4.25.2012

Food Firsts (2)

You may remember that one of the things on my to do list is to try a new recipe each month. This actually ended up turning into one new recipe a week on average. They are not anything special; they are just an attempt at trying something NEW, not fancy. And it's fun!  Now if I can just get myself to try a new activity each month as well... Here are three of my favorite breakfast recipes from the last few months.

1. Breakfast Quinoa (adapted from this recipe): I love quinoa and was excited to find that I could eat it for breakfast! One of my favorite ways to eat it is to cook it as mentioned below and then add fresh fruit, a few nuts and some almond milk for a yummy and fast breakfast!


Ingredients
2 cups almond milk
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup craisins or raisins

Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, until three-quarters of the milk has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook, covered, until almost all the milk has been absorbed, about 8 minutes.
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2. Overnight Oats (adapted from this recipe): I liked these because you can make them the night before and then just grab and go in the morning. They also make a great gift for a basket. The recipient just has to add milk and leave in the fridge and they are all set. Easy! 

1/3 cup steel cut oats 
1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup nuts
1/4 cup raisins or craisins
1/4 cup shredded coconut
2 tsp brown sugar or honey (or to taste; you may want a little more)

Mix all ingredients together in a jar or lidded Tupperware.  Stir well. Leave in fridge overnight. In the morning, stir and enjoy! They are a little chewy but very good! (**I eat this as two servings) 
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3. Homemade Granola (recipe adapted from here): This recipe is kind of an estimate, as I like to throw in a bit of this and a bit of that and sweeten to taste, which for me is not very sweet. So, you can use this as a guideline and add what you want! This makes about 6 cups. Each half cup serving is about 220 calories. 


4 cups oats
2 tbsp flax
¼ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup almonds
2 tbsp honey
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar
½ cup unsweet coconut

Mix all ingredients together and spread on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes at 325. Take out and stir around. Bake for another 5-10 minutes. Stir again. Bake for another 5-10 minutes. Oats should be golden brown. Let cool and store in airtight container. It should last a couple of weeks on the shelf.

For more recipes I am thinking of trying, or to find me on pinterest, go HERE.

Have you tried any of these? Have you made any new recipes lately? What do you normally eat for breakfast?

15 comments:

  1. I recently tried a variation on overnight oats, they were OK, maybe I should try yours! I'm a huge fan for every type of homemade granola.

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  2. I used to like to make homemade granola, but my husband doesn't really adore granola so I tend not to make it. I wouldn't eat it all myself. One thing I liked to do when I did make it was add some softened juice concentrate to replace some of the oil; I'd make cranberry orange granola or apple cinnamon.

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  3. Yum, the 1st and 3rd ones look delicious. I am with Abbi on overnight oats - I tried them before and they were kind of 'meh' for me... But maybe I should give your recipe a whirl.

    I made your chili recipe this week, that's the newest thing I've made (and I loved it!).

    For breakfast, I either have toast w/ pb and either raspberry jam or bananas. Or if I am feeling ambitious, I will have an egg over easy with toast. And on mornings when my stomach is feeling off, I made one of those Uncle Bens microwave rice packets that you just heat up for 90 seconds.

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  4. Breakfast is my favorite and I love trying new things. Having quinoa for breakfast is something I've wanted to try, so thanks of that recipe!

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  5. I eat oatmeal every single day and to be honest, I love it and don't feel the need to change! I get in a routine with foods I love and get so boring. I have made some granola for snacks - so tasty!

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  6. Yum- your breakfast quinoa looks awesome. I eat oats most days but haven't made steel cut oats in a long time.. I'm gonna try that recipe!

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  7. I eat homemade granola for breakfast every day and it's pretty much the best thing ever. I don't do it exactly like your recipe but I'm definitely going to give some of your ingredients a try!

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  8. I have overnight oats every day. I like them hot, so I cook them for 2 min in the microwave after adding an egg white.

    I've made granola a few times now and love it. Hard to not eat too much. One recipe I made was very similar to yours.

    Yum!

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  9. The breakfast quinoa and homemade granola sound yummy. But, I'm too lazy to make them. If you come to my house to make them for me, I'll give you full access to my beer fridge! =) A recent addition to my (small) breakfast rotation is adding peanut butter to my morning oatmeal. Yummy!

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  10. I've been curious about overnight oats. I might have to try them.

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  11. I'm going to try that quinoa recipe - thanks for sharing...

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  12. Your granola looks amazing!!!

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  13. I keep meaning to make my own granola. It seems so easy!

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  14. you would probably like these http://www.katheats.com/?page_id=4681 . I've made them a few times, this morning being the most recent. Today I added in, peanut butter, honey, flaxseeds, almonds and chocolate chips. They are super good with dates and butterscotch. Yummm. Next time I am thinking of using pumpkin.

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  15. I've been wanting to incorporate more quinoa. I'm going to try that recipe. It looks easy and yummy!

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