Featured Article by Chef Kelly e. Keough

Kelly was a recent guest speaker at an Organic Liaison FREE Nutrition and Fitness Seminar, hosted by Health Director Deborah Klein, MS, RD.

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How many days a week do you wake up and ask yourself,  “What’s for breakfast?” You want something quick, easy, healthy, and delicious; something to sustain your body, mind, and spirit at school and work. How often do you think this, have good intentions to start the day off on the right track, and then resolve to start to eat healthy…tomorrow?

You know breakfast is where a healthy day starts. You know breakfast is the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, because breakfast shapes the trajectory of your day.  So, even when I don’t want to do everything it takes to make healthy choices at breakfast, I do it.

Why? Most of the time, it is a joy for me to make a healthy breakfast that is delicious, but there are some of those days—and you know what they feel like—when I don’t want to put in the effort. Yet, I don’t cave in and go for a soy latte and scone like I used to. And that’s because practicing good food philosophy has allowed me to experience great health, beauty, and weight loss benefits over many years.  I am now addicted to health.

My body is detoxed and my taste buds have changed, but breakfast is still my favorite meal of the day. The only difference is: what keeps me happy now is a healthy breakfast that gives me the taste satisfaction that I am always searching for.

Besides explore great new recipes that satisfy my sweet tooth without sugar, I decided to start the day with a commitment to nurture my relationship with myself. I began to ask, “What do I crave for breakfast and how can I make it in the healthiest way possible, with the most nutrient dense ingredients for optimum health and happiness?”  And, “How can I satisfy my taste buds while eating healthy?”  Because isn’t that what we all want? To eat healthy AND have food that tastes great?

So how did I solve the “what’s for breakfast” problem?

I steered clear of the old-fashioned breakfast standards and replaced them with new organic, sugar-free/gluten-free alternatives.

Instead of the OLD breakfast standards:

• Cold sugared cereals
• Instant sugared oatmeal
• Breakfast toaster treats
• Power bars
• Sugared juices
• Sugared yogurts
• Bagels and Muffins
• Canned fruit with heavy syrup

Try the NEW healthy versions of the breakfast standards:

• Low sugar, whole grain cereal with banana
• Slow cook rolled oats with cranberries
• Whole grain fruit and nut bars
• 100% fruit juices
• Plain yogurt with fresh berries and honey
• Whole grain bagels and toast with almond butter
• Whole grain muffins made with carrots/zucchini and maple syrup
• Fresh fruit bowls with raw almonds
• Protein smoothies with banana, blueberries, and spinach

Try something new!  It’s important to know that mindful eating is possible.  With a new shopping list in hand, it can be inspiring to be informed about the other choices that are available, options that are more nutritious and which assist us in starting the day off on the right foot.

If you have kids and eat healthy, your children will have more familiarity with healthy choices. They will actually want to feel good about the food they eat, and feel good from the food they eat.  The good news is that eating healthy foods takes the same amount of time as does eating unhealthy foods – with just a few extra minutes to prepare.

For me, breakfast is my first health and beauty task of the day because I’ve consistently benefited from starting the day off with nutritious choices that support my focus, creativity, and balanced-energy.

Try Kelly’s Superbreakfast choices:

1. Super Smoothies with protein and superfoods
2. Green Juices with apple, lemon, and ginger
3. Fresh fruit with organic almonds and Brazilian nuts
4. Organic Omega 3 egg omelete with arugula and avocado
5. Flourless Buckwheat Banana Bread (see recipe below)
6. Homemade Buckwheat Cinnamon Granola
7. Cooked Quinoa and Oats with dried fruit and nuts

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Featured Recipe: Flourless Buckwheat Banana Bread

2 ripe bananas

1 egg

¾ cup egg white

1 cup soaked raw buckwheat groats in 1 cup water

½ cup vegan protein powder

1 tablespoon lucuma or mesquite powder

2 tablespoons ZSweet

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

In small container with lid, soak raw buckwheat groats 8 hours in water.  Groats will soak up all the water.

Preheat oven to 350.  In high-powered blender, add soaked buckwheat groats, bananas, egg whites, egg, protein powder, lucuma or mesquite, ZSweet, baking soda, and baking powder. Blend on low and increase to high.  Spray oil an 8×8 baking dish and lightly flour with gluten-free flour.  Pour in batter.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or when a knife inserted comes out clean.

Yield: 16, 2” pieces.

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For Kelly’s free recipes and sugar-free/gluten-free vegan cookbooks, go to kellykeough.com.

Like this topic? Come to a FREE Nutrition and Fitness Seminar at the Organic Liaison Store in Los Angeles. Check out our seminar schedule here.

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[Image: from meglet127's Flickr Photostream/Creative Commons]

[Image: from GoodNCrazy's Flickr Photostream/Creative Commons]