What's Quinoa?
The thought of eating oatmeal or cottage cheese always triggers my gag reflex, so I don't eat them. Unfortunately for me, all diets plans include oatmeal or cottage cheese as breakfast options. So, my choices are limited. However, Suzanne Somers raved about quinoa and how she loves it for breakfast, and as a side dish.
Quinoa is a whole grain with a low glycemic index and it's gluten free. It also contains the nutrients of a complete protein, meaning it has all 8 essential amino acids. It's a good source for lysine, which the body uses for tissue growth, and packed with magnesium, iron, and phosphorus. Sounds good, right? So I bought some. I found it in the gluten-free section of my grocery store.
Breakfast - Quinoa is prepared similar to oatmeal; one part quinoa to two parts water. Bring it to a boil, then cover, turn the heat to simmer, and let it go for 15 minutes. One serving is one cup cooked quinoa. Then, add a splash of non-fat milk and some artificial sweetener.
I was really hoping it was going to be delicious as Suzanne described, but it wasn't. It wasn't horrible by any means, it was just bland. Kind of like eating rice with nothing on it, but quinoa has a mild nutty crunch to it. We tried adding a little cinnamon to it, and it helped. As I ate my bland quinoa, I just kept thinking about all the health benefits. Maybe it's just an acquired taste, but in my book it was better than oatmeal.
Suzanne has a Breakfast Quinoa recipe in her book (pg. 215) and she adds goat milk and agave nectar to it. She also adds 1/4 teas. salt to the water. I'm going to try this the next time, as I've got a whole box. I'm not sure what agave nectar is, so when I find out, I'll pass the info to you.
AM Snack - I was craving some fruit after our breakfast, so I had 2 clementines along with 1 ounce of Maqui Juice.
Lunch - We had the Chopped Italian Salad from yesterday.
PM Snack - 10 almonds with the skins off and seasoned with sea salt and vinegar. What a treat!
Dinner - Because we're from Wisconsin, we're huge Packer fans. But, since we're in the Detox phase, we couldn't celebrate the Super Bowl with the customary treats and snacks. I'm proud to say, we didn't cheat. And, to be honest, it wasn't too hard because our meals have been so satisfying.
However, in honor of the Super Bowl, I made my own Souper Bowl. Get it? We had a delicious bowl of Tuscan White Bean Soup (I found it on Suzanne's web site). The serving size was two cups, so it was quite filling.
We also changed our meals around a little bit and had our dinner a couple hours early. Then, we had our PM snack at 7:30 while the Super Bowl was on. It worked great because the soup kept us feeling full with all those white beans and all the added spices/veggie ingredients.
Correction: I originally found this recipe for Tuscan Bean Soup on the SS web site, but I discovered, too late, that this is a level 1 recipe. My recipe did not have levels indicated on it, so I assumed it was for Detox. It has now been corrected on the SS web site, so I couldn't live with myself if I didn't pass the info on to you.
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