Starting with Veggies

When you think of a traditional American breakfast, usually eggs, bacon, toast with butter, bagels, and muffins come to mind. Kale, mushrooms and spinach are not always what you are craving at 7AM! If you follow a vegan diet, however, eggs and bacon are not going to be on the menu--so what to do?

Some days I'll start my morning with oatmeal and berries or quinoa, almond milk, and peaches. A sprouted English muffin (from Ezekiel) with almond butter and fruit on the side also does the trick. But over the past week, I've been trying to focus on foods that are going to build up my immune system and add energy and fiber to my life. So one dish I will prepare (maybe two to three times a week?) is a tofu scramble. Now a tofu scramble can take on many forms and I've seen a ton of different recipes for them online. One of my favorite ways to prepare this is to saute spinach, kale, and/or chard with onions, garlic and mushrooms. After those have been cooking for about ten minutes, I'll throw in the tofu and whatever seasoning I feel like (oregano, nutritional yeast, or salt and pepper) and saute for another five minutes. When it's all done, I might top it with fresh tomato or avocado and voila! In the dish pictured above, I put some Ezekial (sprouted) toast with almond butter as well as fresh berries on the side.

Now I have to admit, if you are not used to eating veggies in the morning, it can take some getting used to. You might not drool over a tofu scramble like you would a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich! But when I think about all the healthful, immune system-protecting nutrients in these foods, it makes me very happy to eat it! Plus, eating veggies in the morning is a great way to knock out some of those servings of vegetables that you need to eat throughout the day for optimal health and nutrition. Sounds pretty good to me!

PS--Cut up the veggies you are going to use the night before to save yourself time in the morning!