Brunch.

Everyone’s excuse to get down to a dirty meal, early in the day.

Maybe people love it so much because it almost feels rebellious. A little extravagant. Because at any other point in the week, it would be against the rules to eat like that.

But answer me this, brunch peeps: how do you feel after?

[After that bloody mary and coffee combo wears off, I mean].

Tired, stuffed, and a tiny bit guilty about it all? Already planning to not eat until dinner to kind of punish yourself?

I thought so.

Which is why I wanted to share with you a better way to think about it, and three things you can do to improve your brunch game:

#1: pick better food to start with. I don’t care if it’s savory or sweeter, pick what you love the most and make sure the ingredients are good, real, and as fresh as they can be. Yes, I am saying no boxed pancake/scone mix, if you’re confused. Make the real thing, or support places that do the same.

#2: make sure you are actually hungry. Meaning if brunch is early, go light on dinner the night before. Or, schedule a later brunch. That simple. If your body is hungry, it is ready to digest food. If it’s not, it’s not ready. Don’t you dare force it down, thinking you’ll just burn through it when needed. Your body doesn’t stockpile food. Or, it does, but it’s also known as extra body F-A-T.

#3: watch that gluten load. Even if you say you do fine with gluten (see my own story here), it’s not going to help your energy to get a double whammy of weigh-down so early in the day. Which is why I rounded up a bunch of my favorite recipes that are far from your go-to gluten rut options.

Starting with this one.

Because I don’t even like grain bowls (I overdosed on cereal and oatmeal in college) and this one already has my heart.

Blueberry + Ricotta Morning Buckwheat Bowls

Notes: Bored of plain mushy oatmeal? Try using buckwheat groats instead. They speed up the cooking time and give your bowls a great chewier texture! All other ingredients are optional, feel free to build you own bowls with whatever toppings you like. Also try cooked buckwheat groats later in the week with veggies, meat and more savory toppings for lunch or dinner. Recipe written for Clementine Daily!

 Makes 2 servings

1 cup dried buckwheat groats

½ banana, sliced

1 pint blueberries (frozen and defrosted are great)

1 handful raspberries

1 handful slivered almonds or walnuts

1 handful dried apricots, chopped

1 sprinkle of chia seeds

1 sprinkle of coconut flakes

2 sprigs mint (optional)

2 large scoops of whole milk ricotta cheese (or yogurt or whole or coconut milk) (optional)

drizzle of honey or maple syrup

Bring buckwheat and 2 cups of water to a saucepan with a big dash of sea salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.

Add buckwheat to serving bowls and top with the rest of the toppings (or your own additions).

Want some other great healthier (real food + gluten free) brunch ideas? Check out some of my other favorites:

Two Ingredient Pancakes

Pumpkin Chocolate Granola (with or without yogurt or milk)

Sundried Tomato + Pulled Chicken Salad

Roasted Strawberry Salad

Pesto Kale Salad

Honeydew Mint Green Smoothie

Mixed Green Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Lemon Poppyseed Waffles

Love these ideas? Well, you would just die to have the Simply Real Health Cookbook. It’s these, times 150. Check it out here or read what people have to say about it, here.