Sierra my brown mama dog says, "GOOD MORNING!!!!"
Today I am excited to be attending a 3 hour vinyasa yoga class with Elise Miller at Yoga Center Santa Cruz. In order to prepare, I need to think about my food intake and eat enough now so that I am not too full from 1 - 4pm this afternoon.
I decided a brown rice bowl and a big green smoothie were the perfect filling breakfast food - not too heavy, lots of protein, lots of fiber, and lots of fruit and vegetables to start my day off right.
I always try to keep cooked brown rice or quinoa in the frig so that we can add it to meals quickly. This bowl is about a cup of cooked brown rice, 2 - 3 cups of sauteed spinach, a big scoop of Annie's cashew and pimento spread, and a generous sprinkle of gomazio.
We drink a green smoothie at least 5 or 6 times a week. This particular smoothie has a very long list of ingredients - read the following list if you are interested!
3 cups water
1 scoop of raw vegan protein powder
1 tsp maca powder
1 tablespoon of Vitamineral Green
1 tablespoon flax seed
1 tablespoon chia seed
generous handful of raw cashews
1 frozen banana
dozen strawberries
handful of frozen blueberries
1 - 2 cups of frozen grapes
1 small orange
an entire bunch of lacinto (dino) kale
1/2 bunch of parsley
1 golden beet
1 big carrot
2 stalks of celery
big piece of fresh ginger
1 heaping teaspoon of turmeric
Our smoothies are always different but I tend to always use frozen grapes, banana, and a bunch of green - beet greens, collards, spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, lettuce mix from the Farmer's Market, chard, parsley,or any strange weird green I buy from one particular farmer at the market who always has interesting small bunches in these darling little baskets!
A note about parsley:
Parsley is rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. These help to control blood cholesterol, prevent constipation, and give our body protection from free radicals.
Parsley is full of potassium, manganese, iron, and magnesium. Potassium is the chief component of cell and body fluids that helps control heart rate and blood pressure by countering the effects of sodium. Iron is essential for the production of heme, which is an important oxygen-carrying component inside the red blood cells. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase.
Parsley can be used in salads, in stir fry, and in smoothies.
To saute the spinach, I sprayed a pan with a bit of oil and then dumped the washed spinach into the pan and essentially allowed it to wilt. You could also steam your greens. It's super fast and super easy with very little clean up time and very little chopping/preparation time.
Here are the two prepared ingredients I used for my meal. The Annie's is the bomb and I seem to never grow tired of it. Someday I should really try to make my own. The Gomasio is delicious - sesame seeds mixed with some salt and garlic. Yum!
A note about brown rice:
A cup of cooked brown rice has about 216 calories, 5 grams of protein, and 4 grams of fiber. I worry when people tell me they won't eat rice because it is a carbohydrate. I think we all need to remember that the "problem" carbohydrates most of America is eating (or drinking, thank you very much) is added sugar in processed foods and drinks like soda, "sports" drinks, ice teas, and energy drinks. Eating whole food carbohydrates is essential for our health!
A cup of cooked brown rice topped with vegetables, nut spreads, seeds, nuts, or even fresh fruit is a delicious way to fill yourself up and give you amazing nutritional fiber, protein, and phytonutrients! Long live brown rice!
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