Healthy breakfast (aka pear stuff)

To serve about 3-4 people for two days, depending on appetite:

(all ingredients are optional, and others can be substituted or added, but this is our version)

3/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flaxseeds
1 cup raisins or sultanas
4-5 medium pears, washed
1-2 apples, washed
1 cup fresh orange or lemon juice (or half of each)


Method:
Put the nuts and seeds in a food processor with the metal cutting blade. Wear earplugs if you have sensitive ears, and switch on for about 20 seconds to grind them. Add the rasins and process for another few seconds.

Cut the fruit into quarters (no need to peel) and remove the cores. Add to the food processor with a bit of the citrus juice and process some more. It should make a porridge-like consistency. If it's too thick, add some more juice. Transfer to a container with a lid and refrigerate.

Serve by itelf, or with natural yogurt, or other sliced fruit (bananas or strawberries are particularly good). If you feel the need for some grains, soak some oats or rye flake and add those.

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This recipe was inspired by the book 'Raw Energy'. One of us wanted to experiment with being dairy-free for a while, due to blocked ears. One of us wanted to eat all raw foods in the morning. One of us felt it was important to have some protein at breakfast-time. All of us thought it was a good idea to avoid wheat in the morning. Pears were appearing in the supermarkets in vast quantities, and being sold very cheaply.

We chose these particular nuts because we also (roughly) follow the blood group eating theories. Walnuts are supposedly beneficial for all, and almonds are neutral for our types. Strong-tasting nuts (such as peanuts) aren't recommended in this as they tend to destroy all other flavours. But you could use any nuts in place of the ones we chose, and indeed any seeds. We use sunflower seeds for vitamin E and flaxseeds for the Omega-3 oils. Sesame seeds are also good and we sometimes add those.

As for the fruit: you could use all pears (we do sometimes) but find the consistency slightly better with a couple of apples. You could add in other fruit with the processing if you want to: when strawberries are in season, I sometimes add a handful of them. Raspberries or blackberries could also make a nice change.

Oh, and don't expect it to LOOK appetising. The recipe above comes out sort of greeny-grey with flecks in it, and gets slightly brown after a night in the fridge. The version with added strawberries looks pinkish, and worse. But the taste is awesome, and we find it fills us for the morning and gives us more energy than almost any other breakfast we've found.