The Senegalese state has been batting me around for the past week and between that, trying to climb up a mountain of neglected correspondence, a gazillion other things in various states of completion/disarray, and my family, I have struggled to find the time to write, and the thing I want to write about here is something I really need to sit with and think about.

But I figured I should probably try to bury the previous post for reasons that are clear if you read the introduction to said post.

So I’m going to write about my breakfast.

Somehow, I have been eating this breakfast for over 3 years. I mean, I will eat other things. If I’m traveling, I will eat whatever. But at home, unless there is a shortage of critical ingredients, this is what I eat. Every day.

• oatmeal
• milk – most of the milk that you see around here is either ultra-pasteurized shelf stable brands from France or its reconstituted powdered milk from the dregs of the EU dairy industry. Club Tiossane has milk from pastoralists in northern Senegal and it’s fantastic. If you are in a western country, you have a long list of choices here, including soy milk, every possible nut milk, oat milk, and probably some other milks that I am not even aware of. You could also use.. water?
• chia seeds
• baobab powder
• moringa powder
• some kind of fruit
• maybe some honey, especially if my fruit options are lacking

In 2023, I climbed aboard the overnight oats train, if there is such a train. I was told that soaking oats (and chia seeds) helps with nutrient absorption and digestion, but it’s also just really convenient. I put the oats and the chia seeds in a bowl with some milk at night. In the morning, I pull it out of the fridge and add some toppings. Baobab powder adds a little tang (and more nutrition). Moringa has a leafy, earthy taste, so I only put a little bit in, just enough to convince myself that I will be unstoppable with two superfoods in my breakfast. And then the fruit — whatever is in season, or sometimes frozen blueberries from the French supermarket, Auchan. Mango season overnight oats are of course the best.

I thought I would hate the texture when I prepared my first batch. I didn’t. I also assumed I would get sick of it. Nope. I look forward to it every day.

Anyone else here in this extremely small neglected readership that is with me on this?