3 breakfasts ideas with cortisol-reducing foods

Let's face it, mornings are stressful, but what we eat doesn't have to be. Here are three of our favorite quick breakfasts all made with ingredients that help to reduce cortisol!

Repeat after us: Antioxidants, protein, fiber and adaptogens! These are the foundation of all of these meals and they help to support you throughout the day.

Avocado Toast on Lentil Bread

Key ingredients: Avocado, Lentils, Spinach

• Lentil Bread - we made our own using our adaptogen and paprika spice blend, but you can buy it to make it easier. 
• Spinach
• Avocado
• Fermented spicy red pepper spread - if you don't have this, consider trying kimchi, red pepper flakes with olive oil and vinegar, or chili oil
• Cream Cheese - we used Grounded Hemp Seed Cream Cheese for an added protein boost!

Method: 

1. Toast a slice of lentil bread
2. While it's toasting, slice a 1/4 of an avocado
3. We like to slice our spinach in shreds. You don't have to do this, but we think it works better.
4. Once toasted, spread a layer or cream cheese. We're pretty generous with this layer, but do what works for you.
5. Top with spinach and then the avocado
6. Then drop a few dollops of the spicy pepper spread depending on how spicy you like it. 

We also sprinkled a bit of Everything seasoning. 

Warm Oatmeal with Blueberries and Chocolate Maca Gwellnola

If food could feel like a hug, this would be it.

Key Ingredients: Blueberries, Gwellnola, Milk

• Steel cut oats (1 serving measured)
• Plantbased milk (look for options high in protein) The amount is to your preference
• 1/3 cup Organic wild blueberries
• 1/3 cup chocolate maca gwellnola
• dash cinnamon
• Sweetener of choice - if you want it

Method: 

1. Cook oatmeal however you prefer with the milk and oats.
2. We like to add the gwellnola after cooking for a nice crunch, but you can add it while cooking and use the heat to soften it.
3. Top with gwellnola, blueberries and a dash of cinnamon
4. Drizzle sweetener if you like a bit more sweetness

You can also use this for meal prep as overnight oats and just grab one each day. Just skip the cooking step.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Protein bars with Chocolate Maca Crusts

This one is perfect to make on the weekend and freeze. You can stick a bar in your bag and it will be perfectly defrosted once you're ready to eat breakfast on the go.

We made this plant-based, but we encourage you to try it the way that works for you, just don't get rid of the key ingredients.

Full disclosure: The first time we made this, we measured nothing, so we will include a few recipes for the filling that we found online and the ingredients we used in our version below.

The base is our chocolate maca gwellnola. We'll include instructions for this below.

Key Ingredients: Beets, Gwellnola, Chocolate Chips (70% or higher), protein rich greek yogurt or tofu

Ingredients we used:

Beets

Organic Tofu or Greek Yogurt

Agar agar

Arrowroot, tapioca or pearled sorghum

Dark chocolate Chips

Chocolate Maca Gwellnola

Sweetener of Choice

Plantbased milk

Sample red velvet cheesecake recipes:

https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/raw-chocolate-beet-cheesecake/

https://eatwellenjoylife.com/paleo-red-velvet-cheesecake/

Crust method:

1. The amount of gwellnola you need depends on your pan size. The easiest way to figure out what you need is to pour the gwellnola in your pan until it evenly covers the bottom. There can be spaces because that will be fixed in the next steps.
2. To soften the gwellnola to press into the crust you'll need to add liquid. We chose plant-based milk. Add 1/4 cup of milk for every cup of gwellnola. Heat for one minute and test of it is easily mashed with a fork or spatula.
3. If it is ready to go, pour it into your dish and evenly spread it. Then press it into the dish.
4. We made a no-bake cheesecake, so after we did this step we added the mixture and let it chill to room temperature on the counter before putting it in the freezer for a few hours.
5. We then removed it from the freezer and sliced it into bars to eat throughout the week. 

 

Sources:

https://www.wellandgood.com/cortisol-reducing-foods/

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods-high-in-antioxidants#TOC_TITLE_HDR_10