sp&b

Undoing habitual behavior is a hard habit to break! Though breakfast has never been my favorite meal of the day, I came to terms with the fact that it is a must for getting the day and the body started. A toasted bagel, sometimes with peanut butter, banana and honey, more often than not, plain did me fine at work. Weekends required a cereal bowl, which I would fill with oatmeal, Cheerios, Shredded Wheat or Greek yogurt with fruit. Who knew that, with the exception of the banana, each of those foods is not compatible with arthritic conditions? It was time to put on my creative kitchen chapeau. What would be healthy and tasty that was not only arthritis friendly but would also be something I would want to eat first thing in the morning...

On 11/10/10, I wrote about a quick breakfast of sweet potato and banana with pecans and honey…so I turned that idea into a yummy pudding. You will need a food processor (I bought a small Cuisinart with a three cup container that is perfect) to get the consistency right; until I bought mine, mashing and stirring sufficed but the texture was far from the superior smoothality obtained after a few seconds of whirring in this little kitchen appliance. Below are the basic ingredients and measurements for my morning sp& b pudding, but I suggest you experiment with how much seasoning you use or try some other ones. If you don’t like bananas go bananas and substitute something else (should you use the yellow potassium filled fruit and want to make some for later, note that they may cause the mixture to turn brownish-orange. Not to worry, it’s still good).

sweet T’s sp&b pudding

¾ C baked mashed sweet potato
¼ C banana (or 1 small)
1 tbsp. ground flax seed
¼ tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. imitation rum
2 tsp. chopped pecans
½ tsp. agave nectar
chopped walnuts

Put all ingredients except walnuts in the food processor and I pulse for a few times with chop button then hold it down to puree. Scoop out into a nice bowl, top with walnuts, maybe a tiny bit more agave and get ready to say yum! 

I knew this was good when I let some folks taste it and they remarked how the layers of flavors just kept coming…if I haven’t learned anything from Top Chef, I do know that I had received a high compliment. Enjoy the pudding anytime of the day and as you do…

keep your peepers open!®