The Makeshift Cook

This is extremely easy and hearty as can be, but will give your jaw a workout.

1 cup wheatberries (I used hard winter wheatberries)
3 cups water
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup frozen mango chunks

Put it all in the crockpot before bed and set to low. When you wake up, breakfast will be ready! Top with a couple spoonfuls of coconut milk and sweeten to taste. You'll be full for hours. Makes 3-4 servings.

You could also make this with fresh mango (add in the morning?) or dried mango (add in the evening, and definitely more coconut milk. ALWAYS more coconut milk.

I have a strong immune system and I'm generally successfully at staving off illness or keeping it pretty mild when I do get sick. But for about the last month, I've periodically felt like I'm fighting something off, which is annoying. I know I'm not getting enough sleep, and that's job one. Locking the cat out of the bedroom at night, sad as it seems, is helping with that.

But I also don't think I've been eating as well as I could, and too often I find myself mindlessly gobbling down something that doesn't make me feel good (or that I don't even enjoy very much), and thinking that I need to make some changes. I can just tell that I'm undergoing some kind of dietary shift, which I posted about over on mavenhaven last week.

Enter the green smoothie.


There are eleventy billion raw food sites and green smoothie recipes out there, and advocates of particular high horsepower blenders--and while I have to admit that I sort of covet the Blendtec, the nice thing about green smoothies is that you don't really need any dietary philosophy, recipe, or special equipment to make them.

So I'm just adding a green smoothie every day, and I'm going to see how it goes. Here's what I am drinking today:

Green and Mean
Two handfuls of spinach (stems are fine)
A deveined leaf of dino kale
A deveined collard green
A handful of parsley
A kiwi, with some of the peel removed
A banana
1/4 cup applesauce (fresh apple chunks would be great too)
1/4 of an avocado
Water
(A blender of some description)

Blend leafage and water first, adding more water as needed to get everything well blended. Add fruits one at a time. Drink slowly, maybe not in a single sitting. The flavor is fresh, lightly sweet and fruity, with a grassy undertone. If that bugs you, add more fruit. This made about 24 ounces.

You'll notice I'm starting slow with the tougher greens. I'm not interested in instigating a bunch of toilet troubles, as my boyfriend likes to call them, so you're not going to catch me chugging these or drinking an all-kale smoothie any time soon.


This is day two of the experiment. I'll keep you posted.

About every other day, I make a pot of steel cut oats for breakfast. I can't get enough of their creamy, chewy texture, which is so perfect with spices and dried fruit. They take awhile to cook, but they keep and reheat well, so you can make a bunch one day and have instant breakfast the next day. They are also good for you.

Delicious Oats
1 cup steel cut oats, not to be confused with rolled oats or quick oats
4 cups water
two or three handfuls of raisins, cranberries, or mixed and chopped dried fruit
1/4 t ground ginger
1/2 t cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

Combine oats and water in a pot and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add fruit and simmer 5-10 minutes more. Stir in spices and any sweetener you like, and serve topped with soy milk or yogurt or what have you.

You can also toast the oats in a little melted butter before you add the water. Or mix up the spices. Or add a teaspoon of vanilla at the end. Or sweeten with molasses.

I've also made this overnight in the crockpot, with the heat on low and about an extra cup of liquid and more fruit (dried apricots, specifically). It is divine. As are the grilled steel cut oats they serve at the Longfellow Grill with heavy cream and fruit compote.