Brain Food

For nearly the past 24 hours I have been editing/writing a huge federal grant proposal for p.e.a.c.h. (people for environmental action & community health 501c3 nonprofit) that has to be completed by 8am Thursday. Wow. I love this type of work, and I gained superb technical writing skills in college, but wow. My brain hurts in a good way. Grant funding is really important for supporting the great work that p.e.a.c.h. is doing in our community in 2010 and beyond, and I am the final editor/writer. No pressure, right?

On any given day I will gladly take this sort of a challenge as I find joy in capturing the essence of what is trying to be communicated, and in finessing an argument so that it exists in it's most powerful and concise form. This week, however, in addition to packing, moving, long runs, and all the other things I seem to fit into a normal days work, I have found myself to be incredibly hungry and in need of some serious brain food.

Here's what I came up with today. This is really out of the norm for me, but I listen to my body and this is what it was telling me it wanted to eat. So simple and so easy to prepare. I haven't eaten hot cereal since I was a child. I've never really liked it, but this was so dang good. Although this was super tasty in itself, I think that next time I will add some cardamom or cinnamon.

Ingredients (all organic except the oats as I haven't found organic gluten free oats):
GF Steel cut oats
GF Rolled Oats
Dried Blueberries
Dried Cranberries
Dried LOCAL Cherries
Raw Almonds (not roasted rather, all almonds are pasteurized to some extent unless you get them direct from a farmer who is bucking the system)
Raw Pecans
Raw Walnuts
Raw Pumpkin Seeds
Golden Flax Seeds
Chia Seeds
Redmond RealSalt
Raw Blue Agave

Mix all ingredients except chia seeds and agave in a bowl. Pour boiling water just to the top. Cover and let sit for 15-20 minutes, mix in chia seeds, add agave (or honey) to taste, and enjoy. This can be made the night ahead and consumed cold.. it would still be delicious and a great resource for someone biking many miles needing to replenish.

Although these are the ingredients I chose, you can really use any combination of grains, nuts, seeds, and fruits to suit your taste. Go easy on the flax seed as too much can become gooey and create the wrong mouth feel. For non-celiacs, I would recommend substituting rolled oats with some rolled emmer or rolled spelt flakes.

Chia seeds are something new I am trying. They can be added to casseroles and baked goods, sprinkled on cereal, yogurt and salads, or stirred into beverages, soups and sauces. Chia seeds are a nutrient-dense super seed with high fiber, 3x the antioxidants of blueberries, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, a great source of protein, and the richest known vegetable source of Omega-3 fatty acids.

After this lovely meal, I think I can get this grant finished by tomorrow. Thank you, delicious and nutritious food.