Quinoa For Breakfast...Yes Quinoa

I keep reading healthy recipes and meal plans that use quinoa as the breakfast main. If you are like me, you picture quinoa as a substitute for rice or potatoes... with dinner. I have previously tried it as a breakfast 'cereal' but just didn't enjoy it until I decided to top it just like I would oatmeal.

After years and years of eating oatmeal this is a nice change. Oatmeal is amazing for you, but quinoa is a bit better. It is a balanced grain that contains a good amount of protein. If you don't know all the benefits take a look here for some no nonsense quinoa facts.

So I tried a recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's new cook book and it turned out amazing. I will post that recipe tomorrow, but in the meantime you can cook it as you usually did. (Basically same way you cook rice.) I cook extra to last a few mornings. You can totally put any toppings on this and make it your own!

Walnut Banana Quinoa

Walnut Banana Quinoa

• 3/4 cup perfect quinoa 
• 1/4 cup almond milk (or milk of your choice)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 banana, cut into slices
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• drizzle of honey

* warm up quinoa with almond milk for about 1 minute (skip this step if making fresh)

* layer on the rest of the toppings and drizzle with honey

Ta-da!!! Yes it is that easy...and good!

Gluten Free Banana Muffins - NO Special Flour Needed!!!

Anyone who has a wheat or gluten allergy or is just trying to cut back on eating wheat knows how complicated some of the ingredients are, let alone searching for them. Maize flour, Arrowroot flour, Chia flour, etc. Even when you find these flours they are expensive and you may be stuck with a bag of flour that you dislike the taste of.

The following recipe is one that I made muffins with using oatmeal, yes regular plain oatmeal!!! Some stores do have oatmeal flour available for purchase but I just placed regular oatmeal in the Magic Bullet/food processor and grinded the oatmeal into flour myself.

The result was ultra moist, tasty and easy muffins! They are pretty healthy to boot! You can use a greased pan or as I recommend lined muffin tins. I used egg replacement to make these dairy free. There is margarine but we use soy margarine that doesn't have dairy. A regular egg and margarine will yield the same results. This recipe yielded me 24 mini muffins and 6 large ones. I placed a chocolate chip on each one purely for decoration and to entice the boys...it worked, but wasn't necessary...they inhaled these!

 

Banana Muffins

• 3 or 4 bananas, mushed (I used 4 for extra moisture)
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/4c brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 c margarine or butter
• 1 egg (or egg replacement as per directions) 
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2c oatmeal, grinded (I measured it prior to grinding and grind until it is almost flour like in texture)

* Preheat oven to 350
* Mix mashed bananas, honey, sugar, margarine and egg together
* Add in all ingredients but oatmeal and combine until completely mixed
* Add in oatmeal and stir until totally incorporated
* Scoop into greased or lined muffin tins, top with chocolate chip (optional)
* Mini muffins took 15 minutes to cook, large ones took 20 minutes

MMMMuffins!!!