Guest Post: Berry Breakfast Quinoa Bake

Ciao!

As you may know, Brian and I are off in Italy celebrating our honeymoon. We are in Florence exploring the sites and soaking up Italian culture! I can’t wait to update all of you on the trip, but for the time being I have a couple of my blogging buddies popping in until I return.

Today, Lindsay from The Lean Green Bean will be sharing one of her delicious, original recipes with all of you. In addition to creating convenient and tasty recipes, Lindsay is great at hosting challenges, inspring others to live healthfully, getting groups of bloggers together, and she is the creator of Foodie Pen Pals! Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Lindsay!

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Hi Friends!

I’m so honored to be taking over for Tara today while she’s off on her honeymoon! Tara and I have been blog friends for a while now. She is a huge supporter of my blog and the challenges and programs that I run and I’ve loved getting to know her over the past couple of years. Plus she writes an amazing blog of her own…which you all obviously already know since you’re here reading!

Anyways, my name is Lindsay. I’m a 28 year old Registered Dietitian and for those of you that don’t know me, I also blog over at The Lean Green Bean. Tara asked me to share a healthy summer breakfast recipe with you so I picked out one of my favorites! Usually I’m a cereal girl, but every once and a while I like to change things up. I came up with this recipe one day when I was out of most of my breakfast staples, including cereal, eggs and oats. I’m one of those people that NEEDS breakfast everyday, so I put on my thinking cap and here’s what I came up with: Berry Breakfast Quinoa!

If you read my blog, you know I love quinoa. It’s a great source of protein and it cooks quickly. Add some fresh summer berries and a handful of nuts and you’ve got a real winner in my book!

Here’s what you do:

Berry Breakfast Quinoa

Ingredients

1/4 c quinoa, dry & rinsed
1/2 c milk
1/2 c berries
dash cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla

Toppings

nuts
fruit
chocolate chips
nut butter
Greek yogurt

Instructions

1. Combine the quinoa, milk, berries, cinnamon and vanilla in a small saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
3. Add whatever toppings and serve warm.

quinoa3

This recipe could easily be doubled to make a larger batch to eat reheated throughout the week. The berries kinda dissolve while cooking which makes the quinoa a festive color. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that adding the berries means there’s a little extra liquid as they dissolve so you may need to cook the quinoa a bit longer than usual so all the liquid can be absorbed.

So there you go, friends! A fun way to switch up your breakfast!

Let’s chat: What’s your favorite way to eat quinoa?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–