The Weekday Paleo Breakfast Base: How We Do It

Most people want to know what the Real Paleo Breakfast looks like. You know, we’re not eating bread or cornflakes. There’s no milk or museli on the table. And, early in the morning, there’s not much time or imagination, either.

We’ve discovered a way of doing breakfast which works fantastically for us, and we think you’ll like it because it’s cheap and easy. In this post, I’ll show you how we prepare our Paleo Breakfast Base. And in a follow-up post, I’ll show how we go from Breakfast Base to Frittata.

On weekdays – workdays – we eat vegetables for breakfast. Lots of them. We want to pack in the micronutrients at the very beginning of the day, and get our metabolism off to a good start. On the weekends we might indulge with Paleo Pancakes topped with fruit and coconut cream, and if we’ve slept in late we’ll be lazy with Biscotti and coffee. But during the week, we opt for high-density nutrition, and we achieve this with our Breakfast Base.

Mornings start early at our house – the alarm sounds at 6.25am, and we’re not the kind to leap out of bed. We lie in until the last minute, and I’m still sleepy-eyed when I shuffle out into our living space. I let Roxy out of her box, and we have a mad, wriggling Schnauzer cuddle on the couch. At 6.35am I’m putting the kettle on to boil. The General needs to be out the door by 7.10am. So for the morning and breakfast routine, we need a streamlined strategy. As does everyone, I imagine. And we don’t even have kids!

But, as I mentioned in last week’s post,  12 Ways to Save Money while Living the Paleo Life  – cauliflour by the kilo costs way more than toast and jam. Our Breakfast Base costs us next to nothing, because it is consists predominantly of all the vegetable bits which we would have thrown away in our pre-Paleo days.

Throughout the week, as I’m preparing our meals, I save anything that I can. I’m not talking about carrot peel and pumpkin seeds and bean stalks. I’m also not talking about onion and leek: they are too overpowering. But all the other good, edible stuff that doesn’t quite make it onto your plate, usually for reasons of habit or aesthetic – it all gets saved. Those funny shaped tops, and the tails of zucchini, for example. The soft inner lining of the pumpkin. The woody stalk of the broccoli is tender on the inside, so just needs to be shaved. Wobbly carrots. Left-over cooked potato or yam. When I make Cauliflour Rice, I just want to use the white cauliflour florets, but all the leaves and the core are too good to throw away. All of these go into a container and are stored in the fridge.

When I’ve accumulated a good amount, it all goes into the food processor, and is chopped into fine pieces. Then it goes back into the fridge. The Breakfast Base is ready! In the mornings, I just need to think about which source of protein we want to add. This varies from day to day. It might be eggs, in any way or form – boiled, poached, or beaten to form a Frittata. Once a week we add a fillet of salmon, yum. Minced beef is brilliant. Chicken or turkey breast in small pieces. A can of tuna when I’ve forgotten to take something out of the freezer.

I start it off as a wet sautè. I put a dash of water into a pan over a medium flame, and add about half a teaspoon of sea salt, some onion or leek, and possibly some spice or some fennel seeds. As the water starts to heat, I pile in the Breakfast Base, then pop on the lid. It’s early morning, with no time to lose. The lid traps the heat and speeds up the cooking time. Moreover, the vegetables, which are being steamed rather than boiled or fried, retain their nutrients. As they are cooking, I add the protein. Again, I’ll leave the lid on for a few minutes so the protein source heats through and cooks quickly.

We want to avoid oxidised oils as much as we can, so if I want to add fat, I’ll pour it on or melt it through right at the end of the cooking time. Butter from pastured cows, ghee, olive oil, mayonaise or coconut milk. Often, we’ll just pour olive oil over it all at the table.

With the vegetables pre-prepared, it takes no more than 20minutes to have a super-nutritious breakfast on the table. By 6.55am at the latest, we’re sitting at the table, with steaming mugs of Chicory (The General) and tea (me), wishing each other Buona Colazione, and starting our day in the best possible way.

In the next post I’ll show you how we go from the Breakfast Base into a Frittata, so stay tuned.

If you are new to Paleo and wondering what on earth to eat for breakfast, or if you are needing a routine to help manage your time and budget, then do give this a try. Let me know how you go! And if you have other ways and means of getting your own Paleo breakfast on the table, then we would LOVE to know how you do it.

Looking forward to hearing from you, and thanks so much for sharing on your Social. Oh, if you could give the recipe a rating, that would be fabulous, too!

Best wishes.

Paleo Breakfast Base

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Our Weekday Paelo Breakfast Base is acheap, quick and super-nutritious way to start your day.

Paleomantic: Paleomantic

Recipe type: Breakfast

This fits: Paleo, AIP, Whole 30

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Zucchini bits
• Cauliflour leaves
• Broccoli stalks
• Pumpkin
• Carrots
• Cooked potato or yam
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• herbs and spices to taste
• olive oil, butter, ghee or coconut milk

Instructions

1. Throughout the week, collect all the edible vegetable bits and pieces and store them in a container in the fridge.
2. When you have enough, put them into a food processor and chop into fine pieces. Again, store the chopped vegetables in the fridge.
3. Place a pan over a medium flame with a dash of water, ½ teaspoon of sea salt, and any herbs and spices that you want to use.
4. As the water starts to heat, add the chopped vegetables - about 1 cup for each adult.
5. Put the lid onto the pan and steam - sautè for 5 minutes.
6. Add your protein of choice, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
7. Add your fat of choice.
8. Serve.

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