Quinoa Breakfast Cereal

I don’t know about you, but it’s not too often my children request quinoa … especially for breakfast. But my son, Josh, who recently turned 15 and eats more at lunch than I do in an entire day, is pretty much hooked on a recipe for Quinoa Breakfast Cereal that I discovered in Debra Stark’s new cookbook, Blue Ribbon Edition.

This recipe is packed with high-quality protein and lots of good-for-you calories, so when Josh has it for breakfast, I feel good just knowing he’s starting the day off right. Janice and I promised to share this super-easy recipe with all of you a few weeks back … so here goes!

Quinoa Breakfast Cereal

Makes 3 Servings

  • 1 cup quinoa (I rinse it well in a mesh strainer)
  • 2 cups water or milk of any kind
  • 1 apple, diced (about 1 cup)
  • 1 tablespoon coconut flakes
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup almonds or walnuts, ground
  • 1 tablespoon ghee (I used unsalted butter)
  • Sweetener options: Maple syrup, honey, agave, or stevia

1. Combine quinoa and water or milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add apple, coconut, cinnamon, nuts, and ghee. Lower heat, cover pot and simmer about 15 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.

2. Serve with the sweetener of your choice. Note from Debra: Try adding raisins, dates, rosewater, cardamom, or whatever variation floats your boat.

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Quinoa is perfect for people following gluten-free diets or for anyone looking to add interesting, fiber-filled, protein-rich grains to their diet. If you have a favorite quinoa recipe, feel free to share!

July 7, 2010 | Filed Under Breakfast, Fruits, Grains | 13 Comments 

Whole Grain Goodness & Bob’s Red Mill Giveaway (Podcast #106)

Have you ever cooked farro or teff?  What about amaranth or barley? For the lowdown on every grain under the sun, visit the Whole Grains Council website, a fabulous resource for everything whole grains … or tune into this week’s Cooking with the Moms podcast.  During the show, we dish about whole grains and all the easy ways to add them to your family’s diet.

Giveaway News: For fresh ideas on whole grains, our friends at Bob’s Red Mill are sponsoring a giveaway for our readers.  To enter, leave a comment at the end of this post with your favorite way to incorporate whole grains into your family’s diet or share a recipe using whole grains. Three lucky winners will receive an assortment of whole grain products from Bob’s Red Mill — things like Spice Apple Bran Muffin Mix, 13-Bean Soup Mix, 10-Grain Hot Cereal, Quinoa, and more.  Winners will be selected randomly using random.org, and the giveaway ends at noon on June 25th.

Several weeks ago, Janice had the pleasure of touring Bob’s Red Mill while in the Portland, Oregon during the annual meeting of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.  Bob Moore founded Bob’s Red Mill over 30 years ago to preserve the ancient craft of stone milling and to grind whole grains for the local community.  Now, with over 200 employees, the company offers 400 wholesome products including ground flaxseed, quinoa, teff, whole wheat pastry flour, millet, whole grain pancake mix, gluten-free all-purpose baking flour, and apple blueberry granola (over 100 of them are gluten free too). You name it … if it’s a whole grain, they grind it, mill it, mix it, and sell it!

After touring the facility and seeing the whole grains being crushed and ground, Janice went to the store and feasted on a breakfast burrito wrapped in a whole grain flour tortilla with grits and fresh fruit on the side.  There, she met Bob and asked if he wanted to be a guest on our podcast.  To her delight, he said yes, and he invited his program director, Lori Sobelson to join the conversation too.  Lori runs all the culinary classes and programs offered to the community, and she shared two of her favorite kid-friendly recipes including Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies and Hazelnut Quinoa Salad (see below).  These two charming folks spent close to an hour chatting with Janice about everything from how the company was started to how to get kids to eat more whole grains.

Breakfast Burrito and Fruit Salad at Bob’s Red Mill

Bob and Janice take a spin in his 1931 Ford

Bob’s Red Mill Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Makes about 24 Cookies

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (we used 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup canola oil)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups Old-Fashioned Rolled oats (not instant)
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Set aside.

2. In a bowl using an electric mixer, cream butter (or butter and canola oil if using both) and sugar until creamy and smooth about 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine.  Add the flour, baking soda, salt and old-fashioned oats.  Beat until well incorporated.  Stir in cranberries and walnuts.

3. For small cookies place about 1 tablespoon of batter on the prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart.  For larger cookies, use an ice cream scoop or about two and one half tablespoons of batter per cookie.  If your batter is too soft, place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm it up before baking the cookies.  Flatten the cookies slightly with the palm of your hand and bake cookies about 10 minutes for smaller cookies and 13 to 14 minutes for larger cookies, or until light golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let cookies cool about 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

A recipe from Bob’s Red Mill Bakery, Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods

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As we mentioned in the podcast, on Bob’s 81st birthday he gave the company to his employees. He said, “I didn’t want it to be acquired by a competitor who would take it to pieces and fire everyone.  I couldn’t let that happen.”

Hazelnut Quinoa Salad

Makes 4 Servings (courtesy, Lori Sobelson)

  • 2 cups quinoa, cooked
  • 1/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and crushed
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
  • 1/2 cup red seedless grapes cut in half

  • 1/3 cup orange juice
  • 1/4 cup strawberry fruit spread
  • 3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (or white vinegar)
  • 2 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon silken tofu
  • 1 medium clove garlic, minced
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

1. To cook quinoa:  In a saucepan over high heat, bring 2 cups water to boil.  Add 1 cup quinoa grain and ½ teaspoon salt.  Reduce heat and cook covered for 12 minutes.  Quinoa will be done when grain has absorbed all of the liquid.  Place quinoa on cookie sheet to cool.

2. In a medium size bowl combine cooled quinoa, hazelnuts, green onions and grapes.  Serve at room temperature or chill for 2 hours before adding dressing.

3. In a food processor or blender, combine all of the dressing ingredients.  Blend for about 1 minute or until smooth. Set aside until main salad ingredients are ready to serve.  Just before serving pour dressing over quinoa mixture.  Pour slowly as you will have more than you need.

* If you don’t like the dressing recipe listed above a low-fat raspberry vinaigrette may also be used.

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Good luck on the giveaway. We can’t wait to read about all of your ideas!

June 9, 2010 | Filed Under CulinaryAdventures, Giveaways, Grains, Podcast, Sides, Vegetarian | 170 Comments 

Podcast 94: Stress Busting, Health-Boosting Tips for Moms (and Dads) … and a Cookbook Giveaway

Today’s Cooking with the Moms radio podcast is dedicated to YOU … all of our busy mom and dad friends out there who run ragged from morning till night taking care of everyone else but themselves. Sound familiar? For the show, we spoke with Joe Sweeney, lifestyle guru at the fabulous Rancho La Puerta spa in Tecate, Mexico, and author of I Know I Should Exercise, But …. Joe teaches a class there called Taking the Ranch Home, where he offers realistic tips for fighting stress while incorporating fitness, relaxation, and good nutrition into everyday lives.

But before we share Joe’s strategies, we have to tell you about our latest giveaway. To help you eat a healthier diet packed with delicious, seasonal meals, one lucky blog reader (or podcast listener or Facebook fan) will win a copy of Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta. This beautiful cookbook was written by spa founder, Deborah Szekely, and it features a bounty of delicious-sounding recipes — Corn, Cilantro, & Arugula Salad with Yogurt Dressing, Lasagna Azteca, and Chocolate Banana Bread. We have cooked quite a few recipes from the book including Squash-Apple Soup with Thai Red Curry and Mexican Red Rice, which you’ll find further down in this post.

To enter our Cooking with the Seasons cookbook giveaway all you have to do is post a comment on this blog post or on our Facebook fan page with your best tip for how you squash stress, relax, or fit fitness and nutrition into your day. The giveaway ends on Friday, March 5 at noon.

We Will Enter You into the Giveaway Multiple Times if you do any or all of the following (just be sure to leave us a new comment every time you do one of these things):

> Tweet about our giveaway on Twitter.
> Tell your Facebook friends about it with a link back to this blog post.
> Become a Facebook Fan.

We hope many of you will enter the giveaway and listen to this week’s podcast, and we certainly hope you’ll read on for Joe Sweeney’s realistic tips … that really do work.

Address Your Stress:
> Schedule at least 10 minutes of relaxation daily.
> When you’re in stressful situations, breathe deeply to calm yourself down.
> Worry for 10 minutes every day. After 10 minutes, no more worrying permitted.
> Look for the humor in life. Begin by taking yourself more lightly.
> Exercise to relax: stretching, yoga, birdwatching, easy walking, easy bicycling.

Make Time for Exercise:
> Make exercise fun. Select activities you enjoy, and frequently vary your workouts.
> Start small and build gradually to at least 30 minutes of exercise every other day.
> Plan to move. Schedule your exercise for the upcoming week by adding it to your calendar in red ink.
> Take active vacations such as spas, walk or bike tours, raft trips, or environmental vacations.
> Make exercise a priority by committing to it for 30 days. After that, it will become a habit.

Other Tips from Joe:
> Switch your weight loss obsession to healthy habits.
> The worst thing for weight loss is to try to lose weight. Instead, focus on gaining health (we really LOVE this tip).
> Don’t give up your favorite foods. Instead, eat less of them.
> Location, location, location: Pack healthy snacks and plan ahead.
> Write down specific and realistic health goals, find a friend to do the same thing (a “goalmate” if you will), and touch base every two weeks to offer support and encouragement.

Below, are two recipes from Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta. We consider these recipes more on the adult friendly side than kid friendly (especially the soup since it’s got a bit of heat from the Thai curry paste). Let us know what you think.


Squash-Apple Soup with Thai Red Curry

Makes 6 Servings

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil (we used 1 tablespoon)
  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into cubes (we used a 1 pound, pre-peeled/sliced squash)
  • 1 apple, cored, peeled, and diced
  • 2 leeks, white part only, washed and sliced
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 stalk celery, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
  • 2 teaspoons thai red curry paste
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt, or more to taste (we used 1 teaspoon kosher salt)
  • Thinly sliced chives
  • Thin strips of orange zest, optional

1. In a 4-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the squah, apple, leeks, carrot, celery, and basil and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are softened; do not brown (this took about 15 minutes). Add the curry paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the stock, water, brown sugar, and salt. Simmer for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft.

2. Cool for 30 minutes, then in a blender or in the bowl of a food processor, puree until absolutely smooth.

3. Reheat and taste for seasoning, adding salt if needed. Serve very hot, with a sprinkling of chives and the orange zest, if desired.

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Mexican Red Rice

Makes 6 Servings

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1/2 small white onion, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice, about 1/2 cup
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1/2 small green bell pepper or anaheim chile, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice (we used half a red bell pepper)
  • 1/2 cup minced carrots
  • 1 teaspoon ground California chili (we used chili powder)
  • 1 cup long-grain brown rice
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt (we used kosher salt)
  • 1 medium tomato pureed with 2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup cooked green peas or cooked edamame, optional

1. In a 2-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the onions, garlic, green pepper, and carrot for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the rice, chili powder, and salt and cook for 1 minute.

2. Add the tomato puree to the pan and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 40 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed.

3. Remove from heat. Fluff the rice with a fork and stir in the peas or edamame if desired. Replace the lid and let the rice steam for 10 minutes.

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For all of our Rancho La Puerta photos, visit our flickr page.

February 24, 2010 | Filed Under CulinaryAdventures, Giveaways, Grains, Podcast, Sides, Soups/Stews, Sustainability, Vegetables, Vegetarian | 32 Comments 

Podcast 92: Banana Brownie Waffles & Giveaway for a Cuisinart Belgian Waffle Maker

Valentine’s Day is just days away, and if you’re planning breakfast in bed for your special someone (or hoping YOU get breakfast in bed), we hope you’ll try our delicious new Banana Brownie Waffle recipe. Read on for the recipe or listen to this week’s Cooking with the Moms radio podcast to hear all about it.

Ah, but what if you want to make our recipe but don’t own a waffle maker? No worries because our latest blog giveaway features a fabulous Cuisinart 4-Slice Belgian Waffle Maker. To enter, all you have to do is post a comment telling us about your favorite waffle recipe or why you want to win the giveaway.

Our Banana Brownie Waffles blow the doors off frozen waffles because they’re made with good-for-you ingredients — things like whole wheat flour, wheat germ, bananas, and omega-3 eggs — and they’re so delicious your family will request them again and again. The recipe makes eight waffles (or more depending on the type of waffle maker you use), and they freeze really well. We suggest you cook up a batch, freeze a bunch, and then reheat whenever the waffle  mood strikes!

Banana Brownie Waffles

Makes Eight 4 ½ x 4 ½-inch Waffles

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup wheat germ
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 3/4 cups 1% milk
  • 2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
  • 2 large eggs, beaten (we like to use Eggland’s Best eggs)
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

2. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

3. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, bananas, eggs, canola oil, and vanilla extract until well combined.  Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.

4. Coat the hot waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour the batter onto the hot waffle iron (about 2 cups or according to your waffle iron) and cook on medium-high setting.  Repeat with the remaining batter.

5. Serve with sliced bananas or strawberries on top and a drizzle of pure maple syrup.

Nutrition Information per Serving (1 waffle):  310 calories, 12g fat (1.5g saturated, 0.8g omega-3), 300mg sodium, 43g carbohydrate, 4g fiber, 10g protein, 20% calcium, 15% iron

Print Recipe

To Enter our Cuisinart 4-Slice Belgian Waffle Maker Giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling us about your favorite homemade waffle recipe, your favorite brand of frozen waffles, or why you want to win the waffle maker. Sharing a link to your favorite recipe would also be great.

We Will Enter You into the Giveaway Multiple Times if you do any or all of the following (just be sure to leave us a new comment every time you do one of these things):

> Tweet about our giveaway on Twitter or tell your Facebook friends about it with a link back to this blog post.

> Become a Facebook Fan.

> Add one of our buttons/widgets to your blog or website. They are located in the upper left sidebar of our blog. We have three to choose from: Our blog post widget, our Recipe badge, and our Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen badge.

Our giveaway ends on Monday, February 22, 2010 at noon. As always, we’ll use Random.org to choose the winner. By the way, in case you’re wondering, we do not work for Cuisinart. They’ve just been incredibly generous, and we thank them!

February 10, 2010 | Filed Under Breakfast, Fruits, Giveaways, Grains, Podcast | 207 Comments 

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