August 27, 2011

Cranberry-Almond Breakfast Quinoa

Raise your hand if you like carbohydrates for breakfast.

That would be me.

In a perfect world we could all eat pancakes, Belgian waffles, French toast, and donuts every morning.

Unfortunately, calories do exist.

So, I really don't eat that stuff, though I do occasionally have pancakes for dinner.  I don't like starting my day off with that heavy feeling you get after eating the above-mentioned items.  Much better to eat a stack of pancakes and drink a big glass of milk for dinner, and then fall asleep on the couch at 7pm.  (i promise that never happened more than twice.)

I went through this period called "elementary school, high school, and half of college" in which I didn't enjoy to eat breakfast.  I would force down some Special K once in awhile, but I never felt the need to eat in the morning.  That changed at some point and it has since become my favorite part of the day.  There are days, literally, when the only thing that gets me out of bed is the idea of food.  Peanut butter toast, cereal, Greek yogurt, homemade granola, oatmeal with peanut butter...those are the selections I alternate among. 

So I really got into oatmeal about a year ago.  Oats, water or milk, and brown sugar.  Then I really got adventurous and substituted maple syrup for the sugar.  Then, big surprise, I got bored.  So I started eating cereal again.

I would like to meet the person who stops at one bowl of cereal.  How can you do such a thing?  When I say that the only thing that got me out of bed on certain days was food, I mean that the only thing that got me out of bed was the promise of two bowls of cereal.  The drug of choice was Multi-Grain Cheerios most of the time.  Just so you know, Multi-Grain Cheerios are no longer good for you when you triple the serving size.

Measure your cereal out.  I dare you. 

I've officially stopped buying cereal as of a few months ago.  There's some odd and ends in the cupboard that Scott is finishing up, but I'm doing him a favor here too.  He doesn't even miss it.  Well, he's not here to miss it, but you know what I mean. 

So I saw this about using quinoa as a breakfast cereal, like you would oatmeal.  Quinoa has the protein you need to get through the morning.  I added almonds and cranberries, with just a drizzle of honey on top.

This recipe makes about 2-3 servings.  You can make it in the evening, refrigerate, and just heat it up in the morning.  Who knows.  You might even enjoy it cold. 



Cranberry-Almond Breakfast Quinoa

1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
1 cup skim milk
1 cup almond milk*
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 cup Craisins
1/2 cup chopped or slivered almonds
Honey for drizzling

*You can use whatever 2 cups of milk you prefer.  I like the sweetness that the almond milk adds.

Use a large pot.  Mine kind of boiled over and created quite the little disaster.

Bring the milk to a boil.  Add the quinoa, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Put a lid on the pot and simmer on LOW for about 15 minutes or until all of the liquid has been absorbed.  Stir well and add in the almonds and Craisins.  It's already kind of sweet, so you may want to save the honey for each individual portion.

I think I might start eating this for lunch.


Shared at:
Fresh Food Friday
Sweet Indulgences Sunday 
Savory Sunday

1 comment:

  1. This looks so healthy and delicious, perfect for a cool autumn morning. Thanks for sharing on Sweet Indulgences Sunday.

    ReplyDelete

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