If you’re new here, welcome! I write, every Wednesday, about my journey on a healthier and mostly plant-based diet. With illustrations. There are two paid newsletters a month that both include printables (an illustrated recipe on the second Wednesday of the month and a ‘Veg Letter’ on the fourth) and at least two free newsletters which could be on any (food-related) subject, the rest of the Wednesdays in a month.
The meal that I think and talk (and write and draw) about the most is dinner. What to eat for dinner is always the big question, and sometimes a contentious one in household of varied tastes and different overall eating habits (usually at least one of the older grown-ups is trying to eat ‘more healthily’ in our own particular way, while the teens continue to like almost completely different foods to each other; three out of four are vegetarian; one or two of us may be ‘being vegan at the moment’). This summer there has been more and more ‘I’ll just sort myself out’ and we end up making three or four different meals between us! But we do usually manage at least a couple of shared and sit-down-together dinners in a week.
But breakfasts? These have not been shared and sit-together since they were kids and even then, Chris and I tend to have very different sleep cycles, so it would often be just me and the kids. (They were not vegetarian then, but I have always been.) After the baby-led weaning days, their breakfasts would vary quite a bit. Toast made quite a frequent appearance, and they would vary between sweet (jam, honey and, yes, Nutella – sorry, we did manage two years of providing very nutritious food with low sugar and no salt, but then life (and playdates) happened and savoury (marmite, cream cheese, peanut butter – though I guess that sometimes counts as sweet). And we also fell back on cereal a lot (finding Cheerios – or the own-brand equivalent – all over the house is surely a rite of passage for all parents?). We loved pancakes – usually American style and often topped with fruit. Talking of fruit, there was always lots of that. Almost always they would have handfuls of strawberries and blueberries and slices of banana on their plate; often some apple slices and satsuma segments or kiwi slices; usually some cut-up grapes, too. Frequently, they’d have other things, though, that aren’t associated with breakfast (in the UK, at least), such as a bowl of vegetable stew, a bowl of noodles with soy sauce, a cup of soup. Very rarely did we go down the more traditional cooked English breakfast route, though they did sometimes like sausages (yes, they were meat ones in those days).
Nowadays, neither of them eats breakfast. If they’re in school or college, they’ll pick up something before classes or at break time from there. But they almost never before leaving the house. And we don’t push this, despite the seemingly constant messages about how important breakfast is. Because, honestly, at this age, it’s absolutely their choice. And I was exactly the same at that age. I absolutely couldn’t eat until I’d been up at least two hours, ideally three or four. And I frequently fell out of bed, threw some talcum powder on my greasy hair (we didn’t have dry shampoo in those days!) and brushed my teeth, threw on my uniform, grabbed my books and ran out the door to catch the bus – in the space of less than half an hour.
In uni days, I would only eat breakfast if I had late lectures, otherwise I’d (like our kids today) grab something from the canteen mid-morning. In my first job (that was before university), I wouldn’t eat before leaving the house, but after I’d got the bus, I’d grab a vegetable pasty and apple turnover with cream from the bakers and eat it them at my desk while opening the post. That would be about three hours after getting up.
I cannot remember a time when I have been able to eat very soon after getting up. Even the thought of it makes me feel a bit sick. Actually, I can! When on holiday and I’ve got a paid breakfast included. But almost always, if I’m doing that, I will wake up early enough and shower and sit and read for a bit before I venture down to the breakfast buffet.
I do have to have a cup of tea and then a cup of coffee. For years it was two cups of tea and then one of coffee. Before I feel human. If I’ve been up early, I might eat something before hitting my desk, but usually not. Usually, I’ll do an hour or two’s work before I’m ready for ‘breakfast’. And often that work gets involved and I put it off, or forget, and suddenly ‘breakfast’ becomes ‘brunch’ or even just merges in with ‘lunch’.
I go through phases of thinking I should follow the guidance and try harder at eating breakfast (sometimes trying to persuade everyone else to, as well). I think that it will be the thing to help me lose weight. If I eat the exact right thing that will give me all the slow-release energy, it will boost me in the right way and see me through and I won’t want to snack mid-afternoon, and then I won’t want a sweet treat in the evening, and… And I think that is actually probably what I should aim for. I think the phases when I pay attention to breakfast (even if I allow it to be at least a few hours after getting out of bed) are the ones where I don’t want anything extra to eat in the evenings and when I have more and better energy through the day and less 3pm slumps. The days when I miss it entirely and merge it with lunch, or even leave that until mid-afternoon, will almost always see me hitting the ice cream or something ‘not good’ in the evening.
So, whatever the science says, I would personally like to start making a point of eating something good regularly before I hit my desk. But what? Fruit and yoghurt (vegan or dairy) has always been a favourite. My default is probably peanut butter (whole peanut butter, not the sort with lots of sugar and other gumph added – and I only like smooth, never crunchy) on toast, and these days I try to just have one slice (always, always, wholemeal bread) and an apple alongside it. In the autumn and winter, porridge is great. I have eaten it with just a bit of salt, but my preference is for a spoonful of dark brown sugar – some berries can do the trick, though. Eggs have always been a favourite, too. And I’ve not found a direct vegan alternative there – I haven’t managed to make a scrambled tofu that I’ve liked.
But often I like it best if there are leftovers from the night before’s dinner that I can just pop in a little bowl and eat. If I’ve made a beany casserole, or other things with beans, that’s particularly good. And I think that the emphasis on sweet food for breakfast (cereal in particular) has maybe been a mistake in this country. I think (totally unscientifically, just about my own experience) that I feel better through the day when I’ve had savoury food for breakfast and particularly when it’s a small bowl of the night before’s dinner. Many cultures do not differentiate breakfast so much from other meals. They eat the same food at all the meals. Why does it have to be a hard decision? Why can’t it just be a case of eating the same things we eat at other times of the day?
So perhaps that’s my answer – just make absolutely sure to make enough dinner that there’s always something there to grab in the morning! At least a couple of hours after waking up and after a cup of tea and a cup of coffee.
I’d love to know whether or not you’re a breakfast eater? And whether you always have the same thing or something different every day? Do you have special breakfasts at the weekend? Do you meal plan your breakfasts as well as dinners? Do you plump for sweet, savoury or a mixture? Are there things you only eat for breakfast or do you eat the same things as you do at other meals?
Well, I had a few days of broth and smoothies, following a mini diverticular flare. Very frustrating when I’ve been eating a pretty healthy diet full of good things, but I was reminded that it’s not all about the food, there are some other ways we need to look after ourselves, and I have been working very long hours recently and had a fairly considerable amount of cortisol running around in my body. Oh, and the things I haven’t been doing at all? Exercise!
But I did pick up some amazing mushrooms from the farmers market and am planning to get some every couple of weeks. I got a mixed box, which included lions mane, shiitake and something else I don’t remember. They were wonderful. We had them at a couple of meals before my flare-up started and did have to throw some out in the end but were planning to do a mushroom ragu (which would be loosely based on Yotam Ottolenghi’s one here). What we did make was a lovely mushroom chilli*to go in tacos and on another night Chris made tempura vegetables and used quite a few of the mushrooms and they worked so well. I am really happy that I have finally discovered that I like mushrooms!
Onion, finely diced
Garlic, finely diced or minced
Red chilli, finely diced (and we usually deseed, too)
Olive oil
Mushrooms (ideally a variety of different kinds, but chestnut or button will do fine if that’s all you have), finely diced (I used about a soup bowl filled amount and that made enough for six people to have a little bit in two tacos each – use lots more if you are making it as the main part of the meal)
Tomato purée
Miso paste
Cumin powder
Oregano
Vinegar (red wine, cider, or your personal favourite)
Sauté the onions garlic and chilli in some olive oil for a few minutes until soft and then add the mushrooms and cook on a low heat for around ten minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for another five minutes.
Serve in tacos with other stuffings (e.g. guacamole, salsa, beans), or with rice or in a jacket potato, or on toast. It will go with lots of things.
Don’t forget that there’s a discount on until the end of the month (almost here!), so if you’re thinking of taking out a paid subscription, lock it in cheap now!
Next week’s the second Veg Letter – take a look at last month’s to see if this is something you’d like to see. No hints. It will be an illustrated sheet about a plant-based food, though.