A bodyworker recently told me that my body does not like oats, even though my mouth finds them agreeable. It wasn’t like I was eating oatmeal every day, but I ate it probably once a week for breakfast. I always considered it a great pre-run meal, especially with my favorite healthy add-ins.
Oats are crazy popular right now; the internet is ablaze with mason jar overnight oat recipes by the hundreds. But for me, oats are now outs.
They weren’t causing any noticeable ill effects in my body, but “noticeable” is the key word there. If the very talented bodyworker, who also told me a lot of other accurate things he had no way of knowing except by knowing, says oats aren’t doing me any favors, then I’m going to eat less of them.
Breakfast is still my favorite meal. I usually have veggie-packed scrambled eggs or a super smoothie, but there are those days when neither of those things sound good. Without oats to fill in the gap, I turned to quinoa.
Quinoa is a grain that also happens to be a good source of protein. I used to think of it in terms of savory dishes: served with roasted red peppers and garlic with balsamic reduction, for example. It’s as quick and easy to cook as oatmeal is, and it mostly takes on the taste of whatever you’re adding to it. I’ve found it to be the ideal oatmeal replacement, and I wonder why I never did this before.
This is my breakfast quinoa recipe:
1/4 to 1/2 cup of quinoa
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
1 teaspoon maca powder
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons raisins, dried cranberries, or chopped dates
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
A small handful of almonds or walnuts, maybe 10-15
dash of cinnamon
Mix it up! If it’s a little too thick, add water or milk until you’ve got a better consistency.
This is how I enjoy breakfast quinoa–of course, it tastes great with any of your favorite oatmeal toppings. And it goes well with healthy hot chocolate.
Enjoy!