Breakfast

Breakfast. Supposedly the most important meal of the day. Yeah, right. A morning person came up with that one. Someone whose stomach wakes up early. Maybe it was my mother.

Here's what I understand about breakfast:

First of all, the name break-fast is about breaking the "fast" of not eating since the day before. Around 8 hours without sustenance or fluids. And maybe that long since we flushed out our internal plumbing. Not a pretty picture.

And here's what I know about people:

Some folks wake up hungry -- and lucid. They can safely fry an egg if they feel like it. More power to 'em. Then there's people like me. Best not to talk to me until after I've had my tea. Or a mug of coffee. Some mornings I can't think straight enough to choose. That really slows things up. And food. I don't even want to think about food until about 10AM. Which is fine on the weekend. Or a day when I'm working in my home office. But what about the days when I've got to get out on the road and won't have the opportunity for a meal break until noon or so? That's cranky waiting to happen. Not to mention the mental fuzziness &/or headache from no brain fuel.

So this is my solution for the barely awake and hungry or not.

I drink my breakfast. I can do that, even when half asleep and not yet hungry. And it will carry me for hours.

Fast, easy, satisfying and delicious. This will wake you up, clean you out, bowl you over and get you going.

But first we have to think ahead just a bit.

Get in the habit of tossing overripe bananas in the freezer. Right in the skins. (I corral them in zipper bags.) Frozen bananas will give this an ice-creamy consistency. Any other fruit that you may not get to before it starts getting funky -- wash it, cut it up, scoop it into a zippered freezer bag, squeeze out the air, flatten it out (so you don't end up with an iceberg), and toss it in with the bananas. Pineapple, peaches, blueberries, cantaloupe, whatever. Or pick up bags of frozen fruit and berries at the grocery store.

If you need a hit of protein in the morning, keep some tofu and yogurt on hand. I buy the 32 oz. vanilla yogurt. Nice and creamy, slightly sweet and very versatile. (More on yogurt and tofu in future posts.)

Now pull out your blender.

Retrieve a banana or two from your stash. Run it under warm water and it will slip right out of the peel. (Cool, huh?) Wash and cut up some fresh fruit -- apple, pear, plums -- or toss in some frozen fruit and berries. Sometimes I even add an avocado. Mmmm. Very creamy and luscious -- if you don't mind the greenish hue. Experiment! It is really hard to go wrong with this.

Pour in a little liquid. Or some yogurt. Start with maybe a half-cup or so. OJ, water, soymilk, coconut milk or coconut water... (If this is going to be DINNER, go ahead and break out the rum!) Add some tofu if you want. A piece about the size of a deck of cards will be plenty. Now snap on the lid and let 'er rip. Add more liquid if it's too thick. If it's being stubborn, turn the blender off and give it a quick stir with a dinner knife, add a bit more liquid and blend again.

Pour into a tall travel cup and you can take it with you.

For quick clean-up, run a little warm water in your blender, add a small squirt of dish soap and give it a brief spin. Now all it needs is a quick rinse and you're out the door.

Sweet, fragrant and filling. Easy on the system. The fruit juices hydrate you, a variety of carbohydrates provide quick and sustained energy, and fiber will keep you feeling satisfied and scrub your pipes.

Trust me. It took you longer to read this that it will take you to make your breakfast.

Please let me know if you try it. And share some of your favorite combos. My mornings could use the help.

Enjoy!

Tired... and satisfied

cooking for the tired and hungry...

I cook. It's what I do. For myself. For those I care about. For those who need assistance. For therapy. Because I can... because we all find relief in small successes.

As friends who've known me over the years have often said, "Robin, you can't help yourself."

Today was a full day -- following several long days. Two "optional" meetings. One this morning, one this evening. What to do? The temptation to forfeit in favor of getting 'caught up' was strong. And - TWICE - I scrubbed up, packed up, and headed out to discover the miracles waiting for me outside my office.

This evening a "Fresh Ideas on Food Policy" Reception. Hard to bend my mind around "fresh ideas" and "policy" sharing the same banner. (Too long in DC.) Stepping outside my cynicism with an open mind and heart, the evening was a huge gift to me -- and perhaps that gift will be a contribution to others. We'll see.

One of the hosts greeted me as I entered and later struck up a conversation, mentioning that as a new dad, he'd been so focused on caring for his young son, that he was neglecting himself. One consequence was an expanded waistline.

We talked about that -- taking care of ourselves when our commitments and obligations pull us in so many competing directions. And I mentioned that I'd often thought that I should write a cookbook -- or something -- called "Cooking for the Tired and Hungry."

And he said, "Promise me that you will do that. As soon as you get home. At least a blog."

And so here it is. And we will see where this takes us.

Thanks, Eric.