My journey away from alcohol was filled with fits and starts as is my struggle with sugar. It’s been my “go to” instead of alcohol. In my first few weeks of sobriety I was all about sugary sodas, and running out at midnight to 711 for gummy bears. I thought I was losing my mind and I kind of was. There were two reasons I craved sugar. The first is the effect that alcohol has on blood sugar. When you remove alcohol it’s only natural to crave sweets as your body seeks blood sugar balance. The second is that alcohol and sugar act similarly in the brain by releasing Dopamine, the feel good hormone.
Now I know when a strong craving like this hits, it usually means I haven’t been taking care of myself physically and/or emotionally. While eliminating added sugar entirely from your diet may be a good idea, for me it is not. With a history of disordered eating, anything that feels like deprivation is triggering. Instead, I try to eat intuitively and mindfully and manage my sugar cravings using techniques and tools I developed when quitting alcohol. One of the things I do is to start my day with a walk and meditation to calm my monkey brain. Then I eat a protein forward breakfast to nourish me physically without causing a blood sugar spike I’ll be riding the rest of the day. And often, I just eat a cupcake and enjoy every minute of it!
Here’s a fun idea for breakfast, lunch or dinner. As usual it was developed based on what I had on hand. I try to incorporate vegetables into every meal. I add spinach to scrambled eggs, squash in an omelette and here I use shishito peppers.
Shishito peppers, also called padron peppers, are called one in tens because about one in ten is spicy, but even that one in ten is relatively mild on the Scoville scale. You’ll often see them blistered or charred on restaurant appetizer menus and I’m finding them readily available at produce markets and even some supermarkets. They can be cooked and eaten without removing seeds or membrane. The best way to cook them is not to put oil in the pan, but to spray or massage the oil into the peppers before placing in the pan. If you can’t find Shishitos, substitute jalapeño, Fresno or even strips of roasted poblano peppers. All are full of fiber and antioxidants but depending on the level of heat you can handle, you may want to remove stems and seeds.
Can we talk about eggs? A friend who keeps chickens gave me these. As you can see they come in all different colors. As beautiful as they are, they offer no more nutritionally than the humble white egg. All are healthy, they just come from different types of chickens. Brown eggs are not better for you than white eggs! I actually prefer white eggs because their shells aren’t as brittle so they crack and peel better.
I hope you enjoy this easy egg taco for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
- 12 or more Shishito peppers
- 6 large eggs
- 6 mini corn tortillas or 4 regular size
- ½ cup cilantro leaves and stems roughly chopped
- ¼ cup cotija or feta cheese
- Salt and pepper
- ½ small red onion thinly sliced
- 2 TBL red wine vinegar
- Place sliced onion in a small bowl with 2 vinegar and 1 TBL water, pinch of salt.
- Whisk eggs with 1 tsp water and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Heat a heavy skillet over high heat.
- Massage canola or avocado oil into the Shishito peppers.
- Add peppers, stem and all, to hot skillet, and flip or shake pan until peppers are charred on two sides
- Remove Shishito peppers from pan, and lower heat to medium
- Add eggs and move around the pan with a spatula or fork to scramble
- While eggs are cooking, heat tortillas over the open flame on your stovetop or microwave for 30 seconds.
- To serve, divide eggs among the tortillas, stem and add the peppers, top with cilantro, pickled onions and cheese.
