My favorite thing…

If you followed my year of breakfasts & eating for recovery you know that I started out not liking oatmeal - at all. It was boring and mushy with zero thrill. I knew it was good for me though so I kept eating it and then one day, I woke up and realized I was in love with it. Finally, I had fallen in love with something that was good for me! Beyond being convenient, cost effective and versatile it is fiber rich and nutrient dense making it ideal for anyone in recovery. I personally prefer oat groats to the traditional rolled oat stuff they gave me as a kid. Technically they are the same thing but the groats (or steel cut oats) are less processed, have more texture and a nuttier flavor. Starting the day with them accounts for about 11% of my daily fiber which fuels my brain, is good for my guts and lowers any extra risk of cardiovascular disease I caused by years of drinking, smoking and eating like crap. It is also great for my bones (most alcoholics run the risk of developing osteoporosis) with its high phosphorus content and they have a fair amount of iron. About 20% of women are iron deficient. I know I was and the effects were shitty and noticeable. I got light headed, felt tired and weak, my hands were always freezing, my heart rate was high for no clear reason and my nails chipped all the time. Groats to the rescue! The copper and zinc doesn’t hurt either. These minerals support the immune and nervous systems. So vital.

Okay okay, enough raving about the nutritional benefits. I say all of this to throw a new recipe your way. It’s easy, delicious and I can not stop eating it! In fact I even had this dish for dinner a few nights ago.

Vegan Oat Groat “Risotto” aka Grisotto
1 serving (for all my fellow single ladies out there)
can easily be doubled, tripled or quadrupled

1/4 cup oat groats
1 1/4 cup veggie stock
1 heaping table spoon nutritional yeast

Soak 1/4 cup of oats in about 1 1/2 cups of cold filtered water and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar over night. Just throw it in a bowl and leave it. This softens them and saves you time in the morning.

Drain and rinse before cooking.

In a small pot add the rinsed groats and the stock ( + salt if your stock is unsalted - don’t go nuts) and cook at medium heat while stirring every so often to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. It will come together pretty quickly. Once the groats have absorbed the liquid take the pot off of the heat so it does not dry out and turn into cement. Throw in your nutritional yeast and stir. Viola!

The nutritional yeast has a cheesy flavor with none of the negative effects of dairy PLUS it is a great source of B vitamins which we desperately need - especially in early recovery.

This is as versatile as regular risotto. You could add mushrooms or top it off with tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Your imagination is the only limitation really. I had mine for dinner the other night with sautéed greens and a roasted portobello mushroom cap. A++

Life is what happens away from the computer..

I think Sunday’s may become screen free. A weekly scheduled 24 hour fasting to cleanse my mind and my eyes balls. A ritualistic unplugging. No content. No emails. No likes. No feeds. Just hobbies, meal prepping, the farmers market, bike rides, badminton, soaking up some sun, talking to my plants, being present and on really good Sundays, puzzles. My neighbor Jeffrey and I just started this 1500 piece beast. I love working on a puzzle. While the anxious parts of me may be convinced that “we are missing a piece” the over all effect of putting it together reminds me that in my life I already have everything I need.. I just need the focus and perspective to get it all in place.. and to enjoy the process.

Day 190: Avocado, kimchi, pineapple, kale, cucumber, amaranth sprouts. Refreshing, spicy and great for the immune system.

A for Effort

Focus on the effort - not the results.. that is what they say. This is a good rule of thumb when it comes to engaging with other people. It is true after all. The only thing we control is the effort we put in. The rest of it is out of our hands. We have no say over what someone else might do. How they may react or respond. I am beginning to believe that this may apply to gluten free baking as well. I feel like I’ve been showing up but something isn’t being reciprocated. I remain patient and optimistic but no longer have any expectations. That being said I have to admit it.. the zucchini bread hurt my feelings (and my jaw). So I got up this morning to give it one last go. I got the waffle iron piping hot and set out to make some “redemption waffles”… Sunday is a good day for redemption. I had to keep trying. My gluten free experiments have felt like throwing pasta at the wall and watching it hit the floor, repeatedly. For the record, I am willing to bet that gluten is what makes pasta stick to the wall in the first place. I just want to simply be okay at this. I like an alternative or progressive recipe. I want to be able to omit, replace and make substitutions in the kitchen, on the fly. I feel like I pulled it off this time! I am pretty satisfied with these here waffles. Sure I could see them being forcibly removed from a Waffle House at 2am for being nuts but that’s a right of passage. Right? I kid. That only happened to me once and it was because I played 1999 on the jukebox 12 times in a row. They were the ones who gave me all those quarters! Haters gonna hate. But anyone who gave this recipe a spin couldn’t honestly hate these waffles.

Day 186: Almond flour waffles with peanut butter, blueberries and bananas. Topped with more bananas, fresh bloobs, maple syrup and seeds. Pro tip: mix all your favorite seeds in a jar and leave it on your table with the salt and pepper to garnish everything. Get that extra nutrients in.

1 large egg (separated)
1/2 cup almond flour
2 Tbsp preferred sweetener (I used brown sugar because that’s what I had)
1/2 tsp gluten free baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt (use sea salt of the mineral content)
2 Tbsp peanut butter (or any nut butter, peanut is what I had on hand)
1/4 unsweetened almond milk
2 Tbsp butter or coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 banana
1/4 cup bloobs aka blueberries

Whisk together all your dry ingredients in a big bowl.
Melt your butter (or coconut oil) and nut butter together
Slice your banana into 1/4 inch thick pieces
Whip your egg whites until stiff (do this with a hand mixer unless you are glutton for punishment)
Now it’s time to add all the wet stuff to your dry stuff together but save the egg whites for last and gently fold them in. You want the volume of the egg whites to lift the batter.

Grease your waffle iron and add 1/2 a cup of batter per waffle. Throw some banana slices and blueberries on top then close it up. I let my waffles cook a little longer so they’re crispy and the fruit gets a chance to caramelize. You can peak in on them from time to time. Takes no more than 6 or 7 minutes.

I love your guts

You can follow your gut. You can listen to your gut. You might remember a time you told someone you hated their guts, I know I am guilty (sorry about that).. But today I am here to tell you that I love your guts! Guts are synonymous with courage and if you have quit drinking, well, guts is what you have got. Now, it is my goal to help in repairing the damage done while you were bellied up at the bar. Alcohol can wreak havoc on your digestive tract (THIS lets you know that liquid courage is alway a bad idea). Around 70% of your immune system lives in your guts and seeing as we are going through a pandemic we can not afford to damage its home with booze. It’s time to love our own guts to arm and support our body’s natural defense system. Over the next week we will be talking about ways to get your gut back into fighting shape. Foods, fatty acids, natural anti-inflammatory agents, vitamins and supplements (if you are into that sort of thing). While breakfast here today is a real stunner (imho) the thing that makes it ultra good for me is actually not visible. The salad is dress in orange juice and Udo’s 3*6*9 Blend. It is made with organic flax, sesame, sunflower seed and coconut oil. It provides a balanced ratio of Omega Fatty Acids. I use it like I would any bright flavored olive oil. It does NOT want to be heated. So, on salads, in juices, blended into smoothies, pestos and hummus it goes. Would hummi be the way to pluralize hummus? If so I am digging that. Anyway.. Beyond Udo’s that side of avocado (that we all know costs extra) is a great source of essential fatty acids. You can also add salmon, mackerel, sardines and tuna to your diet. Chia, flax and walnuts too. And last but never least.. The Incredible Eddible Egg.. you don’t even have to eat it naked to get the benefits.

Day 183: Kale, orange, scallions, bloobs, beet kimchi with Udo’s 3*6*9. hemp hearts, chia seeds and crunchy quinoa

Know your farmer..

Today is a twofer! Breakfast AND dinner! Started off nice and easy with a juice. Put a bow on the day with a bowl of ramen made by my friend Ryan Farnau who owns and operates F-Stop Farm. Shio style ramen topped off with some of his OG kimchi, local eggs and veg. I am so ridiculously lucky to live in a spot that has so many urban farms, local markets and people who care about their community in this way. It makes me feel nourished and cared for. Like there may be some hope for us humans yet. That is mostly what we talked about tonight. All the bad and beautiful shit that is going on in this world and can be done to balance it all out. Suffice to say we had a lot to talk about. He sipped his whiskey and I had my Mircalo sparkling kefir. It was a real treat to hang with the dude who grows a lot of my food. His energy is infectious, his level of self awareness is inspiring and his ramen is A++. My advice. Get to know your farmer.

Day 181:  Kale + Pineapple + Cucumber + Ginger and Coconut Water. Have you ever seen anything so green? It did the trick. Spicy, sweet and everything in between. If you have been following me for a while you know I do not advise on replacing meals with juice and or smoothies. I am a fan of chewing and fiber. They are ultra important and our bodies dig these things. BUT I had pizza last night. Which was enjoyable but left me feeling heavy and not all that hungry this morning. Sometimes juicing is the answer.. I swear I live to contradict myself.

Dinner and photo credits go to Ryan Farnau

Simple Awareness

I need to take a break from the screen. I’ve been doing a lot of work on the computer lately. My eyes and guts are telling me to take a break and go outside or read a book or talk to my plants or dance it off. That’s what I am going to do. I thought about water a lot today. Have some water.. This is water.

Day 176: Sautéed kale, bell pepper and scallion with tomato confit and a poached egg. When I worked in restaurants we always removed the stems from greens. Totally bogus. Please do not do this at home. There’s a lot of fiber in there and your body is into to. Eat the stems. To soften them up and cut down on their bitterness toss them in oil and throw the stems in the pan first. Cook them over low heat before adding the softer leafy bits that cook much quicker.

Tea is the new wine

Last night I stayed up late playing around in the kitchen cooking up this and that while having a cup of tea. I was sipping away, pinkies out and thinking about how tea has replaced wine in my life. Instead of popping a cork I just drop a bag. They have many similarities, honestly. There’s a wide variety of tea and wine from all over the world. Both are consumed ceremoniously and will stain the hell out of your carpet. One could discuss their flavor profiles and aromas at length if you wanted to sound pretentious and or just clear a room. I’m mostly kidding about that. I have definitely been guilty of swirling my glass and spouting off fruity adjectives without anybody leaving. Finally, you can cook with either of them. We’re all familiar with how to incorporate wine into your meals. A quarter cup is for the pan and the rest is for staining your teeth and telling people how you really feel. On the other hand tea can be made into a compound butter or added to short bread cookies or batters and doughs and frostings. Oh my! It works pretty well as a rub too. You could also swap out your stock for tea and cook your grains in it. Last night I set out to make a compote out of some waning blueberries that were hiding in the back of the fridge. I added some ginger, cinnamon, lemon and jaggery then topped it off with the tea I was sipping on and set it to simmer. The results were a win. Full bodied, fruit forward, tart, spicy and just a whisper of herbs in the back. Like a note passed in class. It got a little sweeter in fridge over night. As if I had put it in time out and by breakfast it was on its best behavior. I’m happy these days to have a cabinet full of tea rather than a recycling bin full of empty wine bottles. The clean up is easier, both physically and emotionally. Tea has never made me slurry or caused a scene or woken me up with a headache (or a stranger). So yeah, tea is the new wine. Cheers!

Day 174: Overnight oats with leftover quinoa, Greek yogurt, almond butter, coconut butter and blueberry compote. Garnished with fresh blueberries and seeds. The compote was made with an Ayurvedic tea. Rooibos, peppermint, sprearmint, ginger, rose, osmanthus, hibiscus, almond, apple and rosehips.

What is new and good? II

A while back I mentioned that all of my work calls start off with a little round of “What is new and good?” I want to turn that into Monday ritual here on Naked and Eggs. Kicking the week off with some gratitude couldn’t hurt. So let’s get into it! I’ll go first. What IS new and good?

1. I have taken on a few private clients as a health coach and they have all been a lot of fun to work with! This new line of work is proving to be even more satisfying than I originally imagined. I feel more optimistic right now than I have since maybe January. Can’t spit at that.

2. My handstand game is getting strong! It is amazazing what daily practice will do for you.

3. All my tomatoes are starting to come in and they are beautiful! I generally do not eat a lot of night shades. They can cause inflammation. BUT in an effort to eat more (or strictly) seasonally I’ve decided to just let myself enjoy all the tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and eggplants the world is dishing out right now with wild abandon. My gut tells me that the Mother Nature knows what I need to be eating and when so I’ll roll with it until I am given a reason not to. Come what may!.. As they say.

That feels like a good place to stop. I’d love to hear from all of you in the comments! Let me know what is new and good in your world.

Day 159: Kale salad with coconut oil and brags amino acids, cucumbers, zebra tomatoes (grown by yours truly), marinated tofu and sesame seeds. Not pictured: The banana I ate while I made this salad situation happen.