This gluten-free grain from South America is nothing short of amazing. With plentiful amounts of protein, B vitamins and fiber, a serving of this cereal will keep you satisfied all morning.  I’ve adapted this recipe from Claire’s Corner Copia, a fabulous vegetarian restaurant in New Haven, reducing the sweetener and changing up the ingredients a bit.  Have fun with it and add your favorite items to make it your own.

(photo courtesy of Jeanette’s Healthy Living Blog)

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

2 cups almond milk (or soy or low fat milk)

1 tsp. cardamom

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp pure maple syrup (optional)

1 cup blueberries

1 pear or apple, diced

½ cup chopped walnuts

Ground flaxseed

Directions:

1. In a sauce pan, add quinoa, almond milk, cardamom, cinnamon and maple syrup.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for approximately 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.
2. Add cut up fruit, nuts and sprinkle with ground flaxseed.
3. Add additional almond milk or sweetener as desired.

Serve and enjoy!

What’s your favorite way to serve up quinoa for breakfast that you find irresistible and just have to share?

It’s not that I have celiac disease and can’t tolerate any gluten. I feel fortunate that my body isn’t sensitive to that degree. However, years of eczema, especially as a teen and young adult, have made me hip to the reality that avoiding wheat makes a big difference with my skin.  Can I eat some? Yes, but when I’m truly being careful about what I put into my body, it’s reflected in clearer skin. 

I was excited when I recently came across a fantastic gluten-free resource, Living Without Magazine.  This magazine and website is geared toward people with allergies and food sensitivities so it’s broader then just gluten-free issues. In fact, there are ample resources and recipes for people who are dairy-free, soy-free or have food allergies to things like nuts and seafood.

I was initially drawn to a recipe I saw for gluten-free turkey noodle soup.  I haven’t made it yet but it looked so good that I’m going to add it to my meal plan for next week.  It looks warming (fresh ginger root), flavorful (lemongrass) and healthy (I love anything with kale!), not to mention perfect for a snowy winter day like today (just wish I already had the ingredients).

In checking out the site, there are a host of gluten-free recipes and resources. Many of the recipes for baked good are probably things I would never make because they have far too much refined sugar (I like to keep it to a minimum and only use natural sweeteners) and just aren’t clean eating versions.  But I definitely got some great ideas for soups and other gluten-free recipes that I would give a spin.  You may also want to take a look at the gluten-free quick start guide that they have on their website.

What’s your favorite gluten-free resource? What do you do to build gluten-free foods into your diet that can still make cooking and eating simple and fun?

Interestingly, I’ve been checking out the gluten-free section of my favorite two health food stores for ages, yet never even spotted the crackers before.  As someone who tries to avoid wheat and gluten, mostly because it can aggravate my eczema, I’m no stranger to gluten-free products. In fact, it’s usually my inclination to reach for gluten-free brown rice crackers as a good option.

Recently a friend on Twitter connected me with Mary’s Gone Crackers, and they offered to send me some samples.  Little did I expect such a generous shipment and variety of crackers. I was immediately taken by all the flavors and varieties — onion, herb, original, black pepper and caraway, to name just a few. My clean eating care package also arrived with what they call “Sticks & Twigs,” miniature snack sticks in a variety of flavors like curry and chipotle tomato.

I have to tell you that when I opened up one of the snack sized packages and popped a cracker in my mouth, I was caught off guard. I’m used to the bland, not so exciting flavor of brown rice crackers.  They get the job done but there’s nothing to jump up and down about. And yes, even though several different brands come in a variety of flavors, I tend to opt for the basic ones. So when I bit into the cracker, I sure wasn’t expecting so much flavor.  At first, I wasn’t even sure I liked the crackers — they tasted bold and different. But I kept eating, and several crackers into the package it dawned on me that they tasted really good. That all the flavor and texture was a welcome and much needed change from my usual cracker routine.

What a concept — an all-organic, gluten-free and wheat-free cracker that’s also vegan, has no hydrogenated oils and contains Omega 3-fatty acids. Even better, they boast a variety of whole grains — quinoa, brown rice, flax seed, and sesame seeds. I thought all the flavors tasted great with my favorite hummus but I was especially enamored with the caraway.

My last time at the health food store I finally noticed the crackers on the shelf in the gluten-free section and they surely aren’t cheap,  but I would be willing to pay a little extra for something that’s organic, clean eating and so healthy.  And it looks like you can get better pricing by buying them online via Amazon which I might be willing to try.  Nonetheless, I’m excited to have a tasty, whole grain alternative to the usual gluten-free fare that’s got me so intrigued.

Have you tried Mary’s Gone Crackers before? What was your experience like?

To say I’m enamored with quinoa is probably an understatement.  This delicious, gluten-free grain is a staple of our clean eating lifestyle.  Barely a week goes by when I don’t make up a batch and turn it into a healthy side dish or main dish — quinoa southwestern stew,  quinoa breakfast porridge and quinoa w/pesto are a few of my favorites.  It’s almost always part of my weekly meal plan.

Quinoa is super easy to make, quick cooking and takes on the flavor of almost anything you add.  Plus it’s low-fat, low-cal and high in protein, to boot! Not bad for an ancient grain from South America.  It honestly is a treat to make and eat and beautifully supports clean eating. And since I try to avoid wheat, it’s the perfect grain for me.

Check out my latest video that I’ve put together chock full of information about quinoa and a super simple recipe you will love.

Do you get inspired about what you can make with quinoa? Here’s the recipe so you can get into action right away!

Quinoa Tabouli

Makes 4-6 servings

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1. Combine quinoa and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then let simmer, covered over medium heat for 15 minutes until most of water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender.
2. Remove lid, stir once, and continue to simmer until all water is evaporated and then let coo.
3. Stir in parsley, tomatoes, lemon juice, zest and olive oil.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

What’s your favorite way to enjoy quinoa? How does it support your clean eating lifestyle?

While clean eating may not be cheap, it can actually be moderately priced, and a lot less expensive than the Standard American Diet so many people in this country readily consume full of too much sugar, salt and preservatives.  Not to mention that a bit of investment in healthier foods goes a long way to protecting your health in the future. I talked about just this topic on my friend ChaChanna Simpson’s radio show a few weeks ago as we made sense of healthy and moderately priced eating for twenty-somethings.

The key is to marry consistent meal planning, week after week, with more clean foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains.  Trust me when I tell you that clean eating doesn’t have to break the bank.  In fact, to prove my point, let me share how inexpensive it was to make one of my favorite dishes — quinoa southwestern stew.

Quinoa is a grain from South America that’s high in protein, quick cooking and gluten-free. I married this with the other ingredients in the recipe and ended up with a dish that made eight servings.

Here’s a rough breakdown of the main ingredients and their cost:

Onions – 1.00
Quinoa – 1.50
Organic chicken broth – 1.50 for quart (thanks to BJ’s Warehouse)
Can of organic black beans – 1.79 (and no added sodium)
Can of organic tomatoes – 1.50 (also from BJ’s)
Frozen, Organic butternut squash – 3.69
Frozen corn – 1.00
Organic ground turkey – 9.00
Fresh cilantro – .75

The total was just under $22.00.  And you can see I used high quality turkey so that added about an extra 5.00 over what I’d find in my big box grocery store but it’s worth it for the added quality.

Here’s the key to clean eating being reasonably priced — the total cost per serving was a whopping $2.71!  I don’t know about you, but I don’t know anywhere you can go and find a healthy dish with high quality ingredients, not loaded with sodium and/or sugar, for this price.  To me, this speaks volumes to the power of meal planning, fresh ingredients and some foresight to create clean eating meals that don’t break the bank.

My husband and I have been taking this for lunch this week and the combination of the hearty stew along with a salad of fresh greens means that we’re spending roughly $3.50 each per day. That is a bargain! Where we live,  you can’t buy a decent lunch for less than $7-$8 so we are actually saving money, not to mention supporting better health.

What are you thoughts on the cost of clean eating? Is it too expensive or do you simply need to become a better meal planner and find creative ways to cook at home that can help you save and improve your health?

I’ve been having fun experimenting with quinoa in the last few months. Recently, I added it to one of my favorite Real Simple recipes, bean and sausage stew. It makes for a hardy one pot meal but with minimal effort and so much flavor.

I also like that quinoa works as a breakfast pooridge, part of a main dish or a healthy side dish. Check out this week’s video tip on adding pesto to quinoa — a great accompaniment to almost any meal.  I talked about this specific recipe a while back, so fast and easy. Now you can see just how easy it is in the video.

Do you have a favorite quinoa recipe? How do you like to prepare it? Another of my favorites is this delicious quinoa stew. Enjoy!

But you know what else? Whole grain cereals like this recipe are a great source of fiber that helps us feel full, nd they provide complex carbohydrates that keep our energy levels up.  In essence, less is more.  A little high quality hot cereal can keep up satisfied all morning long.

Ingredients:

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal* (available in most health food stores)
1 1/2 half cups water
1/4 fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. orange zest
chopped walnuts
agave nectar (optional)

Directions:

1. Zest the orange and squeeze the fresh orange juice.
2. Bring water, orange juice and salt to a boil.
3. Add cereal and orange zest, lower temperature and cook covered for about 10 minutes.

When cereal is ready, serve with your favorite garnishes — fresh, fruit, walnuts, raisins, almond milk — are a few of mine.

The orange zest provides a nice twist that livens up your cereal and adds variety.

Give it a try and tell me what you think.

What’s your favorite way to enjoy hot cereal and how do you keep it interesting?

*This is a gluten-free cereal. If you prefer other hot cereals, just add the zest and orange juice to the usual cooking directions.