DIY – cereal
/Do you love cereal?? I definitely do! However, I’ve slowed down my cereal consumption a lot in the past few months. It never does as good of a job filling me up, even if it’s nutrient dense. But it’s just so goooood. ;)
Well, today I have a cereal solution. Yesterday, I showed you how to pop amaranth.
Today, I’m going to show you how to make amaranth cereal! It’s one of the easiest homemade breakfasts ever!
First, you pop the amaranth. It literally takes about 15-20sec if you have the heat properly set. It should be at med-high to high, depending on your stove. No oil in the pan and have your lid ready, or your kitchen will be covered! Also, only cook about 2T at a time, for best results.
What other ingredients do you want to add?
Anything you want, really!
I added 1/2t cinnamon and a few shakes of ginger.
I also chopped 3T of almonds, 2T unsweetened coconut, + 1/4c chopped dried apricots. I’m thinking fresh bananas + blueberries would be an awesome addition!
You can eat it dry, with yogurt, or any type of milk. If you eat it with milk or yogurt, the popped amaranth definitely soaks it up. It doesn’t turn to complete mush, but does soften up. The closest thing I can compare it to would be overnight oats, depending on how much liquid you use.
I added about 1c unsweetened almond milk and it was delicious! This kept me full for hours. Perfect! The best part, was that it didn’t have the strong earthy flavor it has when un-popped. I absolutely loved this!!
Popped Amaranth Cereal [serves 1]
You could definitely transport this to work and eat right at your desk too! Just throw everything into a plastic container. If you’re adding in fresh fruit, use a separate container for that. Pour milk into a water bottle and take everything to go!
Check out the nutrition facts!!! Tons of protein, fiber, iron + calcium!
With my mix-ins:
For dinner, I tried something different.
Buckwheat pizza. You can find the recipe here. I have had a bag of buckwheat flour for months now, and had yet to use it. I saw this recipe awhile ago and wanted to give it a try. Everything was kept the same, except I didn’t grind my flour from raw buckwheat.
I think that really affected the taste. This flour was extremely strong tasting!
It was nothing like the buckwheat taste I’ve made for breakfast. Maybe the buckwheat flour is toasted first and then ground? Who knows!
I made my super tasty tomato sauce and let it cook until it was nice and thick.
I also made some vegan parmesan cheeze [.5c toasted sesame seeds + 3T nutritional yeast + 1/4t salt] to throw on top, but also ate a few pieces with grated parmesan, as my dairy for the day!
Chris did not like the pizza. His toppings were scraped off and applied to toasted bread. He was happy. :) I ate these 4 pieces, wondering if I really liked it, with every single bite. The texture was very bready + soft. It had a very distinct flavor. Nothing like typical pizza. It may work better with fresh ground buckwheat flour, but I don’t think I’ll be testing it out again.
After these 4 pieces, I scraped the rest of the toppings into my mouth.
sauce + broccoli + spinach –> into mouth! YUM!
Reintroduction of Dairy – Day 2
January Goals
Remember when I set these goals? Want to know how I did?
All in all, I did not do the best job!! However, there has been a LOT going on this month. I was sick for 1 full week and the past 5 days have been consumed with house happenings. Not a good excuse, but I’m not beating myself up about this at all. Here’s what happened.
February Goals
I really don’t know if I should add anything else. I definitely overbooked for January and I know we have a lot going on this month. Despite all repeats for this month, I feel like I accomplished a lot in January, beyond the Etsy shop + detox.
How are you guys doing on your goals + resolutions?
I definitely made good use of every single minute of today. I’m ready for a little TV and then bed.
Night!
Ashley
p.s. my recipe page is updated!!
Well, today I have a cereal solution. Yesterday, I showed you how to pop amaranth.
Today, I’m going to show you how to make amaranth cereal! It’s one of the easiest homemade breakfasts ever!
First, you pop the amaranth. It literally takes about 15-20sec if you have the heat properly set. It should be at med-high to high, depending on your stove. No oil in the pan and have your lid ready, or your kitchen will be covered! Also, only cook about 2T at a time, for best results.
What other ingredients do you want to add?
- almonds
- dried fruit – apricots, dates, mango, apples, berries, etc.
- coconut
- maple syrup
- nut butter
- jelly
- fresh fruit – berries would be great
- ginger – for spice!
- cinnamon
- chia seeds
- ground flax meal
- other nuts/seeds
- raw buckwheat
Anything you want, really!
I added 1/2t cinnamon and a few shakes of ginger.
I also chopped 3T of almonds, 2T unsweetened coconut, + 1/4c chopped dried apricots. I’m thinking fresh bananas + blueberries would be an awesome addition!
You can eat it dry, with yogurt, or any type of milk. If you eat it with milk or yogurt, the popped amaranth definitely soaks it up. It doesn’t turn to complete mush, but does soften up. The closest thing I can compare it to would be overnight oats, depending on how much liquid you use.
I added about 1c unsweetened almond milk and it was delicious! This kept me full for hours. Perfect! The best part, was that it didn’t have the strong earthy flavor it has when un-popped. I absolutely loved this!!
Popped Amaranth Cereal [serves 1]
- 1/4c raw amaranth
- 3T chopped nuts
- 1/4c chopped dried fruit
- 2T unsweetened coconut
- 1/2t cinnamon
- dash of ginger
- ~1c unsweetened almond milk
- Heat a large pot over med-high heat.
- When fully heated, add in 2T raw amaranth, cover with a lid and quickly shimmy/slide the pot back and forth on the burner. If your heat is set correctly it should pop within 15-20sec. This burns very quickly! I had 1 test batch that I had to throw out, when I was testing the right heat for my stove. You might have to do a test batch once or twice.
- Empty popped amaranth to a bowl + repeat the process again.
- Add in any spices you want and mix.
- Add in other dry ingredients or fresh fruit + mix.
- Add in milk or yogurt and EAT!
You could definitely transport this to work and eat right at your desk too! Just throw everything into a plastic container. If you’re adding in fresh fruit, use a separate container for that. Pour milk into a water bottle and take everything to go!
Check out the nutrition facts!!! Tons of protein, fiber, iron + calcium!
With my mix-ins:
- 535 calories
- 16g fat [mostly from almonds + coconut]
- 9.8 sat. fat [coconut]
- 4.2g monounsaturated
- 7.8g polyunsaturated
- 65g carbs
- 198mg sodium [will vary with type of milk used]
- 12.8g fiber
- 15g protein
- 35% calcium
- 37% iron
For dinner, I tried something different.
Buckwheat pizza. You can find the recipe here. I have had a bag of buckwheat flour for months now, and had yet to use it. I saw this recipe awhile ago and wanted to give it a try. Everything was kept the same, except I didn’t grind my flour from raw buckwheat.
I think that really affected the taste. This flour was extremely strong tasting!
It was nothing like the buckwheat taste I’ve made for breakfast. Maybe the buckwheat flour is toasted first and then ground? Who knows!
I made my super tasty tomato sauce and let it cook until it was nice and thick.
I also made some vegan parmesan cheeze [.5c toasted sesame seeds + 3T nutritional yeast + 1/4t salt] to throw on top, but also ate a few pieces with grated parmesan, as my dairy for the day!
Chris did not like the pizza. His toppings were scraped off and applied to toasted bread. He was happy. :) I ate these 4 pieces, wondering if I really liked it, with every single bite. The texture was very bready + soft. It had a very distinct flavor. Nothing like typical pizza. It may work better with fresh ground buckwheat flour, but I don’t think I’ll be testing it out again.
After these 4 pieces, I scraped the rest of the toppings into my mouth.
sauce + broccoli + spinach –> into mouth! YUM!
Reintroduction of Dairy – Day 2
- I learned that everyone experiences the dairy phlegm, but some more than others. Also, if you rid your body of dairy for a few weeks, like I did, it will be much more noticeable the first few times eating dairy again.
- I didn’t eat dairy until dinner, and I didn’t even really want the cheese. Crazy?? Yes!
- My stomach is currently going nuts but I have no idea what it’s from. I consumed a ton of fiber today, between the amaranth cereal, a sweet potato, nuts, buckwheat crust, spinach, broccoli, etc. I’m not sure the small amount of parmesan is causing my disturbance, but who really knows.
January Goals
Remember when I set these goals? Want to know how I did?
- open Etsy shop selling prints
- redesign blog
- finish Into Thin Air
- start + finish Eating Animals Not started.
- start detox Monday, January 10th
- figure out a way to include all of these things in my workouts properly
- swimming
- cycling
- lifting
- climbing
- walking/running
- yoga
- rent a violin
All in all, I did not do the best job!! However, there has been a LOT going on this month. I was sick for 1 full week and the past 5 days have been consumed with house happenings. Not a good excuse, but I’m not beating myself up about this at all. Here’s what happened.
- finished 1/24/11 yay!
- blog redesign has started
- This book is really slow going for me. I was hooked at first, but there are so many names and places and random info, that I can’t keep it all straight. It hasn’t been enjoyable to read. I feel like I have to finish it before starting a new book though.
- Will start once I finish #3.
- detox, done + in progress!
- I’ve worked out about 3 times in the past 2 weeks, with being sick. I definitely want to get this in order soon!
- hahahaha…with the house stuff going on now, the violin might have to take the backburner
February Goals
- finish blog redesign
- finish Into Thin Air
- start + finish Eating Animals
- organize workout schedule
- stay on top of house happenings + research products, etc for renovations
- focus + make better use of time
I really don’t know if I should add anything else. I definitely overbooked for January and I know we have a lot going on this month. Despite all repeats for this month, I feel like I accomplished a lot in January, beyond the Etsy shop + detox.
How are you guys doing on your goals + resolutions?
I definitely made good use of every single minute of today. I’m ready for a little TV and then bed.
Night!
Ashley
p.s. my recipe page is updated!!
