Strawberry Breakfasts are in Season

In season: Strawberries!

Latin name: Fragraria vesca

Most of us are pretty familiar with strawberries -- they look like the fruits in this picture: little, red, and juicy with tiny seeds nestled in its skin.

But did you know that the strawberry fruit has a cooling nature and has been used to reduce fevers and other hot conditions within the body? As within, so without: for example, if you have a mild sunburn, you can rub a fresh cut of strawberry over the affected skin to reduce the redness.

Another time-tested use for strawberry fruit was to remove discoloration from teeth. Simply rub the berry on to them and allow the juice to remain on for about five minutes. Afterwards, rinse with warm water to which a pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) has been added. (There was no mention of the frequency of this remedy. As strawberries are so delicious, I'd use that as an excuse to do this about once a day.)

Carl Linnaeus, a renowned botanist from Sweden who lived in the 1700's, proved that the fruit was even useful for relieving rheumatic gout!

What's not commonly known is that the Strawberry's leaves are also high in Vitamin C and astringent. As such, they can be brewed into tea to alleviate diarrhea. Hooray! But even if you're not challenged by this ailment, you can still enjoy a cup of strawberry leaf tea - perhaps chilled with mint and fresh lemon for a cool lemonade?

Strawberries’ notable minerals: folate, manganese, potassium; notable vitamin: C. (Comprehensive nutrition facts on strawberries at NutritionData.com)

You can check out more folklore than you ever wanted to know at VegParadise

Sources:
* A Modern Herbal, volume II. Mrs. M. Grieve, ISBN 0486227995

* Nutrition Data: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2064/2

* University of California Museum of Paleontology for Carl Linnaeus' biography -- www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/linnaeus.html
* University of Illinois extension: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/strawberries/history.html

* VegParadise: http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch45.html

* Photograph: Johnnyscriv at iStockphoto

Sighing Strawberry Oatmeal with Coconut Milk

Tools You need:
A stove & saucepan (optional)
A small knife
A bowl and spoon

Ingredients You Need
Milk – rice, almond, soy, cow, goat, etc
Strawberries
Maple syrup or honey
Coconut milk
Rolled oats
Ground spices like cardamom, cinnamon, or ginger.

Do this
Optional: Put your milk on the stove to warm up. Keep it on low - medium. You will need about 1/2 – 3/4 cup.

While it’s heating, grab your bowl and cut up as many strawberries into it as you like. Add some coconut milk (I use about 2 heaping tablespoons), your honey or maple syrup, and about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of rolled oats. Add your spices, if you like.

Pour the milk over your breakfast. If you chose to heat it, wait about 1 minute for the oats to get soft. If you pour it in cold, wait 2-10 minutes, depending on how soft you like your oats. (I’ve been known to eat it right away.)

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Crackers and American Cheeze - the Healthier Version

How do you satisfy a craving for a sweet, flavorful cracker with cheese when you can't have gluten (wheat) or dairy?

Cracker ingredients:
1/2 cup shredded coconut, 1/2 cup flax powder, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1 tablespoon tahini, 1 teaspoon spirulina, 1 tablespoon of raisins, 2 small carrots, 1/2 sweet pepper, 1 tbsp cold pressed coconut oil

Cracker recipe:
Process everything in the food processor. Spread onto dehydrator sheets in thin crackers(or oven at the lowest setting) and dehydrate until solid and crackery like consistency.

American cheeze ingredients:
raw macademia nuts, 1 small raw carrot, 2 cloves or more - a lot of garlic for the funkiness, sea salt and a pinch of turmeric

American cheese recipe:
Process everything in the food processor until it's spreadable.

Top with sprouts or your favorite vegetable.

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Breakfast Lab Pancake Sunday

Imagine breakfast by robots - ingredients perfectly measured, no emotions, mechanical efficiency of a toaster magnified 100 times... getting your pancake cooked to a perfect crisp, just how you like it.

If you see me cook, with the ingredients spilling everywhere, and songs, and lots of arm waving, you'd think it would be dull watching a robot make okonomiyaki.

But I don't think so. Robots are cool.

(Sample okonomiyaki recipe here)

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Green Eggs, No Ham.

Say!
I like green eggs and ham!
I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat.
And I would eat them with a goat...

And I will eat them in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good, so good, you see!
-Dr.Seuss

Sadly I have no pig or ham,
no bacon or tofurky spam

But i do love green eggs, (no ham)
I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!

Ingredients
swiss chard
salt or dulse
eggs

Pulverize chard through a food processor until it is finely chopped, or chop it fine, until the pieces are smaller than the size of a 1/4 of a penny.

Crack open the eggs in a bowl, add the greens, and use a fork to incorporate them into the eggs, until it's a fine green mess. Add dulse.

Pour into a hot pan, cover and cook on low to medium heat.

Garnish with salsa if you like.

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Breakfast Makeover: Celebrating Passover with Amazing Breakfasts (Part 3 of 3)

It's getting close to the end of Passover. Tired of matza? How about creating a bread substitute that doesn't taste like matzah but doesn't have any leavening?

Raw cracker sandwich with kale and avocado


Crackers
1 cup Flax seeds
1/2 cup Almonds
1/2 cup Sunflower seeds
1/4 Walnuts
2 tbsp coconut butter
1 carrot
1/4 red pepper
1 tablespoon curry powder

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Spread on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate overnight or 8-10 hours.

Sandwich filling:
Avocado
Tomato
Kale
Cucumber

Add the filling in between 2 flax cracker breads to your taste and pleasure. Munch. Enjoy!

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Breakfast Makeover: Celebrating Passover with Amazing Breakfasts (Part 2 of 3)

It's day 5 or day 6 of Passover. Alas, even you lost count on this early rainy morning. You've stumbled into the kitchen in a morning daze looking for anything healthy and quick to grab -- and all you find are matzo crumbs and some wilted dill. The situation is dire. Thoughts of bagels and lox dance in your head as your rummage in the fridge.

No worries. Breakfast Lab is here to help. Grab a tomato, that wilted dill, a can of sardines or another kosher fish, and prepare to create a masterpiece. It's not exactly bagels or lox, but it's still very very good.


Stuffed tomato
Satisfying tomato wholesomeness holding a good protein source to give you energy and brain fuel for the entire morning. Great thing about stuffing things is that you can create your own unique stuffing and each time it will taste a little different.

What you need:
5 minutes
a spoon, a fork and a knife
1-2 tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped dill
1 can sardines or another fish
a few leaves of basil

Chop dill and basil. Mash fish into the chopped greens.

Cut the top off the tomato and cut out the insides. Stuff the fish mixture inside. Bite in and savor the deliciousness.

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Breakfast Makeover: Celebrating Passover with Amazing Breakfasts (Part 1 of 3)

I recently received this letter from Karen, who graciously agreed to get a Breakfast Makeover.

I have been on a quest to eat healthier. I just discovered some breakfasts that do keep me full until I am ready for lunch. I dont know if I really paid that kind of attention to my morning appetite. Since Passover is approaching my choices for eating a healthy & fulling breakfast will be significantly diminished.

I wont eat eggs or beans and I am moving away from eating dairy. I am not a particularly "big" meat eater. I will consider tuna as breakfast.

I wont be able to eat any grains (other than store bought matzoh. Will you or have you already written about what you would do during Passover?

Dear Karen, here is my first choice for a Passover breakfast. It makes me sing anytime I create it. Try to make it and see how you feel!

Purple Breakfast Shake



This is a delicious and energizing way to start any day, but especially so on Passover. Eating all that white flour matzoh, you need to keep your blood sugar levels even and this is just the thing.

The flax seeds add the brain boosting omega-3, blueberries provide antioxidants, kale is rich in cancer-protective substances and the almond butter on top serves as a great bonus Rorschach test. Try to figure out what I drew!

What you will need:
10 minutes (5 to prepare, 5 to eat, 5 to wash the blender)
food processor or blender
1 cup kale (I used my favorite purple/red kale)
1 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)
2-3 tablespoons of flax seeds
1/2 cup or more, almond milk (add as much as you need - less for thick, more for more watery shakes)
2 tbsp of almond butter

Process blueberries, flax, kale, 1 tbsp almond butter and milk in the food processor. Pour out into a cup and sprinkle the rest of almond butter on top. Savor slowly. It's so good.

More amazing Passover breakfasts to come tomorrow!

Do you have any suggestions for Karen in the meantime? Please post in the comments below.

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