It is hard to deny the appeal of delicious, nutritious spa food – especially when someone else is doing the grocery shopping and donning the chef’s jacket to prepare the meal.
Imagine being treated to seven days of spa cuisine decadence. Talk about sublime.
Whether you have been to a wellness or spa retreat or not…it is easy to imagine the weight loss, detoxification and stress management effects of 5-7 hours a day of exercise and all the cooking of perfectly portioned spa cuisine done FOR you.
Except that most of us do not have a personal chef or shopper in our daily lives to prepare and serve healthy meals at just the right time each day. And when it comes to making a healthy breakfast? Many of us assume that our lives are too busy to find the time to create a nutritious start to the day.
What if you could make your own spa food at home – for breakfast? In your own kitchen? Without hiring a chef or buying pre-made meals?
I have good news…with a bit of grocery shopping and planning…you can easily create spa worthy meals…even for breakfast.
The most important meal of the day: breakfast
One of the pillars of good nutrition takes place at the beginning of each day: at breakfast. Even though my breakfasts has been relatively healthy in the past – I often waited to eat until over an hour after I had woken up (or even later). And? I rarely included enough protein in my breakfast.
During a one-week “reboot” at Mountain Trek – a luxury wellness and health retreat – in British Columbia, I learned about the importance of eating breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up AND composing a meal that includes equal volumes of complex carbohydrates, protein and vegetables or fruit. Why eat within 30 minutes of getting out of bed? The “break-fast” meal helps to kickstart metabolism AND keeps the liver from initiating the famine response associated with fasting that can result in fat storage.
Admittedly, I was nervous when I thought about my “re-entry” into day-to-day life. Luckily, the last learning seminar of our week week spoke directly to my inner fears. Cathy Grierson – Head Guide and Fitness Director at Mountain Trek – focused on using SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound) goals as a tool to integrate the program at home. Over and over throughout the week we talked about ours being a “mission” instead of a diet. A plan for improved health and vitality…that happens over time, with commitment and effort. Instead of trying (and failing) to integrate EVERYTHING, Cathy suggested starting small with only a few goals.
After returning from my life-changing week, my first goal was to incorporate this change of both what I ate and when I ate breakfast into my at home routine. Although there were other changes that I wanted (and needed) to integrate into my daily routine, getting better at breakfast was the first step for me. Luckily, the wonderful staff at Mountain Trek provide a program guide to all guests – WITH recipes. Plus? For they email any recipes of meals made during the week that are not in the recipe book.
My favorite at healthy breakfast secrets (and recipes)
Powerful protein smoothie
Part of my late breakfast routine was that I never liked to eat before I went for a run. At Mountain Trek though, we started each day with a 4 ounce protein smoothie BEFORE our morning yoga session (to make sure that we had eaten something within 30 minutes of waking up) – eating the rest of our breakfast afterwards. Never once did my stomach bother me, even during the deepest “belly breath.”
My at home trick is that I make my smoothies several times per week, and use the leftovers for the next few days (a quick stir of the spoon and voila’ – you don’t even need to re-blend the smoothie). (This also has the added benefit of not waking my family up with the sounds of my Vitamix on the leftover smoothie days.)
A few ingredients to keep in your kitchen for spa-like smoothies:
- Hemp Protein Powder
- Greens Powder
- Chia seeds
- Hemp seeds
- Frozen fruit (my favorite is blueberries)
- Frozen bananas (I buy extra bananas and let them get very ripe – and then unpeel and freeze each banana for future use.)
- Almond milk
I love the Mountain Trek Protein Smoothie .The recipe makes 3 x 8 ounces each or 6 x 4 ounces. I have been known to have 4 oz for breakfast and then again for my morning or afternoon snack.
Another favorite is the Green Goddess Smoothie– (I use spinach instead of kale). So yummy.
The tray of smoothies greeted us each morning before yoga at Mountain Trek. Portions were 4 oz. for women and 6 oz. for men.
Hot quinoa breakfast cereal
One of my favorite breakfasts served at the Mountain Trek lodge. Filling and delicious!
You will need:
(For the Quinoa)
- 3/4 cup quinoa
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 3/4 cup canned coconut milk
(For the fruit compote)
- 1 cup apples, chopped
- pinch cinnamon
- 1/3 cup orange juice (the original recipe calls for apple juice- but since I did not have any, I squeezed an orange instead)
- 3/4 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp. lemon zest
- 1 tsp. maple syrup
Cook quinoa covered (about 15 minutes). Add cranberries and cinnamon. Stir in coconut milk to make creamy. Serve with compote. I also like to add chopped or slivered almonds on top.
Served from my kitchen. I clearly added more fruit.
Spiced basmati pudding with fruit
Served at the lodge with a bit of cottage cheese and marinated fresh vegetables.
You will need:
- 3/4 cup brown basmati rice
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup almond milk (you can also use soy or rice milk)
- 1 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
- 1/4 tsp. powdered cardamon
- 1/2 tsp. powdered cinnamon
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup mango or berries
Simmer the fresh ginger, cardmom and cinnamon with 1/2 cup of water to make a tea. Strain through a sieve.
Toast the rice over medium heat, stirring frequently – until lightly browned. Add the tea water and milk. Cover and simmer on low for approximately 45 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and simmer until the liquid is absorbed. (Add more water if necessary to keep it creamy.)
Serve topped with fruit slices or compote. (I made a fruit compote with mango and blueberries).
(This recipe is a bit time intensive. My husband kindly made it for me one evening so that I could enjoy it the next day.)
Served in my kitchen.
Another delicious option? A beautiful breakfast parfait. We had this parfait on our last morning at the lodge – and truly, I found myself staring at it like it was a work of art.
A few other healthy breakfast staples to help create delicious spa food at home:
- Manna bread (you can buy Manna bread at Whole Foods or other natural food stores)
- Almond butter
- Chia (I add ground chia seeds to just about everything)
- Almonds
- Avocado
- Eggs
- Ginger detox tea
What I love about both the quinoa breakfast cereal and spiced basmati pudding with fruit is that I can make them ahead of time (ie: in the evening for the next day) and have leftovers for the next few days.
One month after my trip to British Columbia, I have integrated the new breakfast routine fully – eating breakfast every day within 30 minutes of waking up and preparing breakfasts that fuel me for the day.
*All the recipes are courtesy of the chef at Mountain Trek.
**I was guest of Mountain Trek during my stay. I covered my own airfare and paid for my own consultation with the nutritionist. All opinions are my own and no other compensation was received (unless you count the many gifts of strength, kindness and confidence that I brought home in my heart).
Healthy Breakfast Secrets Unveiled appeared first on Live.Do.Grow by Elena Sonnino