a week of breakfasts
simple and whole foods + a vlog
Welcome to mamaeats, a twice-weekly newsletter (Tues. & Sat.) inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. I’m a mother of three, avid reader, gardener, and home cook who focuses on nourishing, whole food meals with a focus on plants. This newsletter is my labor of love—if you are not already, and are able to do so, please consider becoming a subscriber to support my work here, which takes time and effort. Doing so gives you access to all the archives and recipes (find the recipe index here), as well as cook-along videos which go along with most recipes. If a recurring payment is too much for you right now, but you’d still like to contribute, I’d be delighted to receive a one-off tip via my ko-fi. As always, thank you for being here, reading this newsletter, and sending me your thoughts.
Many of you wrote to say that you enjoyed the “what I ate today” video in the April favorites newsletter, which makes me so happy—it was fun for me to make, and experiment with creating something new. This experience, along with reader questions about breakfast, prompted me to expand on an earlier series that I never continued- “a week of lunches”- but, breakfast edition. I’ll go into a little more detail about what breakfasts here consist of, and then there is a video of my week of breakfasts, and also little clips of things I did that day. A sort of video diary which I hope you’ll also enjoy!
Breakfasts are the one meal here that doesn’t vary too much. Each of my children have their one or two favorites, which they eat almost every day, except for the weekend, when we make some sort of pancake, waffle, or pastry together. I personally tend to rotate through phases with my preferred breakfast, depending on my mood and the season- but, mainly it’s variations on porridge, tofu scrambles, or yogurt/granola. Another requirement for me is that is is quick to prepare, I don’t want to spend more than 15 minutes in the kitchen making breakfast.
This week, there was quite a bit of spinach in the garden, and tofu that needed using, so I had lots of tofu scrambles. They are easy and make a good amount, enough to store in the fridge for a day or two and not have to cook again the next day, which is lovely. I enjoy a savory breakfast- especially with legumes involved- as I find it gives me steady, even energy that carries through until lunch. I always have cooked legumes in the fridge (lentils, chickpeas, cannellini, and red beans are my favorites), which make for an easy addition to my plate.
breakfast staples:
warm porridges: cream of buckwheat (Bob’s Red Mill) cooked with cardamom, rolled oats cooked with apple and cinnamon, steel cut oats cooked with raisins and cinnamon, cream of millet with cardamom and steamed milk (Amy Chaplin’s recipe). During the summer, cold porridge or overnight oats or chia pudding for a similar comforting texture, but refreshing temperature.
toasted nuts or nut butters to top the porridge and add fat for satiety, texture, and flavor (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, and peanut butter are my favorites)
firm tofu, nutrional yeast, and cashew butter for scrambles
any leftover cooked vegetables and legumes to add the the plate of scramble to make it a meal, adding nutrients, fiber, and texture
a serving of fresh fruit, whatever is in season and ripe, plus frozen berries for when there’s no fresh fruit.
my favorite maple olive oil granola and yogurt (Cocojune or Culina plain) or soymilk (Silk, original unsweetened)
water and a vitamin D3/K2 supplement during the winter and early spring months
cappuccino or matcha lattes, although I usually have these midmorning after I’ve eaten and apart from meals to avoid interference with iron uptake
Below, Monday’s breakfast, and a good example of a typical savory plate for me. A leftover half of a roasted sweet potato from last night’s dinner, tofu scramble, spinach, and leftover cannellini rosemary beans, all heated up together in a skillet with the lid on and a splash of water. A tangelo and some water on the side.
tofu scramble
notes: I always make this by eye/feel, it is a very casual ‘recipe’. It yields a creamy scramble, not a dry one. The cashew butter combined with the broth or water is what makes it creamy and lush, like soft scrambled eggs. I always add some sort of chili paste, chili crisp, or hot sauce to the top of this when serving. You can add all kinds of flavorings, spices, black salt, etc to your liking- this is just how I usually do it to keep it simple. If you don’t keep cashew butter on hand, you can use cashew cream instead.
vegetables of choice: this week, I used a whole spring onion from the garden, greens and all, and a small bell pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
one block of firm tofu
2 tbsp cashew butter
salt, nutritional yeast, garlic and onion powder, turmeric, black pepper
1/4 cup water, plus more as needed
Chop up the vegetables and saute them in hot skillet with oil and salt till tender. Crumble over the block of firm tofu into the pan. Clear a spot in the pan and add the cashew butter and water and mix well, then mix through with the tofu and veg. Mix in the spices (I use about 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, a teaspoon each of onion and garlic powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric, plenty of salt and a few turns of black pepper, but spices are so individual and you should add what you personally like) and cook until creamy and combined, about 3 minutes, adding more water as needed to achieve desired consistency.
the video
For paid subscribers, find the video below: a week of breakfasts, and other small things I did this week. I hope you enjoy these (let me know if you do, I may continue this as a regular thing), and as always, thank you so much for your support. xx A