Oats & Quinoa with Blueberries & Chia Seeds

Day 140: Bonus Blog

This blog is a bonus because it was brunch, not supper. Laura's making supper now, so stay tuned for the actual Day 140 blog.

Oats & Quinoa

Oats & Quinoa with Blueberries & Chia Seeds

I have oatmeal most mornings for breakfast. Sometimes I add other grains to it, like spelt or rye flakes, but we were out of spelt and rye today. What we did have on hand was some puffed quinoa, which we had bought ages ago but hadn't tried, so I used that and some chia seeds today.

Puffed quinoa, rolled oats & chia seeds

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup puffed quinoa
2 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 tsp salt

Served with:

Brown sugar
Almond milk

Directions:

Bring the salt and water to a boil on high heat. Add the oats, quinoa and chia seeds and turn heat down to medium low.

Oats & quinoa cooking

Cook 2 or 3 minutes, then cover and turn down to low heat and continue cooking another 10 minutes. Add the blueberries and stir them in. Turn off heat, but keep covered another minute so the blueberries thaw, while grains stay hot.

Oatmeal, quinoa, chia seeds & blueberries

I divided the cooked grains into our two bowls and topped with a heaping teaspoon of brown sugar and then added almond milk to mine.

Bowl of oatmeal

Laura used brown sugar and maple syrup in hers. With the exception of the sweeteners, this is a pretty healthy meal, and super yummy to boot.

Variations

You can add any mixture of grains to oatmeal. The Bulk Barn has a few different mixes including a 12-grain one, which I've tried, and it's really good. We also add flax or hemp seeds to it sometimes.

You can also use any fruit you like, but be careful about when you add it. Apple or pear can be added right from the beginning and it will cook and soften, but frozen berries or tropical fruit should be added at the end and allowed to thaw but not cook.

Frozen wild blueberries

You can also use any sweetener you like, or pass on sweetener altogether, since the fruit itself goes a long way to adding sweetness to complement the salt and grains. You can also use whatever milk you like, but we prefer almond milk with any cereal.

Reviews/Comments

I give this a 10. You can't go wrong with the "delicious and nutritious" combo. Laura loved it too. She said it was the best hot cereal she ever had.