Uh-May-Zing Quinoa Porridge

I had some leftover Quinoa after last night’s dinner, and, thanks to some inspiration from Rene Johnson of Shanti Yoga Studio, I decided to try making porridge with it.  Am I ever glad that I did, because HolyMotherOfGod it was delicious!

This is how I made the nutty flavoured goodness:

Step 1:  I put the leftover cooked Quinoa into a saucepan; I’d say it was about 2 cups-ish.

Step 2: I added enough almond milk to cover the Quinoa. This kind of seemed like too much, and I started to second guess myself…but the milk cooked down nicely and it turned out to be a perfect amount!

I use unsweetened almond milk

Step 3: I added in some other ingredients – 2tblsp of Agave Nectar, 1 full scoop of Mila cut Chia Seed, 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract (wish I had the natural stuff, but no luck today!), and a bunch of shakes of Cinnamon (I REALLY like my Cinnamon!).

Step 4: I cooked the whole mixture over medium heat, stirring OFTEN, until it came to a rolling boil and the almond milk was cooked down. It had a thick and creamy consistency at the end.

Step 5: I added fresh strawberries and blueberries, then enjoyed a DELICIOUS and NUTRITIOUS breakfast – yummy!

So why Quinoa instead of oatmeal, you ask?  Well, for starters, I had some left over from last night’s dinner, and sometimes I just like to try new things.  Secondly, though, Quinoa is so super good for you; it is full of protein and many other nutrients, it’s gluten-free, and it’s high in fiber.  You can read more about the health benefits of Quinoa here.  If you haven’t jumped on the Quinoa bandwagon yet, you should definitely give it a try!

Yummy Chicken Stirfry with Quinoa

I just finished eating a delicious chicken stir fry, and I’m checking out some of my favourite blogs online already, so I thought I’d tell you about my dinner while I’m here.  I even made it from scratch…well, except for the sauce – a busy girl sometimes has to cut corners!

I started by dicing up 1 1/2 large chicken breasts into bite-sized cubes and tossing that into my wok with a bit of olive oil, some Mrs. Dash spice, and a little bit of Mila Power Seed (a great brand of Chia).  While the chicken was cooking, I cut up some broccoli, red, yellow, and orange peppers, red onion and mushrooms – I tossed those into the wok once the chicken was no longer pink.  I also threw in some sugar snap peas and then grated some fresh ginger to stir in.  I usually put in a bit of finely chopped jalapeno or habanero pepper, but I didn’t have any on hand tonight…probably a good thing, since the stir-fry sauce I used this time already has a bit of a kick.

Ours came with a veggie steamer tray too, but my husband melted that on the stove top a while back, so now it’s just a rice cooker.

Meanwhile, I put some quinoa in my rice cooker.  If you eat a lot of rice or quinoa and do not yet have a rice cooker, you should run and get one right now.  Seriously – why are you still reading?  Get one NOW!  It is a kitchen staple, I swear to God.  You just put in your quinoa and your water and then push a button…then leave that shit alone.  It’s glorious.  I had quite a bit of stirfry and quinoa left over (there is only one person eating in this house right now, remember?).  I often eat the stirfry alone without any rice or quinoa, so I think I’ll do that tomorrow and try something different with the leftover quinoa…a little something I picked up from the lovely Rene Johnson at Yoga Teacher Training.  I have no idea if it will work out or not, but I guess you’ll have to read the follow up blog post to find out!

When the chicken and veggies were all stir-fry-a-licious, I poured on some VH brand General Tao stir-fry sauce – about 1/3 of the bottle.  One day I plan to make my own stir-fry sauce, but it’s far more efficient for me to buy it at this point in my life, so that’s just the way it’s gotta be.  Store bought stir-fry sauce is reeeediculously high in sodium (this stuff is 690ml for 100ml – a little less than what I used tonight), but VH brand is a lot better than most in my grocery store, so I refuse to feel guilty about it.

This is the final product.  Absolutely friggin delightful!  Yes, that’s a glass of Pinot Grigio in the background.  Yes, my husband is still away and I am home all by myself.  Yes, I’m drinking wine alone.  Stop judging me…I’m only human!