Making Creamy Quinoa for Breakfast

“Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a grain that comes from the Andes Mountains of South America not yet well known in North America. Quinoa's origins are truly ancient. It was one of the three staple foods, along with corn and potatoes, of the Inca civilization. Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain; an average of 16.2 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for rice, 9.9 percent for millet, and 14 percent for wheat. It is light, tasty, and easy to digest. It is not sticky or heavy like most other grains, and it has a delicious flavor all its own. Quinoa can be substituted for almost any grain in almost any recipe. It looks and tastes great on its own, or in any dish from soup to salad. Its lightness combined with its versatility in cold dishes like salads and desserts makes it an ideal source of good summertime nutrition - makes an excellent source of nourishment for infants and children.”  - taken from Quinoa Harvest

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For many years, I would have a piece of toast or 2 (depending on how hungry I was) and a cup of tea in the mornings - that was my staple breakfast. I can't eat a big breakfast as that weighs me down and I don't eat for the rest of the day. It became a challenge after becoming gluten free (gf) as the store bought breads were very pricey and I wasn't successful at making my own.

Several months ago, my hubby and I went on an detox that modified our diets a little bit. I have been cooking whole foods for many years, eating less processed foods, but this detox made us realize that our food choices could be better. I've seen a recipe for eating hot quinoa for breakfast. I've been eating quinoa as a starch and even made a salad with it, but to eat it hot, in the mornings would be weird - so I thought.

I decided to take a try at making quinoa for breakfast. At first, I didn't like it, it was a textural thing. I started to put more milk in it and tried to make it creamier and I think I got a pretty good recipe. It fills me up and gets me going in the mornings. I just can't eat too much or it'll carry me over lunch. It is so simple to make and 1 cup of dried quinoa makes a lot of creamy quinoa. Here's my recipe:

1 c. dried quinoa (I don't wash it, never did)

2-3 c. almond milk (any non dairy or low fat milk will do)

2 tb. sugar (I use Zulka - Mexican pure cane sugar)

Toasted, slivered almonds
You'll also need an immersion blender or regular a blender along with a sauce pan and a frying pan

First you toast your almonds - with your stove on medium and using a non stick frying pan, put in a handful or 2 of almonds in the pan (I wouldn't walk away, stay there till finished - it'll only take several minutes). Give your pan a few seconds to heat up then stir your almonds. Soon you will see some of the almonds start to get toasty, you'll hear a slight crackling sound - be careful, it could burn, don't take it too far. When it's as toasty brown as you'd like, pour onto a plate to cool. After cooling, store in a sealable container or baggie for future use. **Note: almonds and other nuts should be stored in the freezer, the oils in them could make them go bad fast.**

While your almonds are cooling, place your quinoa, sugar and milk into a sauce pan and turn your heat to  medium high. Let everything come to a simmering boil, then start to stir - just like making risotto. Stir for a few moments, then cover your pan and leave till all the milk has been absorbed by the quinoa - mine took approximately 30 minutes. **It was at this time that I dropped my sugar container on the floor and it made a mess - don't do what I did.**

                                                              

Take your pan off the heat and pour about a 1/2 cup of your milk in with the cooked quinoa and stir to combine. Using your boat motor (immersion blender), process the quinoa (you are essentially breaking it up), move it all around the pan in an up and down motion until it is nice and thick and all the milk has been absorbed. If you don't have a boat motor, you can just put all the ingredients into a blender and process. Your quinoa will now have a creamy texture to it. You can eat it warm or place in a covered container to store in frig for future breakfasts. This not recommended as a cold cereal . . .  I heat mine up in the morning with a touch more milk for more creaminest and sprinkle on some toasted almonds.

It took me a little bit to get used to eating quinoa for breakfast, but now I love it and miss it when I run out. It's not too sweet, it satisfies my tummy, and keeps me going all morning.

All done

Happy eating!!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this recipe or any of my other posts. Thanks!

What to do with a Tough Piece of Meat

Have you ever cooked a steak or piece of meat that was too tough and it was hard to eat? We’ve all done it right? Well, my friends, don't throw it out or give it to the dog. Just chop it real small and fine, and cook it up with some eggs. By cutting it up real small, it's like you're breaking through all that toughness. You can throw in onions, shrooms, other veggies, cheese - anything you want and you have another meal. I’ve done this with tough meat that Jim won’t eat and it works. This works great as a base for fried rice too.

I’ve even used it as a base for soup. Saute leftover tough meat and add veggies of choice. Then open any Pacific brand soup in a carton and pour over meat mixture - instant soup.

So, next time you over cook your steak, just chop it up real fine and add it to other ingredients for a great meal.

Happy cooking!

Necklaces Anyone?

Necklaces are a simple and easy way to accessorize anyone's wardrobe and they come in all varieties from beaded to just simple chains. I love to make the beaded ones where I get to mix and match colors and types of beads to create a unique necklace. Here are just a few I have made:

Pink Tiles Necklace



Purple Brown Spikes Necklace

Crystal Red Baubles Necklace

These have charms:

Meditation Prayer Necklace



Penguin Necklace



Gold Starfish Necklace


These necklaces would be a great accessory to anyone’s wardrobe. It’s dressy enough for the office or casual enough for a date. They are made with gold or silver findings. These come mailed in a recycled jewelry box for safety. Soon to come will be necklaces for men.

For more detail on these and to see others, just visit my Etsy shop.

Thanks for looking!!

Brown Rice Salad Recipe

**I am sorry - the pic for this post was accidentally deleted and cannot be retrieved**

Years ago, I went to a local restaurant called First Street Haven and had a brown rice salad. I don’t remember what it had in it other than rice, but I do remember how simple it was that I have replicated it many times my own way.

You can use anything you want, but of course, the base is brown rice (could use white, but brown is better for you) and you need some kind of vinaigrette. I usually make this with whatever I have on hand. Today I made this with:

Brown rice (instructions below)
Vinaigrette (recipe below)
2 slices of chopped bacon (great base ingredient)
Onions
Beet greens, stems seperated and chopped
Artichoke heart
Small zucchini
Small piece of tomato
Chicken stock

To begin, you will need to have or prep the first 2 ingredients, if you don't have it already.

Here is how I cook my brown rice - my ratio is 1 cup of brown rice to 2-1/4 cups of water. I grew up eating rice cooked in a rice cooker, but for several years made it on the stove. I don’t rinse the rise, add it to my pot with the water, cover and bring it to a boil, then let it simmer for about 40 minutes or until the water evaporates. It is very important to let rice sit covered for 5-10 minutes to finish the cooking process - if not, the rice on the bottom gets gummy. I’m now back to cooking rice in a rice cooker, I missed the texture of how rice is from a cooker. If using cold rice, mic it for 1 minute.

Basic vinaigrette - Why use store bought when you can make your own? In a small container with a lid, add about 2 tablespoons of mustard (I mix Dijon with whole grain), several splashes of red wine vinegar, double that amount of extra virgin olive oil, pepper, granulated garlic & onion. Put the lid on & shake to combine. This could also be whisked in a bowl.

To make the salad, I first saute 2 pieces of bacon with about ¼ cup of onions. I then add whatever takes the longest to cook next, in this case, it was the beet green stems. I let that cook for a several minutes, then I chopped up the zucchini and added that to the pan and let that get brown. Next was the artichoke hearts, this time I even chopped up the meat in the stems - it's good stuff, don't waste it. I had a little bit of tomato, so that got chopped and included. Mix everything well then add the warm rice.

By now, everything has created a nice brown crust on the bottom of your pan. Don’t think of that as being a chore to scrape when you have to wash the pan. All that browness is like gold, it has a lot of flavor in it and if left, would be a waste. Instead, use this technique to get all that great flavor incorporated into your salad.

Pour in about 1/4 cup of your vinagrette depending on how much salad you have, you may need less - don't drown it. Mix it in well and you're done. Can be served warm or room temp, serving this cold would not work because brown rice is hard and not tasty when it's cold. The finished dish looks very similar to fried rice, but the flavors are different.

Like I said in the beginning, you can mix and match your favorite ingredients. You can do this with smoked salmon, lunch meat, chicken, beans, other veggies or even leftover dinner - you are only limited by your palate.

This took less than an hour to make, unless you need to cook the rice and make the vinaigrette - everything else is already done (minus cooking the bacon). This makes a great light lunch or a perfect summer dinner, just add some side dishes of your choice and you have a great light and healthy meal.

So, there you go, another easy recipe that takes no time to make.

Happy eating!!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this recipe or any of my other posts. Thanks!

Frozen Strawberry Dessert Recipe

I LOVE ice cream - I love all that creamy goodness in a little cup, and who doesn't? I used to enjoy having a small amount of vanilla ice cream after dinner, but the last time I did, my body didn't like it. There are many who can't digest it well and have sadly not been able to enjoy it anymore. If you are one of those people, I've come up with a great solution that I think works great as a substitute for ice cream. Here's what I do.

I take frozen organic strawberries, almond milk or any milk will do, and canned whipped cream (yes, I said canned), optional sweetner. I use a mini food chopper, a very well loved food chopper, but you can use a blender if you like - the consistency will just be different.

First, I take 6 to 8 strawberries (package says 1 cup is the serving size, but 6 to 8 is fine for me - I look for the biggest ones), cut them in quarters, then place them in the food chopper.

I add some milk, not too much, you don't want a milk shake (you want to keep some of the frozen goodness after processing it). Add your optional sweetner if using - I don't use any. I tried honey, but because the berries are frozen, the honey gummed up my chopper blade. I just use the little bit of sweetness from the whipped cream.

I process it till it looks almost slushy, still a bit frozen - you can leave it however chunky you want adding a little (just a little, I said) more milk if need to.

I then spritz some whipped cream into the bottom of a mug, pour in the frozen goodness and spritz more whipped cream on top. If you have some fresh, organic strawberries, chop that up to sprinkle on top - blueberries are great. Sliced or slivered almonds are wonderful as a topping too. Dark chocolate shavings would make a yummy topping. Get creative.

To eat, I just mix it all together and have at it. The texture and consistency is just like eating ice cream, it's sorbet like - cold, creamy and a little sweet from the whipped cream. I have just the right amount I need - no worries about eating too much, altho you can't go wrong with eating strawberries mushed up in some milk, can you? This would work great with other berries or fruits, peaches would probably work great - **note to self, buy some organic peaches**.

So if you're avoiding your beloved ice cream for whatever reason, give my recipe a try - I know you'll love it as much as I do.

Enjoy!!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this recipe or any of my other posts. Thanks!