Recipe: Breakfast Quinoa

This dish is SO DARN GOOD! I cannot get over how amazing it tasted. Sweet but hearty, and a little nutty all at once. I am IN LOVE with this. Make it. You won’t be disappointed.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 tsp. Truvia

1 cup quinoa: soak for 10 minutes first, then rinse in strainer.

2 cups pitted quartered cherries

2 tablespoons TOASTED sliced or slivered almonds (or nut of choice)

1 tablespoon Chia Seeds

1 mashed up banana

Dash of cinnamon when served, and a dollop of pure maple syrup or agave if you wish.

Directions:

Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa, cover, reduce to a low simmer, and cook 15-25 minutes. Quinoa is done when most of the liquid is soaked up -much like cooking rice.

While milk is coming to a boil, toast almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden brown and fragrant, which should only take a few minutes.

Remove quinoa from heat, add in mashed banana, and chia seeds. Stir. Depending on consistency you prefer, you may want to add a dash more of almond milk.

Top with almonds and cherries; cinnamon and syrup and serve warm!

8 Points Plus Pizza

We like to eat pizza about once a week. Typically I use a small whole wheat pre baked crust I get at Golden Harvest. It’s only about 8-10 inches, and whole wheat so I figure it’s a lot better than other options. We split it, so it’s four small pieces. I guess at about 10 points for this.

Today though I bought La Tortilla Whole Wheat Wraps ( again at Golden Harvest), to use as a crust so I could count the points exactly. I wound up with an 8 point pizza! Not bad.

Ingredients:
1 La Tortilla Whole Wheat Wrap
1/4 cup pizza sauce
1/4 cup lower fat mozzarella
8 slices turkey pepperoni

Optional: garlic, spinach ( I mixed a clove of fresh pressed garlic in the sauce, and put the spinach piled on top )

Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes, be sure to check often! I took it out when the crust started getting brown in the edge. I imagine all ovens and pizza pans work different. I actually used a stone. It was tricky getting in and out, since the tortilla is so thin.

Be sure to check the points on your cheese and sauce, some may be more than others.

I ate it with a huge salad, and am feeling fairly satisfied! The “crust” was a little sad, but hey,it tasted like pizza, and that’s all I really needed.

Veggie, Cheesy, De-LITEFUL Lasagna!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans Italian diced tomatoes, drained
Optional: zucchini or squash diced
1/4 cup tomato sauce
5 basil leaves, chopped
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup fat free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup low fat mozzarella cheese
3 tablespoons low fat Parmesan cheese

About 6 lasagna noodles, cooked. (I used spinach ones I got at the health food store)

2 tablespoons parsley for garnish at end (dried or fresh)

Directions:

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until softened, or longer if you want more carmalized: 5-15 minutes. Add garlic and cook until garlic is fragrant, about one minute. Add in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, salt and pepper. Cook mixture until it thickens up a bit, around 5 minutes.

Cook noodles while browning onions as directed. (Big pot of boiling water)

Heat oven to 375

Layer sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce… Top with parm. Place in oven (uncovered) and bake for 35 minutes (until things start bubbling up hot!)

Douse with parsley.

Serve.

This made us dinner for TWO nights – a great big HUGE hunk, too. When I put the recipe into WW Points Plus, it came to 7pts for each serving (serves 4).