YOUR G U

IDE

HEALT TO A BREAK HY FAST!

Hi hungry hoards! RUSU provides free breakfast to hungry students each week to highlight the importance of a healthy breakfast and issues with student poverty. Each week the table of fruit, yoghurt, muesli and muffins is devoured in record time. Students often tell us that they haven’t had breakfast before coming to Uni. Let’s make 2 things clear: 1 Coffee, liquid breakfasts, anything with the word ‘Mc’ in front of it, or a bowl of cocopops does not constitute a healthy breakfast. 2 You need breakfast. Preferably including something that was once a plant. Since it’s not always easy to get inspired early in the morning, we’ve put together this little booklet to help you out. Sometimes you only have a few minutes: that’s where fruit comes in (delicious, invigorating and it comes in its own natural packing)! If you’re organised you can prepare some of these recipes the night before, like soaking some porridge or boiling an egg. On weekends, afternoon-class days, or if you ever need to impress someone in the morning give these recipes a try! They are designed to be cheap, easy and satisfying.Your brain will thank you for it and you may even see your Uni results improve when you start the day properly. Let us know if you have any feedback, would like to contribute a recipe for the next edition, or need help accessing healthy food. xxx RUSU Welfare Department

www.su.rmit.edu.au

RUSUpage

RMITSU

CONTENTS Brown Rice Congee with Shiitake Mushrooms & Greens . . . . . . . .

6

Gluten-Free Bircher Muesli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7

Baked Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Porridge for One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Gluten-Free Porridge: Apple, Almond & Spice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Choc Chai Latte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Cheap, Easy, Homemade Muesli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Oxymoron Breakfast: a Healthy Fry Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Egg Thosai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

GUIDE TO MEASUREMENTS Spoons:

Teaspoon (tsp) = 5mls Tablespoon (tbsp) = 20mls Cups:

1 cup = 250mls (or ¼ of a litre) ½ cup = 125mls ¼ cup = 60mls

Brown Rice Congee with Shiitake Mushrooms & Greens (Serves 4) Ingredients ❉❉ 1 tsp vegetable oil ❉❉ 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced ❉❉ 1 inch piece ginger, thinly sliced ❉❉ 1 cup sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms (if substituting dried, pre-soak in hot water for 20 minutes) ❉❉ 1 cup long-grain brown rice, rinsed and drained ❉❉ 9 cups water or vegetable stock ❉❉ 3 large handfuls green vegetables, thinly sliced (can use Chinese broccoli, broccolini, bok choy, mustard greens, kale, etc.) ❉❉ Soy sauce ❉❉ Pepper Garnishes and condiments (choose some or all) Thinly sliced spring onions, fresh coriander, roasted unsalted peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, hard boiled eggs, pickled mustard greens or Chinese cabbage, soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce or chilli paste. To cook 1 Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Sauté the garlic, ginger, and mushrooms until the mushrooms are softened. 2 Add the rice and water or stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom. After 1 hour, stir in the greens. 3 Continue simmering for another 30 minutes or so until it reaches the consistency of porridge. Cook to your own preference; some people prefer it more soupy, others more thick. If a thinner consistency is desired, you can add more boiling water or stock during cooking. 4 Season to taste with soy sauce and pepper then serve hot with the garnishes and condiments of your choice. Congee may be refrigerated for a few days, but the consistency will become thicker. Add more water or stock when reheating.

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Gluten-Free Bircher Muesli (Serves 1) Ingredients ❉❉ 1 tbsp each of sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, goji berries, cranberries, ground linseed/flax seed ❉❉ 2 tsp chia seeds ❉❉ 1/3 cup orange juice or almond milk ❉❉ 1 large grated red apple with the skin ❉❉ 125g fresh fruit to serve (strawberries, papaya, pineapple, kiwi) ❉❉ 2 tbsp natural yoghurt/coconut or a little extra almond milk to serve To cook 1 Soak the linseed, chia seed, sesame seed, pumpkin seed, goji, cranberry and sunflower seed in the orange juice or almond milk for at least 1 hour or overnight in the fridge. 2 Add the grated apple and fresh seasonal fruit. 3 Fold through the yoghurt if using or enjoy with extra juice or milk & fresh fruit.

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6

Baked Eggs

(Serves 1–many)

It’s so easy to make baked eggs and they are totally impressive so any ‘early morning’ visitors will be wowed by your culinary skills. You’ll need an oven and a small ovenproof dish. Ramekins are perfect for this and can easily be bought for a couple of dollars from most supermarkets, but anything oven safe (bowls, mugs, etc) could be used. You could even hollow out a firm tomato and fill that, then wrap in foil! Ingredients Quantities are based on filling one small container; increase as needed if you are making many containers. ❉❉ 1 free range egg Next choose your ‘flavour combination’ ❉❉ Plain salt and pepper to season (though if cooking this way, it’s good to cook using a water bath method: Google it) ❉❉ Pesto tbsp pesto paste, ½ cup spinach or similar and tbsp parmesan cheese grated, pepper to season. ❉❉ Spicy tomato ½ a tsp crushed garlic, tbsp finely diced onion, 5 halved cherry tomatoes, ½ a teaspoon of sambal oelek or chilli paste and coriander leaves. Sauté all ingredients in a small pan in order listed, before placing in dish. ❉❉ Pizza ¼ cup each of diced ham, mushrooms and capsicum, tbsp tomato paste, pinch of pepper and cheese to sprinkle on top of egg before putting in oven. To cook 1 Preheat your oven to 180c.

2 G rease the sides of your dish with butter or olive oil. If you use a tomato as the container don’t worry about this. 3 Place ‘flavour combination’ in your chosen container. Make sure that there is an indentation/dint in the centre of the ingredients. 4 Crack your egg into a cup, check there is no shell and that the egg is ok, then pour gently on top of the ‘flavour combination’. The egg should rest in the indentation. 5 Place container and all ingredients onto a tray then into the oven.

6 Cook for about 15-20 minutes, but time will vary so the most important thing is to keep an eye on your egg – you want the egg white to look firm but the yolk still runny inside- similar to a poached egg. 7 Be careful removing dishes/tomatoes from oven and tray – they will be hot. Eat straight out of the container you cooked it in (remember HOT, HOT, HOT), with some nicely toasted Turkish bread, sourdough, mountain bread, tortillas or vegemite toast soldiers.

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FREE BREAKFAST FOR HUNGRY STUDENTS

“I’ll be back for more.”

“Delicious.”

“Almost too hot to handle!”

“I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”

8:30 TUES

BLD 8 LVL 3

BY THE CBD STUDENT

UNION FRONT DESK BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE WELFARE & EDUCATION DEPT. RUSU www.su.rmit.edu.au

RUSUpage

RMITSU

Porridge for One

(Serves 1....duh)

So damn easy, so warming and the ultimate student cheap eat! Knowing how to make porridge is an essential student skill. Even if you hated it as a child try your hand at cooking your own and you never know, you may have found your new favourite winter breakfast! Ingredients ❉❉ 1 cup rolled oats- soaked overnight if you are organised ❉❉ 1-1.5 cups of milk (or a milk/water mix, soy, rice milk, or the yummy Chia mylk on page 11) ❉❉ ½ tsp cinnamon (optional but yummy) ❉❉ Pinch of salt To cook 1 Combine ingredients in a saucepan and over a gentle heat bring the pot to a simmer. 2 Simmer gently for around 20 mins for best results, stirring constantly to avoid sticking and make the porridge creamy. Cooking slowly and gently will mean that the porridge will be smooth and soft, not gluey or chewy like you might have eaten as a kid. Add a splash of milk if it gets too dry while cooking. 3 When the porridge is at the consistency you like, remove from heat and serve with a little pour of milk. Things to try with your porridge ❉❉ Traditional brown sugar or honey and butter ❉❉ Fruity dried sultanas, figs, dates, apple, raisins, etc. drizzled with a little honey ❉❉ Spicy a little more cinnamon mixed with ground ginger, dried cranberries or cherries, sliced apple and a small amount of nuts (hazelnut, walnuts or pecans) ❉❉ Decadent make some caramel (brown sugar and butter in a pan brought to a slow bubble) added sliced banana and coat. Add to porridge with a dollop of natural yogurt.

9

Gluten-Free Porridge Apple, Almond & Spice

(Serves 4)

Ingredients ❉❉ 2/3 cup raw almonds, soaked in water in advance for 12–24 hours, then drained ❉❉ 2 apples, skin & core removed ❉❉ 1 orange, juiced and zested ❉❉ 1 tbsp ginger, fresh (or 1 tsp dried) ❉❉ 1 tbsp cinnamon, ground ❉❉ ¼ cup water ❉❉ ½ cup sultanas, soaked Top with ❉❉ 1 apple, grated and soaked in reserved orange juice ❉❉ 2 tbsp goji berries (or other berries and fruits) ❉❉ Pinch cinnamon, ground To cook 1 In a food processor or blender, blend all BASE ingredients except the sultanas until smooth with a fairly creamy porridge-like consistency. 2 Fold through the sultanas. 3 Fold through grated apple, reserving a little for the topping. 4 Garnish with sultanas, apple, gogi berries and cinnamon.

Tip For a warm porridge, add warm water when blending or otherwise warm on the stove with some nutmilk, soymilk or ricemilk.

10

Choc Chai Latte

(Serves 4)

Ingredients ❉❉ 1 cup cashews (or macadamia nuts, or tahini) ❉❉ 2 cups water ❉❉ 3-4 tbsp agave nectar (or honey, or maple syrup) ❉❉ ¼ cup cacao powder ❉❉ 1 ½ tsp cinnamon, ground ❉❉ 1 ½ tsp nutmeg, ground ❉❉ Pinch cardamom, ground ❉❉ Pinch cloves, ground ❉❉ ¼ vanilla bean, seeds scraped (or dash of vanilla essence) ❉❉ Pinch sea salt ❉❉ Small piece of fresh ginger (or 1 tsp of ground ginger) Equipment ❉❉ blender ❉❉ measuring cup and measuring spoons ❉❉ fine grater (mircoplane) or spice grinder To Cook 1 Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. 2 Adjust sweetness if necessary.

To serve warm, add hot water when blending instead of cold (or heat gently over a stove)

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Cheap, easy, homemade muesli Home made muesli is a great healthy breakfast, and you can change it up each morning, eating it with milk, orange juice, yogurt, grated apple or as Bircher Muesli. It should be cheaper than buying the pre-mixed stuff from the supermarket, and you can be sure it won’t contain any nasty additives, preservatives, or mysterious extras. If you go to the Queen Vic Markets, or another wholesale or ethnic grocery shop, the ingredients should be cheaper, fresher and much better quality. Nuts especially taste much better fresh rather than from the supermarket. Muesli is not like other breakfast cereal. It is low in sugar and much more nutrient dense, so you may find you only need a small amount to fill you up. Muesli was originally designed to help Swiss hospital patients recover. The following recipe is really just a list of ideas: include what you like and ditch what you don’t! Muesli can be raw or toasted, if you like it raw simply combine the ingredients and store in a large, sealed container.

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Ingredients The amounts are not important: you want mostly oats with smaller amounts of everything else. ❉❉ A big bag of rolled or porridge oats: the better the quality the better these will taste. Smaller amounts of: ❉❉ Seeds: these could be sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, quinoa, etc ❉❉ Raw unsalted nuts: these could be hazel, peanut, cashew, almond, brazil etccrush or chop them up so your muesli is not too much work to chew in the morning ;) ❉❉ Dried fruit: apples, sultanas, raisins, cranberries, apricots, dates etc are all lovely. Chop these roughly too. ❉❉ Optional extra tasty things: olive or coconut oil, honey, maple syrup, dried shredded coconut. Equipment ❉❉ Large container with a lid for storage ❉❉ Chopping board and a knife ❉❉ If you want toasted muesli you will need either a large fry pan or a large tray in a hot oven/grill To cook 1 Take your oats and trickle with olive or coconut oil, honey or maple syrup if you wish, then put these in a hot fry pan/in a hot oven or grill and keep moving them around until they go a little brown and toasted. Put the oats in your container. 2 Toast the seeds and nuts in the same way, you can do this without any oil, but keep them moving and don’t let them burn! The nuts will be a lot easier to chop/crush once toasted. Add these to your oats in the container. 3 If you are using coconut, lightly toast this in the same way. It will burn very easily so be careful and turn the heat down. Add this to the oats. 4 Add in the dried fruit and mix together well. Seal your container and this should last for a long time in your cupboard (however I tend to eat mine pretty quickly).

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Oxymoron Breakfast A healthy fry up I have a little confession to make… I’m a sucker for a good fry up. Now while this was a guilty little pleasure I used to keep in check, for the last two year living with my English BF has ruined all selfcontrol. These are some of the ways I try and reduce the impact on my waist and other organs from the now regular weekend onslaught of grease, fat, sugar and salt. The traditional list is based on extensive personal research. Firstly from eating in various cafes across the Northern United Kingdom, though options in the South are pretty similar and secondly; from listening to complaints* about the shortcomings of the “traditional English fry up” option that’s offered in most Melbourne cafes. Hopefully this list will provide some subtle changes you too can make to eat better but still enjoy ‘a proper breakfast’. * Apparently we simply don’t use enough grease, provide the wrong sausage and often try to slip extra vegetables onto the plate – spinach and avocado being the biggest culprits.

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TRADITIONAL

HEALTHIER

Toast

Toasted and buttered or if truly a dirty fry up cooked in the leftover bacon/sausage grease in the fry pan

Toast under grill, rub with garlic and lightly brush with olive oil

Bacon

Fried limp or crispy depending on preference— rind and fat left on

Trim off rind and excess fat, use only short cut bacon, not middle (more fat), and grill under griller. Alternatively use low fat/low salted shaved ham

Eggs

Fried

Poach, boil or scramble (without too much butter, milk or cream, obviously)

Sausage

Pork sausages traditionally, fried

Skipping the extra meat serve is best, otherwise go for lower fat, leaner sausages such as chicken, turkey or veg

Mushroom

Fried probably in butter

Grill brushed with olive oil

Tomato

As above

As above – add herbs before grilling for extra yum

Baked Beans

Straight out of a tin and heated and stirred until mush.

The biggest problem with baked beans is the high sugar and salt content in the sauce Two options 1. Buy low salt, reduced sugar varieties 2. Make your own – really easy, taste great and going to contain heaps less sugar.

Hash Brown

Out of a freezer bag and into a deep fryer

Again making your own if you must have one is the best. Simply grate a potato, wrap in a clean tea towel to remove as much water as possible, mould into a ball and cook in pan- squishing it down as you go.

OJ

Concentrate

Freshly squeeze your own and drink with the pulp for extra fibre

Milky and lots of sugar

Try it without the sugar! Or go for herbal tea

Tea

(or coffee for cosmopolitan types)

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Egg Thosai Easy, healthy and yummy Indian breakfast! Thosai (or dosa) is a thin savoury crepe made from a fermented rice and split black lentil batter. Making this batter is a very tedious process which needs traditional utensils. But the good news is that the hardest part of making these delicious thosais are already taken care of for you. Nowadays, this batter is readily accessible in any Indian/Sri Lankan grocery stores. These modern products of batter are convenient without compromising the flavour of traditional thosais. In this recipe, we will be making wholesome egg thosais which will be a filling and quick breakfast to cook up before you leave for a busy day at uni. Ingredients ❉❉ 1 free range egg per thosai ❉❉ 1kg of thosai batter ❉❉ 4 tbsp of sesame seed oil (or any vegetable oil) ❉❉ Salt and pepper to taste Utensils ❉❉ Paper towel ❉❉ A medium sized ladle ❉❉ A wide flat non-stick fry pan ❉❉ A thin wooden (or non stick) spatula

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To cook 1 The thosai batter bought will usually be very thick. To achieve a crispy thosai it would be best to mix a little water with it to obtain a medium (or thin) consistency batter according to your liking. 2 Put the non-stick pan on a medium flame and let it heat up. While it is heating up, scrunch up a piece of paper towel and lightly dip into the oil taking care not to have any excess oil dripping from it. Rub this paper all over the pan to grease it.You should have a barely visible film of oil covering the pan. 3 Fill the ladle 3/4 level with the batter and slowly pour it in the centre of the pan and start spreading the batter with the ladle in circular motion starting from the centre. Once you are done spreading, drizzle some oil around the edges of the thosai. 4 Tiny holes will start to appear on the surface of the thosai and it would start to solidify. This is when you add the egg. Crack open the egg onto the centre of the thosai and using the spatula break the yolk and spread the egg all over the thosai.Sprinkle with desired amount of salt and pepper. 5 Once the egg is not runny anymore and the underside of the thosai is a dark golden brown, drizzle some oil onto it and gently flip it over using the spatula. 6 When the egg is well cooked, remove from pan and transfer to plate. 7 Repeatsteps 2 to 6 for each egg thosai. Recipe supplied by RMIT Student Jennifar Anthonisamy

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The RMIT University Student Union’s organic, fairtrade, veggo café is THE place to get your food fix on campus! From morning tea, through lunch and onto arvo tea - we’ve got your stomach covered! Study takes it out of you, so replenish your energy with the good stuff and try our amazing array of hot meals, soups, salads, pies, muffins, cupcakes, energy bars, cakes, ginger beer, juices, smoothies, chai lattes, hot chocolate, herbal teas, fresh fruit & more. All our ingredients are plant-based and all our packaging is bio-degradeble! OPENING HOURS: 11am–4pm, Monday to Friday (during semester) WHERE: RMIT University City Campus Food Court (360 Swanston St, Building 8, Level 4) VOLUNTEERS: We are looking for a friendly bunch of volunteers to help out in the café each semester. Check out www.su.rmit.edu.au/about/volunteer. 2 hours a week gets you a free training, rewards like movie tickets and discounted food, volunteer only events and heaps more! WHAT WE DO: • Serve organic, vegetarian, fairtrade food and drinks with gluten-free, sugar-free, nutfree, raw, vegan, low GI, and low-fat options. • Contribute to student life, health and wellbeing and the gaining of ‘on-the-job’ hospitality experience by offering a fun, supportive and engaging volunteer placement program involving customer service, food prep and food safety skills. Providing free access for student volunteers to accredited First Aid, Food Health and Safety, and Kitchen Skills (via William Angliss) training. • Link our volunteer program with “RMIT LEAD” for recognition on students’ academic transcript. • Run regular cooking and nutrition classes featuring expert chefs and health presenters for RMIT students, staff and wider community. CONTACT US: Cafe Co-ordinator:

Lucy Stegley ([email protected])

Cafe Phone:

9925 9791

Website: www.su.rmit.edu.au/student-life/realfoods/ Facebook: “Realfoods” Twitter: “@RUSUrealfoods” 2013 Student Union Environment Officer: Manasa Jagiri

organic fairtrade vegetarian cafe eat in . take out . catering Monday - Friday 11am-4pm RMIT City Campus 360 Swanston St, Building 8, Level 4, Food Court

START YOUR DAY WITH A NUTRITIOUS AND TASTY BREAKFAST TREAT!

The RMIT University Student Union (RUSU) provides all RMIT students with fun events, representation and support. RUSU is the only 100% independent body at RMIT. RUSU is run FOR students BY students.

FOR MORE INFO:

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