Good Grainy Morning

Hello world. It's time to wake up. Probably past time to wake up. If you need help feeling energetic, or if you're seeking a way to not feel hungry before lunchtime, or if you're just feeling a craving for some tasty tasty waffles, I have found the solution:

Whole Grain Waffles (from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup whole grain flour, such as spelt, rye, amaranth, or other
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted

Combine the flours, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and the eggs before adding to the large bowl. Stir til just combined. Then add the melted butter, make sure everything is stirred up, and ta-da! Well, you have to put them in the waffle iron (make sure you grease it) but after that, ta-da!
Actually, I made up the batter last night and refrigerated overnight. Most waffle batters are better if you let them sit for awhile, so I recommend this method. Then in the morning you just need to pour into a heated iron, which takes maybe five minutes, and ta-da! you have a healthy breakfast.
Serve with real maple syrup (that should be the only ingredient listed on the bottle) or sliced fruit or fresh whipped cream or whatever you like on your waffles.

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.

Warm Up Breakfast

Don't get me wrong. There are some positives to being unemployed. Like not having to wake up early when adjusting to Daylight Savings Time. Being able to sit and watch the snowflakes fall rather than try to manuever through the streets. And the ability to make Vanilla Brown Sugar Breakfast Polenta to stay warm on such occasions.

I took the Breakfast Polenta recipe right off the adorable Joy the Baker blog. I love Joy and want to make nearly everything that she creates. I'd never thought of having polenta for breakfast before (I'm fairly sure most people haven't) but, to me at least, it was tastier than oatmeal or cream of wheat. Or even plain ol grits.

Here's what you need:
1 cup polenta
3 cups cold water
2 cups milk
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup brown sugar

Here's what you do:
Combine the polenta (I use Bob's Red Mill Grits, also known as Polenta) and 1 cup water in a small bowl; set aside.
Add the remaining cups of water and the milk to a small saucepan and bring to a low boil. Then add the polenta/water mix and whisk to combine thoroughly. At this point, turn down the heat and let the mixture simmer until the polenta has thickened into a porridge-like state. This could take anywhere from 10-40 minutes, depending on how your polenta is cut and apparently the day of the week, as I've made this twice and the first time it took about 14 minutes and today about 25.
When the polenta is nice and thick, add the vanilla and the brown sugar. Pour into bowls and serve, perhaps with a dusting of more brown sugar on top. Or cinnamon. Or be creative.

Here's how it looks:


With the leftovers, Joy suggests putting them into a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap and sticking them in the fridge for tomorrow morning, when you then make fried breakfast polenta. Unfortunately, the last time I tried this the polenta completely fell apart. I'll try again tomorrow and report back.

But now, back to the job hunt--because ingredients cost money, and because I need a proper camera rather than my cellphone.