Organic Cinnamon Quinoa Bake (Gluten Free)

Yummy Breakfast Protein

I was excited when I found this recipe, but wasn't so thrilled with how it turned out the first time. So, of course, I did some tweaking, and now I love it! It has just the right amount of sweetness, and is filling. And the cool part is, once it's made, I have left overs for breakfast for several days that microwaves in seconds and tastes just as good as the first day out of the oven. 

Ingredients:

1 Cup Dry Organic Quinoa

2 Cups of Water

4 Organic Cage Free Eggs 

1/3 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk

1/2 Cup Honey

1 Tsp Organic Vanilla Extract

1 Tbsp Organic Cinnamon

Getting Ready

Spread Quinoa out on a paper towel to check for any irregular looking hard pieces (it's not cool to get a mouthful of those), then rinse (although, honestly, I haven't figured out how to rinse such tiny things without losing half of it, so I just put it in the pan). Put in a medium sized sauce pan ( the quinoa expands greatly) and pour in the two cups of water. Bring to a slight boil and then simmer for 15-20 minutes. While simmering, follow directions 1 & 2 below.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line an 8x8 inch baking dish with parchment paper. 
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and honey. 
3. Stir in Quinoa. 
4. Pour into parchment lined dish. 
5. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until set and golden. 
6. Allow to cool and cut into squares or however you'd like. 

Makes 9 to 12 bars depending on how you cut 

Some variations ~

You can use Organic Maple Syrup instead of Honey. I added in some Organic Coconut Flakes and Toasted Chopped Almonds once and it provided some crunch. The original post had some suggestions for topping it with various nut butters, or adding oats. 

I like the above recipe so much now, I don't even want to add anything to it, but let me know of your ideas to spice it up in other ways.  

Almond, Coconut, Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Best Cookies Ever!

These are absolutely my favorite cookies. I didn't even know about the existence of Almond Meal until I saw this recipe and now I love it! I found the recipe on Pinterest, although, mine always look different than the pinner's picture, and I had to tweak it a little. 

This recipe is easy, but it only makes about 18 pretty small cookies (perfect for snacking). So, if you need a good amount of them, you'll definitely want to double the recipe, especially if you want to have enough to last a day or two. They tend to disappear quickly. 

Also, for best results, the cookie dough needs to be refrigerated for about 30 minutes (a detail I didn't see until I was already into it the first time and hadn't accounted for). But other than that, these cookies go from in the bowl to yummy in your tummy pretty quickly. 

Ingredients:

½ Cup Sliced Almonds 
1 ¼ Cups Almond Meal
¼  Cups Non GMO Chocolate Chips 
½  Cup Organic Coconut Flakes
½  Teaspoon Non Aluminum Baking Powder
½  Teaspoon Salt
1/3 Cup Organic or Raw Sugar 
1 Organic Cage Free Egg
3 Tablespoons Organic Coconut Oil, Melted
½ Teaspoon Organic Pure Vanilla Extract  

 Getting Ready

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Toast the sliced almonds until fragrant and golden brown, 3-5 minutes. Let cool, and then chop well. (Keep an eye on them, they burn quickly).
2. Put 3 tablespoons of the coconut oil in a small saucepan and simmer over a low heat. As soon as it is melted, turn off and let sit until you are ready to use. 

Directions:

1.  Turn oven up to 375 F. 

2.   In a large mixing bowl, stir together the almond meal, chocolate chips, almonds, coconut, baking powder, salt and sugar.

3.   In another bowl, beat the egg very well with an electric mixer until it’s a uniform color and doubles in volume.

4.   Whisk in the melted coconut oil and vanilla extract.

5.   Combine wet and dry ingredients into one bowl and stir.

6.   Refrigerate covered bowl for at least 30 minutes.

7.   Roll the chilled dough into 1″ balls. Place on baking sheet with 1” space between them.

8.   Bake until edges just begin to brown, about 12-15 minutes.

9.   Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving.

Makes about 18 cookies