Shaping Intentions & Reshaping French Toast

Like Water

This was my first thought before getting out of bed yesterday.

Dave shared an article with me on Sunday from Elephant Journal about the Dalai Lama & the first thing he thought when he awoke in the morning.

His simple response, “shaping motivation”, immediately resonated.  It is first about establishing our own internal intentions & focusing them in a positive direction; yet it also conveys external actions & how we communicate ourselves & our intent to others.  Even if it is not the specific phrasing I chose for myself, shaping my intention with a positive thought before my day began had such a happy effect on my mood & behaviors most of the day.  [I’ll explain tomorrow.]

I am sure we have all had this idea of starting our day with a positive thought.  How we start our day often determines how the rest of it will go.  “Today will be a good day,” & so it is.  “I am beautiful”, & that day I truly am & it shines through.  Lately, I have been thinking a lot about stating my intent before I even get out of bed, but I kept forgetting each morning to actually have the thought.  😛  Maybe it’s because I hadn’t really determined my intent yet.  After talking with Dave about the Dalai Lama’s response, I wasn’t going to forget again.  Sunday night, before I fell asleep, I promised I would remember.

The next morning, “like water” came to mind.

So what on earth does it mean?

“When a stream comes to some stones in its path, it doesn’t struggle to remove them or fight against them or think about them.   It just goes around them.  As it does, it sings.”

~Tao of Pooh

See things for what they are.  Don’t try to change them or bang your head against them or over analyze them.  Accept situations for what they are; appreciate, learn from & work with whatever happens in everyday life.

While you do it — sing — be happy.

“There are no problems, only situations.”

~Avi in Revolver

Now why not share how you can start your beautiful day tomorrow with a beautiful breakfast, & I’ll tell you about the rest of my day in the morning?

Baked Pumpkin French [Cranberry-Walnut] Toast

variation of Ashley’s Vegan Baked Pumpkin French Toast

[for 1]

• 1 – 1½ C cubed, day old, cranberry-walnut artisan bread [or any bread you’d like, but I definitely recommend a nice, thick artisan/bakery type]

[If you forget to leave your bread out the night before like I did, simply toast it that morning before tearing it, & it will work perfectly]

• 1 flax “egg” [1T ground flax meal + 3T warm water, whisk + let sit for 10min]
• 1 ½ T pumpkin puree
• scant 1 T rice milk
• ½ T sucanat [I will sub maple next time, which will be awesome with this bread & the pumpkin]
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp ginger
• pinch of allspice, nutmeg, cloves, salt

Preheat oven to 350*F

After flax “egg” is ready, whisk in all ingredients except bread, in a large bowl.

Add bread cubes & stir to coat with the batter.

Spray small oven-safe bowl or ramekin with cooking spray.  Also spray 1 side of foil that will cover the bowl.

Pour bread cubes into bowl, letting excess batter drip off.

Cover with greased foil & bake for 25min, watching closely.
Uncover & bake an additional 5min.

Top with bananas &  almond butter [optional].

Broil for 1 – 3min, watching closely so it does not burn.

Scoop out & serve or eat straight from a cute little ramekin like I did!

~

Inside is doughy & pumpkiny — outside is crisp & sweet.  Perfect!

It also pairs perfectly with my special Pomegranate Cider.

~

Ok people…I really want to know…what is your favorite breakfast other than oats? 😉

Do you ever start your day off with a specific positive thought?