Healthy, hot breakfast in 4 minutes

January 8th, 2010

It was a pretty major moment in my life when I realized that a quick breakfast doesn’t have to come out of a box. Or from Dunkin Donuts.

For years I had coffee with a bagel and cream cheese in the mornings. You know what I was feeding myself? Empty calories, a blood sugar spike, increased mucus production, and a hard punch to my adrenal glands. Sometimes I ate a bowl of cold cereal, but even the healthy ones are often loaded with sugar. Seriously. Check out those ingredient labels.

Yikes. No wonder I felt crappy.

But no worries! I have a suggestion for a hot, healthy breakfast you can make in just 3 or 4 minutes in the morning. It all starts with a big pot of pre-cooked quinoa, or oats, or brown rice, or wheat berries, or millet, or… you get the idea. Some kind of whole grain.

When cooking whole grains, it’s a good idea to soak them overnight in water and a splash of lemon juice or vinegar. This deactivates nutrient blockers and make the grain easier to digest. (You don’t have to do this step, whole grains are always better for you than Cap’n Crunch!)

In the case of quinoa, no need to soak. Just rinse those suckers off and you’re good to go. That’s what I did this week. On Sunday I made dinner and simultaneously cooked up a few cups of quinoa. We ate dinner and the quinoa went in the fridge.

In the video above, I show you how I make an awesome breakfast out of that leftover quinoa! See? Now I’m feeding myself fiber, vitamins, nutrients and protein (quinoa is high in protein) without any garbage or empty calories.

This is good, whole, real food. Try it! You will feel better. And if you really love cold cereal, find one without sugar and try making banana milk.

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This post is part of Fight Back Fridays at Food Renegade.

12 Comments quick and easy, recipe, Sugar, vegetarian, whole grains, winter

  • http://fineeats.blogspot.com michaela

    totally agree with you! two of my favorites are either steel cut oats or 7 grain cereal with apple or this quinoa!

  • http://www.anniedrublogspot.com Annie Dru

    Hi Michelle! I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog this last couple of months. I’m considering enrolling at IIN in February because of the awesome story you wrote about how it changed your life.

    I’m curious if you’ve read Sally Fallon’s cookbook Nourishing Traditions? Because that book changed MY life!

    Thank you for doing what you do to inspire so many.

    Blessings,

    Annie

  • http://libby.withnall.com Libby

    Yum! That looks so delicious. Do you heat up the apples for very long or just until the butter melts through? Will definitely be cooking extra quinoa and trying this.

    Libby

  • http://lapasteleraculpable.blogspot.com/ Sonja@ www.lapasteleraculpable.blogspot.com

    mmm, looks lovely! right now i’m munching on soaked oats with nuts and fresh pomegranate (the benefits of living in spain!).
    I’m interested to see that you say that quinoa doesn’t need soaking; how come?
    Sonja

  • http://gnowfglins.com/ Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS

    This looks great, Michelle! Quinoa is my favorite grain and I love using leftover quinoa for a quick breakfast cereal.

  • http://findyourbalancehealth.com Michelle

    @Michaela – thanks for sharing those links!

    @Annie – I’m looking forward to speaking with you about IIN :-)

    @Libby – You can cook the apples a lot or a little, I prefer mine more crunchy. enjoy!

    @sonja – I guess what I meant was, you don’t NEED to soak any grains, it’s better if you do but I advise my clients to not let a forgotten soak deter them from making their breakfast at home! In the case of quinoa though, it’s advisable to rinse the grain to remove a bitter coating called saponin. Thanks for helping me clarify!

    @Wardeh – thanks for stopping by!

  • http://www.fakefoodfree.com Lori

    This looks tasty. I love the new world of grains I’ve discovered for breakfast. With all the healthy, filling options available I really don’t miss cold cereal. When I do muesli is a good option for me.

  • http://heatherwellness.blogspot.com/ Heather

    Love the addition of the apples, you’ve inspired me to add them to my next hot breakfast!

  • http://www.angelfoodjourney.blogspot.com Sharmila

    Michelle, this looks delicious!
    I did try quinoa before and it was pretty good! My hubby isn’t all into it but I suppose I could try it again this year, this entices me to consider again! ;) I am enjoying my brown rice so I could probably use that for now and save some leftovers just for my breakfast! I love that you focus more fruit ratio! I am trying to do that also with fruits and vegetables. I’d love to join your upcoming nutrition club thing, but I really can’t afford the extras right now.I wish you all the best in that and still look forward to following your blog! ;) have a lovely week! warmly, Sharmila

  • http://www.bitemekitchen.blogspot.com Rose

    YUM! I’ve been living for my breakfasts of oats & quinoa with a sprinkle of ground flax seed, sliced almonds and blueberries! No better way to start the day!

  • http://www.ovointeractive.com Kim

    I have a similar thing that I cook once every 4 days: 1 cup steel cut oats in 4 cups water, generous amount of cinnamon, currants to taste, and small amounts of nutmeg and ground cardamom. I make it once and it’s enough for the next 4 days, usually cold with almond milk in the morning -very like a rice pudding. Sort of a chai flavor. Couldn’t be easier. You can also reheat, but I prefer it chilled. Yum!

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