Breakfast and Play

This morning was one of those "oh-oh there's nothing in the house for breakfast" mornings for me.  I love those times, because they usually turn into an adventure. 

A few minutes' scavenging in the kitchen left me with a medium-sized yam, assorted spices, some dark green kale and a bit of onion.  Ohhh-kay.  I steamed the yam, then put some olive oil in my cast iron skillet and browned the onions.  Then I added the kale and the yam, and stir-fried the whole assembly with a little salt and some cayenne.

And it turned out to be a lovely, savory breakfast.  You could combine this with some tofu or eggs, I suppose, but it was also great as is.   I wouldn't do this with a potato, because the carbs in a spud are so simple, you'd be likely to crash a couple hours later.  But yams have a high Glycemic Index, so it'll likely be a good "stick with you" kind of meal.

I recommend avoiding the protein trap anyway.  We don't need anywhere near as much protein as we are led to believe.  Also, most foods contain protein, or at least amino acids.  Aminos persist in the body for up to 72 hours, so if you eat a variety of foods within that time, your body will assemble what it needs from what you give it.  You don't have to combine foods to create a complete protein.

In fact, if you eat animal protein, your body has to disassemble it and re-conconfigure it to suit your human needs anyway.  When the body does this, toxic by-products result, like urea and ammonia.  And when protein is over-consumed, your body leaches calcium from it's bones to facilitate the digestion process.  So if you're concerned about bone density...

The yams had a good carb load, lots of fiber, carotenes, and the GI is high.  And the greens gave me a nice calcium boost for the beginning of the day.  You'll notice that mostly when I give recipies, I don't offer measurements, temperatures or times.  You'll figure that out for yourself, and your body will help you.

Ask yourself what you're craving right now.  What kind of tastes, what specific foods, sound good?  Think about combining things you haven't before, and keep it simple.  If you combine more than three items, you're risking indigestion, and the cooking gets complicated.  Making food should involve a sense of play, and listening to your body.

enjoy!