One meal to stop cravings
It’s amazing how having a vegan breakfast bowl can bring out the best in you and take the edge off cravings.
It has the power to get you out of the cycle of constantly thinking about food. It can even spare you headaches or an argument with your boss!
A grain bowl made from whole grains like buckwheat, quinoa, millet or even sweet potatoes, matched with some fruit and vegetables.
It may sound too filling, but that’s what it takes to settle cravings and ever occurring hunger for that little “something”.
A grain bowl gives you steady energy and levels blood sugar so you can quit nibbling on foods between meals.
It helps you stay focused for hours. Finally you are free to put your mind 100% into a project or dive into your favourite book without the constant distraction of “What am I gonna eat next?”
Would you believe it also makes you eat less at dinner time?
It’s only when you deprive yourself earlier in the day, which backfires. Then you can easily lose control over food in the evening.
Here is a simple way to assemble a breakfast bowl:
Pick a grain of your choice, add your favourite fruit or vegetable, flavouring (cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg/soy yogurt), seeds/nuts.
Try a vegan breakfast bowl from these 3 recipes or create your own!
Berry – pineapple bowl
The combination of berries and pineapple is divine! Dress up buckwheat or any other wholegrain in these colourful fruits, flavour with cinnamon and drop of soy yogurt.
Put into a bowl:
3/4 cup cooked buckwheat, 1/2 cup berries, 1/2 cup pineapple cubes, small handful of walnuts, cinnamon, 2 tbs plain soy yogurt
Carrot cake grain bowl
Carrot cake is legal even for breakfast. My favourite 🙂 Carrots mixed with cinnamon, dates, a few walnuts and buckwheat create a perfect blood sugar balancing treat.
Put into a bowl:
3/4 cup cooked buckwheat, 2 carrots chopped, 4 dates chopped, 5 walnuts halves, 2 tbs plain soy yogurt, 1 tbs whole seeds, cinnamon
Tropical millet bowl
Millet is another gluten-free grain which is filling yet light. It goes well with any fruit and flavouring. I like combining it with banana, melon and seeds for a holiday feel all year around.
Put into a bowl:
3/4 cup cooked millet, 1 banana sliced, 1/2 cup melon, 1 tbs ground chia seeds, 1 tbs whole mixed seeds, 2 tbs plain soy yogurt, cinnamon
To cook buckwheat for a delicious vegan breakfast bowl:
Put 1 cup of buckwheat, 1 cup of unsweetened plant milk and 1 cup of water into a pot. Bring to boil (careful, it spills easily out of the pot, so cook in a large enough pot), then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until almost all liquid is gone.
Turn off the heat and let sit covered until the liquid is soaked up by buckwheat. Keep in the fridge and in the morning, take what you’d eat for breakfast. This can last 3 – 5 breakfasts depending on how hungry you are each morning
Not a breakfast person?
If you are not a breakfast person, that’s ok.
The truth is that breakfast is any first meal of the day when you break a fast. So whether you decide to have it at 8 am or follow an intermittent fast and push it out until mid-morning or midday, it doesn’t matter.
What does matter is WHAT you eat. And as you can guess a croissant, or a piece of toast isn’t the best choice.
Quick sugars perpetuate cravings and if that’s how you start your morning, guess what you are going to crave? The same processed sugars over and over again.
It’s when you enjoy whole grains like quinoa, buckwheat, millet, oat groats or sweet potatoes, when you give your brain and the entire body the fuel it was designed for.
Then your sweet tooth is comforted by natural sugars of complex carbohydrates, your cravings go, your mind calms down and you feel at your best.
Note: If you are wondering why I don’t recommend having porridge from quick oats for weight loss and to diminish cravings, check out my video Is wholemeal couscous better than rice?
