Barack Obama only wears grey or blue suits, Mark Zuckerberg wears the same grey t-shirt every day, and I eat the same breakfast every day. By doing this I beat what psychologist call “decision fatigue”. I pop my slow cooker on most nights, knowing that I will wake up to a nourishing and nutritional breakfast. What daily practices do you have to help beat decision fatigue?
Congee is basically rice porridge, and it is one of my go to recipes. It is super easy to make and easy to digest. My favourite is chicken congee, but below I have included a recipe for a sweeter congee. This is a great way to transition from a standard muesli and yoghurt breakfast.
As the cooler months are coming, it is important to keep our digestive fire alive as well as warming and strengthening digestion. By starting the day with a warm breakfast, this aids the fire. Congee supports the transformation of qi and blood. By adding red dates (Da Zao), they calm the spirit and fresh ginger (Sheng Jiang) promotes circulation. Adding honey nourishes and calms the heart and also moistens the bowels.
Warming Congee Recipe
- 1 part rice per 5-6 parts water in a heavy, lidded pot.
- Pinch of salt
- Chinese red dates
- fresh ginger (chopped fine)
Instructions:
Stove: Place the pot on lowest setting and let simmer for 2-6 hours
Slow cooker: Place ingredients into slow cooker at night, cook for around 8 hours on low.
- The amount of water will determine how thick the porridge will be.
- You can sweeten it with honey on serving.
Recipe loosely based on Flaws & Wolfe’s “Prince Wen Hui’s cook: Chinese dietary therapy.”
