Your Secret Garden: Your Gut

Like a flourishing garden teeming with diverse plant life, the gut microbiome is a complex landscape that plays a major role in your health and vitality.

Want a thriving garden? Gotta put in the effort to water, feed, and weed it regularly. Think of your body’s gut microbiome the same way. It’s like a garden in your belly, teeming with bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other stuff that keeps you healthy. These little critters help you digest food, soak up nutrients, fight off bugs, and keep your mind sharp and emotions in check.

As a gardener tends to their garden, feeding the soil and keeping an eye on things to make sure the plants stay healthy, we should do the same for our gut microbiome. It needs the right nutrients and attention to stay in balance and function well. If we don’t take care of it, it can get sick, just like a garden can get overrun with weeds or bugs. This can lead to problems like inflammation, leaky gut, allergies, mood issues, and more.

To have a healthy and strong gut, you should eat a bunch of different foods that are good for you. Eat veggies and fruits that are full of nutrients, whole grains, beans, and fermented foods. And don’t forget to drink lots of water! That will give your good gut bacteria the energy they need to grow, and you’ll have a gut that’s so healthy and full of life. Eating healthy and trying new foods can change your whole life. When your gut is happy, you’re happy. It’s as simple as that!

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Healthy Gut! Recipe www.loveyourgut.com

This is a savoury version of French toast with added herbs and vegetables.  Slices of wholegrain bread are dipped in beaten egg, mixed with chopped chives, and cooked in a hot pan with a smear of olive oil. While the French toast is cooking it is given a dusting of grated Parmesan cheese which delivers a delicious savoury crunch to the finished dish.

Method

Preheat oven to 100°C/gas mark 6

Whisk together the eggs and milk and stir in the chopped chives. Pour the mixture into a shallow dish for dipping the bread.

Drizzle a little olive oil over a non-stick pan and heat gently.

Using tongs, dip a slice of bread into the egg mixture, flipping it over so both sides are soaked. Pick up the bread with the tongs, place it into the frying pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side, until the surface is golden brown. While the bread is cooking, sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese over the bread to get an extra crisp, cheesy surface.

When one piece of French toast is cooked, place it on a baking tray to keep in the oven while the other pieces of toast are cooking.

Cook the remaining slices of bread in the egg mixture as above and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Take a second non-stick pan and add another drizzle of olive oil. Add the sliced tomato halves face down to one side of the pan and mushrooms to the other. Strip the leaves from the thyme, chop finely, and scatter over the mushrooms. Stir the mushrooms gently in the pan for 5 minutes until soft. Cook tomatoes until the cut surfaces are just beginning to brown.

Serve the French toast with wild mushrooms, tomatoes, and baby spinach leaves.

Alternative serving suggestion

• Unsweetened plant milk such as oat, soya or hemp can be substituted for cows’ milk
• Baked beans could be served with savoury French toast for a quick nutritious breakfast/brunch dish.
• Chopped spring onions could be used instead of chives

**A personal note: I am gluten-sensitive, I have been living gluten-free since 2014.

I switched out the tomatoes for avocados . . . Yummy!

Enjoy! We’re taking care of your WHOLE lifestyle here at LBD!

Peace ♥ Harmony, Cheryl