An Explosively High-Energy Breakfast
Buckwheat is regarded by the Chinese as being the most Yang of all grains. In truth, buckwheat isn’t actually a grain, as it’s a broad leafed plant rather than a grass. Therefore, many people who have grain allergies can eat buckwheat with impunity. This breakfast is meticulously calculated to provide the perfect balance of fat, carbohydrates, and protein. The Pecans bring some much needed fat, and a serving of Protein Powder on the side rounds everything out. When you finish eating this meal you’ll experience a sustained energy rush that puts 2 large cups of strong coffee to shame.
- 2/3 cup Toasted Buckwheat Groats
- ¼ cup Pure Maple Syrup (Grade B will do just fine)
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup shelled Pecans
- Enough Protein Powder to provide 24 grams of protein
At home
Package each of the ingredients separately. The Pure Maple Syrup—don’t use the fake stuff—can go in a mid-sized Nalgene bottle if you’re having this meal several times. You might think that the water in maple syrup would make it heavy, but ¼ cup contains less than 2 Tablespoons of water. The Pecans are packaged separately because they would get mushy if you boiled them with the Buckwheat.
The nutritional information table at the bottom of this page assumes the use of a protein powder that has 24 grams of protein and 6 grams of carbohydrates per serving. Your protein powder may well have different values.
In camp
Add Maple Syrup and Salt to 1½ cups of water and bring to a boil. Stir in Buckwheat and return to boil. Cover the pot and lower the heat to medium. Simmer for about 15 minutes. The cooking time isn’t much longer at 11,000 feet than it is at sea level. Once the Buckwheat is soft, turn off the heat and stir in the Pecans. Serve the Protein Powder on the side.
| Total calories: 1050 | ||||
| Fat grams | Carb grams | Protein grams | Fiber grams | Sugar grams |
| 39 | 149 | 42 | 16 | 53 |
| Fat calories | Carb calories | Protein calories | Sugar ÷ Carbs | |
| 352 | 531 | 166 | 40% | |
| Percentage of total calories | ||||
| 34% | 50% | 16% | ||
Nutritional values for Buckwheat Breakfast
The USDA nutritional database doesn’t state the sugar content of toasted buckwheat groats, so I used the sugar value stated for an equal weight of buckwheat flour, with compensation for the amount of water weight driven off during toasting. If you would like to make any changes to this menu, I suggest you download it as an Excel spreadsheet, so you can recalculate the nutritional values.