Quinoa Failure and Rise to Triumph!

So, last week I got a message from best friend/sister/Maid of Honor, Kristin. She was really excited about this new breakfast she discovered. I have never heard Kristin so excited about something healthy.  Now, if she had left me a message about some amazing pizza or a new menu item at Sol Food I wouldn’t have thought twice about it! So, since this is so out of character for a woman I have known for almost 24 years, I obviously had to call her back to see what was going on!

She told me that she and her boyfriend started eating healthier and their new favorite breakfast item is: Quinoa, vanilla almond milk, banana and walnuts. She just kept raving about it! Heat up the Quinoa and milk then add the banana and walnuts – its that simple! Apparently…

I have heard about this Quinoa stuff…but wasn’t really sure about it, but based on the recommendation I decided to try it.

So, late last night I decided to make the Quinoa so I could have it for breakfast after CrossFit the next morning. First, it tells you to wash of the Quinoa to “wash away any naturally occurring bitter tasting saponins (soap-like substances).” So far this is not sounding so great. If you read farther it then tells you “when done…the outer germ layer will separate.” This is totally turning me off about now…

However, I decided I had to at least try it. Let me tell you though, when you are washing Quinoa it literally looks like wet sand. I am really starting to think my friend has led me astray! But I persevere… I put the Quinoa in with the water and put it on the burner to start boiling.

As I wait for the water to boil…I am trying to clean the darn strainer because all these little grains are stuck!! I even pull out a knife to push some of the miniscule grains out of the strainer! Apparently this took too long because I could totally smell the Quinoa and I looked over my shoulder to see it totally boiling over!! Now, I wouldn’t say I am should have my own Food Newtwork show…but I can certainly boil water!

So, I clean everything up and I am seriously contemplating if I should try this again. Finally, I take a deep breath and give it another go.

This morning I decided to try Kristin’s breakfast (minus walnuts…not a fan) and I have to say it was REALLY good!!! It kept me full for a long time and was a great source of protein!

I think this might be put in my breakfast rotation on a more permanent basis.

Thank you Kristin!