Oh, and something that is grab and go, too. Which is kinda a tall order.
I used to really love the packets of maple brown sugar super sweet disgusting quaker oatmeal, that you just add hot water to and go. But, for one, I’m reaaalllllyyy trying to cut out process shit from my diet wherever possible (beer is still allowed, for example), and I dunno, I was craving something more.
ENTER: breakfast quinoa.
I’m not gonna dive into all the accolades available for quinoa – y’all can google it for yourselves. But, long story short, quinoa is actually a seed, is gluten free, is loaded with protein and some other important crap, and has a mildly cous-cous like consistency. Which makes it less mushy and texturally disgusting than oatmeal (don’t lie – even if you like oatmeal, that shit is kinda disgusting).
I experimented with a few different preparations of the breakfast quinoa before arriving on the perfect recipe, which is not too sweet, but still has flavor. Plus, you can pretty much add anything you want to it. It’s a blank slate.
I like to make a big batch on Sunday, and package it up into individual Tupperware containers, so I have a week’s worth of breakfast. Grab and go, baby. This is how to make enough for 5 days’ worth of yumminess (or, a business week for you nitpickers).
You will need:
- 1 ¼ cups dry quinoa (may I suggest buying it in a package that says “pre-rinsed?” because I can’t tell you what to do with anything that is not rinsed)
- 1 ½ cups of coconut milk (unsweetened)
- Honey
- Pumpkin pie spice (for convenience – you can also use cinnamon, a bit of sugar and nutmeg)
- Vanilla extract
- Chopped nuts of your choosing (optional)
- Almond butter flavor of your choosing (optional)
- Frozen fruit of your choosing (optional – but I suggest raspberries and blueberries)
Dump the quinoa and coconut millk into a sauce pan over high-ish heat. Once you get a nice simmer going, reduce to medium. Add the honey, vanilla and spices. I do, like, 2 nice squeezes of honey, probably 2-3 tsps of vanilla?, and a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice. You want it to smell just delish – its kinda hard to go overboard. But it’s possible, so be careful.
Cover the pot and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. If it stops simmering, turn the heat up a little bit. Once all liquid is absorbed (about 20-25 mins), remove from heat and portion out into 5 tupperware containers. Garnish with chopped nuts (I go with a mix of walnuts and pecans), frozen fruit, and a tbsp of almond butter (I personally love Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter, but dark chocolate, maple, regular… it would all work). Stick in the fridge, where the fruit will unfreeze itself and leak yummy juices all into your breakfast for an awesome sweet/sour taste. Microwave for 1 min in the morning to reheat. Enjoy!