Quinoa Porridge with Apples, Cinnamon and Walnuts

This morning for breakfast, I craved something porridgey. Actually, when I woke at 4 am, I really wanted my usual raw apple breakfast, but my food processor bowl was in the midst of a cleaning cycle in the dishwasher because I had forgotten to run the dishwasher last night. Oops.

Then we had a series of heavy thundershowers roll on through which dropped the temperature here, so I started thinking longingly of a lovely cinnamon-infused rice porridge, but shuddered at the thought of the carb-crash that would bring along with it. For the next few weeks I am trying out a sort of veganized low-carb induction phase in the hopes of speeding up weight loss. Yes, I am impatient, and yes, I know, impatience is not often a great thing. I'm sure I'll go more in depth about my ED issues in another blog along the way. *sigh* You can chastise me there.

Anyway, I plan to stay away from almost all rice and flour-based carbs except for the occasional piece of peanut butter toast or veggies stuffed inside a low-carb, whole wheat wrap, so I nixed the idea of toast or a rice porridge for today's breakfast. Then I thought, "Quinoa, why not do something with quinoa?"

Quinoa is fairly high in protein for a grain, and with a glycemic index of 35 compared to rice's 70, it carries along with it a lower glycemic load than rice. In other words, it won't cause that spike in blood sugar that overly-refined carbs will. Those blood sugar spikes can then go on to cause the dreaded sugar crash, and what follows a sugar crash but a craving for fast energy in carb-form?

In my own experience - no hype, I promise - I find that I have fewer cravings when I avoid those refined carbs. This makes the bread-fiend inside of me very sad, but it's true. My appetite stays in balance, in other words, when I avoid these foods. Quinoa and oats seem to be fairly safe carbs for me, as long as I don't overdo it.

So, I settled on quinoa and figured I'd prepare it the same way I make my kids their oatmeal, and the result was fantastic. Check it out.

Quinoa Porridge with Apples, Walnuts and Cinnamon

serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
• chopped walnuts
• vanilla soy milk
• agave nectar
  

Directions:

1. Put the quinoa, water, 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk, chopped apple and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.


2. Remove from heat and stir well.


3. Put into 2 serving bowls and add more soy milk until you get the consistency you like.


4. Add a drizzle of agave nectar if you like and then and add more cinnamon to suit your taste.


5. Top with chopped walnuts.