Hey there my Steemit friends! Today I'm going to show you what the real breakfast of champions is all about, and all I have to say is "Wheaties!" Are you kidding me? A box full of highly processed wheat void of any real nutrition except fortified vitamins; guzzled down with a bunch of mucus and phlegm creating milk!
I grew up on cereal and milk. I had asthma, allergies, and was always congested. I cut out all processed food and dairy from my diet when I moved to South Korea at age twenty. I had a diet full of fresh fruit, meat, and vegetables and my asthma simply went away!
I was never congested and my skin complexion never looked better. So no, the "Travel Pro Breakfast of Champions" certainly is not Wheaties or any kind of processed food. Nor does it cost as much, in fact here in Ecuador it's incredibly affordable.
So let's get right down to it. The Travel Pro Breakfast of Champions is a big bowl of mixed fruit, nuts, high quality organic dark chocolate, dried fruit, and a couple spoon fulls of chia seeds. The majority of the meal is made up of all sorts of antioxidant packed fresh fruit. The fruit is very high in vitamin B and C and much more.
For the nuts; no peanuts! These are actually beans from the legumes family and are characterized as edible seeds enclosed in pods. Peanuts are the cheapest and least nutritious of all the nuts. I use the good stuff like walnuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios, cashews, macadamia, and Brazil nuts.
The nuts provide omega-3 and good fats, the chocolate is low in sugar and high in antioxidants, healthy fat, and provides other healthy components as well. I sometimes add high quality plain yogurt to the mix to get some good probiotics, calcium, and vitamin D. However I limit my dairy intake because too much makes me congested.
I always try to include a good mix of berries especially black berries which I get for a dollar a pound here in Ecuador. Deep red, blue, and purple fruits are always incredibly nutritious and very high in antioxidants. Black berries and blue berries are especially good as they have resveratrol; the component in red wine that is supposed to slow down the aging process.
I'm very fortunate to have a refrigerator in my room here in Guayaquil Ecuador. I also have AC, hot water, a flat screen TV, and great WIFI all for just twelve dollars a day! Actually I'll soon be publishing a detailed "Travel Pro Hotels" post on this place soon. So each morning I boil some hot water and make a cup of high quality instant organic coffee. I then teach my long term English lesson to Sam; my student from Hong Kong for the past five years.
Sam pays me ten dollars for a thirty minute lesson through skype. I converse with him about anything like a couple friends, no prep no stress. Since I'm so busy these days I multi-task and talk to Sam while I cut up my fruit and enjoy my coffee. So I basically am getting paid as I prepare my breakfast, very Travel Pro!
This kind of incredibly healthy breakfast in my home country would surely cost about three to six times more than it does here in Ecuador and the fruit would be of a lesser quality in most cases. I won't get into the details of the cost of every single item, but I'm sure it would blow your mind! I like to buy a small amount of many different fruits and use a little bit of each one; it quickly turns into a huge bowl of goodness! Now let's see how a Travel Pro Breakfast of Champions is done!
This is the finish product and makes a lovely cover photo for this post; but first there is much to do to make this bowl of super food!
I always start with prunes or some kind of dried fruit in the empty bowl. I pin the prunes down with my spoon and slice away at them. Many people don't like prunes. I think this is because they are kind of big and most people put the a whole thing in their mouth at once. This makes for a mouth full of prune and that is just too much at once! It's not very satisfying so I cut them up into little pieces. As most people know prunes are really high in fiber which is great!
Ecuador is a big producer of chocolate and there is a great selection at excellent prices. This brand has many different flavors and it's always all organic made with cane sugar or coconut sugar. They are one of the very few brands that does not use soy lecithin.
This bar cost about two dollars for 50 grams. I always use dark chocolate with the highest cacao percentage as this is the healthiest. Low grade milk chocolate is actually more milk, sugar, and soy rather than cacao which is in fact good for you!
Almonds and walnuts are easily found in Ecuador and only about six dollars per pound. So I've been using these.
I slice the nuts and chocolate up very thinly, so together with the prunes the flavors of these things go all through out the rest of the fruit. I really like these ingredients and enjoy encompassing these flavors in each bite!
Now we get into all the fruit I have access to here in Ecuador. These cherries are so sweet! I just love them!
Guava is one of my less favorite fruits but it's got incredible health benefits. I always cut this up small as I don't care to get a big chunk of guava in my mouth.
Ecuador grows some fantastic strawberries. They are one of my favorite fruits and are only one dollar per pound in this country! I always try to have some of these on hand.
I'm not a big fan of apples but I've always loved the tartness of Granny Smith Apples. These too are incredibly cheap even as an import from Chili.
We build this thing up bit by bit! It does take some time, fortunately I'm multitasking as I teach my English lesson!
These black berries are everywhere in Ecuador they call them "mora" like morado which means purple. They will certainly stain a shirt if you get them on you. These kind of berries are some of the healthiest foods on the planet. If you look into it they are a true super food, and are only a dollar a pound. I recall in the states seeing them for five dollars for eight ounces. That's ten times as expensive!
The mangoes in Ecuador are incredibly sweet and juicy if you get them when they are ripe like this one.
Cantaloupe! I don't care for this fruit that much, but mixed in with everything else it is really good.
We are getting there!
Watermelon is a good one. The only thing is you get so much watermelon for two dollars it can put your bowl of fruit out of balance and full of watermelon. This one here lasted me a full week!
I love these smaller bananas. They are just the right size for what I'm trying to do here. They are also a bit sweeter than your common banana in the states. They are a great addition as they provide a good carbohydrate into the mix as well as being rich in potassium.
Nothing wrong with putting a little pineapple in as well! This one is from Thailand, as it's the only photo I had of pineapple.
Chia is naturally detoxing along with having many other benefits. I found this in the local supermarket. It is ground chia with added pro-biotics. I don't ever add it into the mix as I don't like how chia gets all gel like and gooey when wet. So I just put a spoon full in my mouth and then another spoonful of fruit in my mouth and gulp it down to just get it into my system.
Now let's take a look at some finished products!
One thing you'll notice in my new Travel Pro Hotel Cooking Series is that I never use a recipe and I encourage you not to either! Just do what feels right! If you want to make your own Travel Pro Breakfast of Champions! Just see what fruit, nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, and yogurt is available at your local market, and have it a go! Until next time -Dan "World Travel Pro!"
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With over 11 years of travel experience I answer travel and international lifestyle questions. Leave a question in the comments and I may make a Steemit post just for you!
