Better than Oatmeal: Breakfast Quinoa

I have been perfecting my breakfast quinoa and I'm finally ready to share it with you. It's simple to make, packed with protein & fiber, and better than oatmeal. [in my opinion] Also, my recipe is dairy free. 

^ What you need ^

1 1/2 cups of rice milk 

1 cup of quinoa [be sure to rinse off and strain your quinoa before you put it in the pan. it will take away that bitter taste it can have sometimes]

1 tablespoon of vegan butter

1/3 cup of brown sugar

^ Put all your ingredients into a pan on medium/high heat. Add a dash of cinnamon & nutmeg. Once it begins to boil start the simmer process. Put heat on low and cover for 30 minutes. ^

^Add additional time if you still see liquid in the pan. Keep simmering until all the liquid is gone and your quinoa is nice and fluffy. [I had to add 5 minutes to this batch] ^

^ Dish it out and enjoy! ^

Juicing

With all of the black friday and Christmas sales, I have been debating on whether or not I should buy a juicer. I know, a bit behind the times. I've gone to juice bars and have ordered some good juice and I have also have walked away with a drink that taste like the earth. A friend so graciously lent me her juicer so I could give it a try before I take the plunge and purchase one. I have been experimenting with different fruits and veggies to see what I like best. I thought I would share my favorite so far! 

First let me say, that I have never had a beet in my life and had no clue what I was in for, but they are actually quite tasty. (and leave a nice pink stain on your lips.) 

Ingredients: 1 red apple 

2 clementines

1 beet

3 carrots

A bushel (4/5 leaves) of kale

JUICE!

After I stirred the juice up I realized that it needed just a little more something. 

So I added a green apple to it! 

Perfection! This is my favorite combo so far! It taste 10% like earth, 80% like a sweet candy, and another 10% of kale. A nice healthy way of getting more fruits and veggies. Now I guess I can say that I've had a beet! Yay me! 

Share your juice recipes with me! 

Baked Kale Chips

I've wanted to make Kale Chips for a while. I'm not sure why I waited so long. These were so easy to make and they are delicious. I paid $1.69 for a big bushel of kale at the store. Kale itself is not the most delicious thing on it's own. However, by baking it you get this "chip" texture which cancels out the leafy green/healthy texture. It fools your brain into thinking you're eating a potato chip. Anything to fool my brain into eating more veggies is worth it to me! 

WHAT TO DO: 

1. Wash your kale. Also pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees.

2. Use kitchen scissors (my favorite kitchen utensil) to cut the leaves off the stems. Cut them into medium size pieces. They will shrink a bit in the baking process. 

3. Place in a bowl and drizzle some olive oil on the leaves. Mix with your hands. 

4. Put the leaves on a baking sheets. Sprinkle sea salt, cayenne pepper (for some spice), or chili powder (for some more spice). 

5. Place in the oven to bake for 2 hours at 250 degrees. 

ENJOY! 

Adventures in Pinning: Quinoa Pizza Bites

I pinned this a while back and figured that it would be simple to make. I love quinoa, it's so filling and healthy for you too. I didn't have mozzarella cheese so I used pepper-jack. I didn't have pizza sauce so I used a can of diced tomatoes, added some herbs to it and stuck it in the magic bullet. I think people can really stress themselves out by having the perfect measurements and exact ingredients. 

I say, use what you have and have fun! 

Here's what I did:

Cooked the quinoa. (1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. Bring to rollin' boil then set to simmer for about 12-15 minutes.) 

While it was cooking I...

diced 1/2 cup of white onion

minced 1 clove of fresh garlic

added 1 egg

grated 1/2 cup pepper-jack cheese

added couple shakes of dried oregano and basil

added a dash of salt 

added 1 drop of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

Mix all of that together with the cooked quinoa. 

Spray a mini-muffin pan with olive oil and scoop it in. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

 Obviously, my first batch was a fail. They stuck really bad to the pan and fell apart when I took them out. 

It was tough to eat the first batch. They fell apart and were kind of dry. I added a little bit more EVOO and the second batch came out great! 

YAY for pinterest success! I let them cool a little longer in the pan before I took them out. They were still kind of dry but with the warm pizza sauce on them they were delicious! 

Cooking will always be a learning process for me.