!! This is an easy dish, just brown the bacon, strain excess fat, add butter, then wilt the spinach.  Add the eggs and pan scramble.  At the very end add the LF salsa - just to warm it, but not enough to kill off the probiotics.  I have also topped this with sauerkraut and a dab of home made mayo - also delish! It looks beautiful, so it's super appetizing, and is loaded with tons of nutrients, of course!!

Nick eating his bagel with kefir cream cheese.

Breakfast scramble with bagel and kefir cream cheese

 My last favorite breakfast is this baked oatmeal from the Nourished Kitchen.  I am just going to include the link because I really didn't change much, except that I am going to have to start using a milk replacement when I make this.  Which is sad, but I think a necessary adjustment - cultured milk only from now on.  Although, I suppose I could just use the excess kefir I have, but I feel like cooking it is going to destroy the parts that make it tolerable for us.  Wah.  Anyway, this baked oatmeal is awesome and it really holds up well in the fridge.  It hasn't lasted long enough to freeze yet, although I will be making a double batch of this to feed my freezer soon so that we will have some easily accessible snacks/breakfast when baby comes.  We usually garnish with kefir and a dash of maple syrup.  I don't have a picture of this either!!!! Dammit! I'm a bad blogger. 

Anyway, here is the link - there ARE photos on her website :)  http://nourishedkitchen.com/baked-oatmeal/

I hope everyone is healthy and happy.  And remember that we all fall off the wagon sometimes - the important part is that we get back on!