Chia, Almond and Banana Porridge

Originally published 26.1.2015

Breakfast…They say it’s the most important meal of the day.  You are essentially breaking the fast of sleeping at night.  Doing so helps fuel you for the day ahead, helps with mental alertness, and it provides the body with essential vitamins and minerals.  All of which sounds pretty good to me!  

However, where we could be falling short is believing the claims on most cereal boxes that line our supermarket shelves.  Beautiful, colourful packaging which screams ‘fat free’, ‘low fat’, ‘high fibre’, ‘low sugar’…Although I would beg to differ.

Of course I understand that it’s so much easier to grab a box off that shelf, add milk and be on your way…but if it’s not nourishing your body, then this is where we fall into a trap.  If your body can’t assimilate the food properly, you could as easily end up with sluggishness, brain fog, sugar spikes, and that feeling of needing a coffee to keep you alert!  Or worse, reach for something else mid morning because it hasn’t actually fuelled your body!  Which is why we need to ask ourselves, is this really food?  As Michael Pollan so adequately states, “If it came from a plant, eat it.  If it’s made in a plant, don’t”.

So, what to do?

In contrast to what my younger self would have believed (often skipping b’fast), I’ve found eating a light breakfast full of fresh fruits and easily digestible, nutrient dense foods like chia and quinoa are a much better alternative that aren’t going to cause you to face that mid-morning slump or put too much pressure on your digestive system.  It doesn’t have to be boring and it doesn’t have to take up too much of your time if you  can prepare yourself even just a little bit the night before!

Here is just one of my favourite go-to breakfast ideas, tried and tested by my hubby who is pretty big on ensuring he satisfies that morning hunger pang!

Serves 2

Ingredients

• ¾ cup chia seeds

• 3 cups organic almond milk

• 1 cup activated almonds (or soaked overnight to release the enzyme inhibitor)

• 1 frozen banana

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp maca powder

• 1 tsp lucuma powder

• ½ tsp maple syrup

• fresh fruits

Instructions

1. Soak chia in almond milk in the fridge for 20mins or overnight creating chia porridge

2. In a high powered blender, blend the chia porridge, almonds (rinsed) and remaining ingredients except the fresh fruits.

3. Chop up the fruits of your liking and add to porridge. Sprinkle with goji berries or hemp seeds (for added protein) and enjoy!

What’s your favourite nourishing brekkie?