breakfast shake

Back at home after my travels I'm re-adjusting to the local time zone and wondering why the laundry fairy never shows up when I'm not home.

I enjoyed a number of fabulous meals while I was one the road with family in Northern France.  I indulged and ate outside my usual patterns.  I am a big believer in taking the time to enjoy the culture and opportunities that travel offers you and I certainly wasn't going to pass up some of the delicious experiences.  Who knows when I will find myself back in Northern France again.

One of the big changes was breakfast in a Chambre d'Hotel.  A Chambre d-Hotel is often a room available  in someone's house (although a few of them had a separate building) that you can rent.  There are little signs on the street indicating if someone has a room to rent in their house.  You drive up and inquire if there is space for the night (or if you plan ahead, you can call and make a reservation).  We did not plan ahead which meant that some days we looked at several places before finding one.

The prices seem to vary widely  depending on the size of the room, if there is a suite arrangement, the location of the town, etc.  Each place offers breakfast with the chambre.  What is for breakfast varies.  Every place offers fresh baguette and cheese plus jam.  Most of the time the jams were homemade and absolutely fabulous.  Each place also offered juice, coffee and tea.

Some of the different items in addition to the above which we had for breakfast (it depended on where we were and what they wanted to serve):  different breads or baked goods, sliced ham, cold cereal, yogurt served with stick packets of sugar, or fresh fruit.

Overall the breads were delicious and the yogurt that I ate there was fabulous.  I don't normally drink milk however it was so good that a couple of mornings I had a bowl of warm milk with my breakfast, something I don't normally do at home.

Now I'm back in my regular surroundings and getting back to my normal routine.  Part of that includes eating more in the pattern which works best for me.  I usually don't eat gluten as I find my system works better if I avoid it.  I do not have celiac or other illness that require me to be gluten free which is a good thing because in the French countryside I think that would have proven to be quite problematic.  I also tend to eat a high protein breakfast, again because that's what works best for my body.  Truthfully I believe it's what works best for most people, we need that protein boost in the morning to stabilize our blood sugar after our overnight sleep-fast.

After 12 days away from it I'm really enjoying my morning smoothie again.  It's such a great way to start the day, filling and delicious.

Morning Smoothie

1 cup plain organic whole fat yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk
1 cup fresh spinach (pack this in well)
1 small banana (or other fruit)
1 tablespoon unsweetened raw almond butter
1 tablespoon fresh ground flaxseed

Place all the ingredients into a blender and whir together until well incorporated

Makes two servings

As a side note, whenever I share this recipe I always get at least one person who says "Spinach in your shake?  Seriously?"  Yes, seriously.  It is delicious and gives a great boost to the shake.  Truly, aside from the color, you won't know it's in there as the other flavors hide the flavor of the spinach.  If you haven't tried it before I think you should, you'll be pleasantly surprised.  It's a great way to get some veggies into your system first thing in the morning.