Healthy Breakfasts

For the last seven years (until mid-April), I prepared fresh fruit to add into plain whole Greek yogurt for Lizard every single morning. Because whole milk is good for Parkinson's. Bananas are very good for Parkinson's, too. Yogurt is good for the digestive tract, which can get really messed up by Parkinson's. And, fresh fruit... well, I'm not sure you can get any healthier than that.

Lizard had experienced digestive tract issues for years. Once he was diagnosed with Parkinson's, it was proposed he'd probably had it for years, long before I met him. With a ton of research and his willingness to adapt his diet and eating habits, we eventually cleared up all digestive tract issues within about 18 months of his diagnosis. He never again experienced the nagging digestive symptoms that absolutely torture so many people with Parkinson's. His doctors were amazed, particularly since everything else about Parkinson's kept advancing so aggressively.

We bought our dairy products through a local farm, which delivered in the middle of every Wednesday night. They stopped carrying whole yogurt two weeks before Lizard went into the hospital. I finally found a source for plain whole yogurt similar to what we'd been purchasing through the dairy a few days before Lizard went into the hospital. One of the containers (along with a gallon of fresh dairy whole milk) never got opened.

I was able to donate the milk to a new mother. (I drink almond milk. I even used to make my almond milk every week!) The yogurt sat in the fridge until about three weeks ago. I finally decided I'd better eat it before I had to throw it out.

At about that same time, I'd pulled what I thought was spaghetti sauce from my garden from the freezer to go with macaroni I was cooking. After thawing the unmarked container, I opened it to pour some on my whole wheat noodles and caught the first drips just in time. It was homemade spiced apple sauce from my neighbor's tree about two years ago. They and our neighbors on the other side hadn't had any apples since, and not because of late freezes. Lizard and I put in a pair of apple trees early this spring, hoping to help pollinate our neighbors' trees on both sides next year. (We learned we were supposed to pinch off all the blossoms this year so the tree can focus on root development, but, a late season deep freeze took care of that for us.)

I had hoped to one day grow our own apples for Lizard's yogurt, pies, cobblers, bread and empanadas, one of his favorite evening treats. I thought about all those treats as I pondered what I'd put on my spaghetti (store-bought jarred from the food storage sufficed). I decided to make some empanadas, which Lizard's sister enjoyed with me last week during our Tuesday bicycle ride. She was thrilled with the healthy treat.

I used some of the homemade applesauce in the yogurt and finished it off. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed eating yogurt in the mornings with Lizard. Made me miss him a bunch, too...

Last week, I discovered Greek almond yogurt at the same merchant where I'd bought the whole milk yogurt. I'm enjoying it this week with pineapple, mango, peach, ginger and cinnamon. Next week, I plan to enjoy some more with cherries, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. The whole milk Greek yogurt isn't on my menu anymore, but that almond yogurt has earned a permanent space in my fridge.

Lizard's favorite yogurt was with fresh blueberries, but I'd also stocked the food storage with frozen and freeze-dried blueberries so I'd always be able to treat him, no matter the economy or world situation. We'd bought a new mature blueberry bush, too, the same day we bought the apple trees. I'd tried blueberry bushes in the past, but none ever survived the winter. The late freeze this season left me with three blossoms, which have now become blueberries. It would not have made a complete bowl of yogurt for Lizard, but I can supplement with what I have in the freezer for me.

I am so thankful Lizard is whole again. But I miss him so much. I'm hoping one day I can sit tearless in the quiet living room as the sun comes up and smile as I enjoy my new healthy yogurt or any of the wonderful things I made for him and remember him.

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Lizard's Fav

My sweet hubby's favorite cereal, other than Count Chocula, which is available only around Halloween and I have learned (the hard way) to stock up on each year, also goes through periods of inavailability, such as a pandemic. Grape Nuts doesn't have much of a market share, so it's not high on anyone's list but his.

When I couldn't find any, even online, during my most recent grocery shopping trip, I decided to look up recipes online, just in case it could be made from scratch. I'd never even eaten Grape Nuts, so I had no clue what to expect. I was thrilled to find a bunch of recipes, and I took what I liked from the most popular ones, made a few healthy substitutions, and then made a batch for my sweetie.

For the record, I like the concoction a bit better before it's dried out, which is supposed to be the key to deliciousness. But the dried-out version is just what Lizard desires, and he told me he likes my homemade version even better than the name brand! Guess I won't need to buy Grape Nuts anymore!

Homemade Healthy Grape Nuts

3/4 cups unbleached whole wheat flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup hazelnut flour
1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup flax meal
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup smashed graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine all ingredients into bowl and fold. Mixture will be very thick. Spread mixture onto baking sheet as thin as possible. (I did not have parchment paper, which is recommended, so I used freezer paper. It sufficed.) Place in oven on middle rack until edges begin to brown (about 20 minutes). Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. This step is critical and should not be rushed. I kept the oven on at 250°F for an hour or so to let it heat the kitchen but then turned it off. The giant slab of what looks like baby poo took a couple more hours of cooling, even though it was a very chilly day.

Once cool, cut or break into small pieces, place in food processor and grind into crumbs. I didn't want to use my brand new blender for that, so I used a rolling pin and the heels of my hands to crush the crunchy dough into small pieces. Preheat oven to 250°F if you turned it off. Place crumbs back on baking sheet, place in oven on middle rack and bake, turning sheet every 10 minutes, until crumbs are completely dry. Mine took a little longer than an hour, perhaps an hour and 20 minutes. Made the house smell fantastic. Remove from oven and try to keep hubby out of kitchen until crumbs cool. Actually, let him eat some if he wants. He deserves it, and he loves warm homemade healthy Grape Nuts!

Store uneated portion in airtight container, if there's any left. I don't know how long a batch this size will last stored because it was gone in three days at my house.

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