Morning Quinoa with Seasonal Fruit

Mornings are chilly these days. Breakfasts have been large recently, as we've learned that hearty morning meals make us much less hungry throughout the day. They typically involve some freshly baked bread and either sausage or bacon. But today, with sickie being sickie and me refusing to purchase meat from, you know, a grocery store, we had to find our protein another way.

A couple weeks ago I stumbled upon this recipe from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks. Now, I don't agree with some of the things that Dr. John La Puma advises in his book of culinary medicine, which is why I haven't purchased it. Namely, I don't believe it is nutritious to advise people to drink skim or reduced-fat milk. Quickly, low-fat milk has powdered milk added to it, oxidizing cholesterol and actually making it more harmful to our arteries than drinking full fat milk.

But I am a smart woman, capable of altering recipes, and so I did just that, making this one healthy, seasonal, and local:

1/2 cup raw milk (or 1/2 cup whole milk if you're that squeamish, but we'll get to that)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup quinoa
2 small plums, or whatever red fruits are in season in your area
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
12 small handfuls walnuts or other nuts, toasted
2 tsp honey--I used Black Raspberry honey from Mt. Saint Helens Ranch

Combine milk, water and quinoa and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer about ten minutes, but keep an eye on it--I needed to add more liquid after I left the pot to go get dressed.
Cut your plums and have them ready to dump in. After the simmer, add the plums, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cover and let stand for five minutes.
Divide into two bowls and top with the honey and nuts.