Breakfast Quinoa with Cinnamon Apples (for you & baby!)

On one of my days off last week, I decided to make a breakfast dish that Annalyn & I could share.  I found this WW recipe (5 pts per 2/3 cup serving) for quinoa with cinnamon apples and thought it would be a good way to get some texture into Peanut's food.  If you've never tried quinoa before, I urge you to give it a shot.  It's a whole grain similar to rice, but has a round shape and a great flavor.  Annalyn did ok with it at first, but eventually it got a little hard for her to swallow, so I added some mashed banana and a little water and pureed it slightly.  She loved it!  She liked it so much that she decided to steal my spoon and eat the rest of mine, too (the joys of a semi-mobile baby).  Crazy little Peanut!

you weren't gonna eat that, right?



Breakfast Quinoa with Cinnamon Apples

Ingredients:

- 1 c. uncooked quinoa

- 2 sprays cooking spray

- 1 T. salted butter, divided

- 2 medium apples, chopped or diced

- 2 c. cold water

- 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

- 3 T. packed brown sugar (I left this out of Annalyn's cereal)

- 1/4 c. skim milk

Directions:

1.  Soak quinoa in a bowl of water for 5 minutes.  Peel, core, and chop or dice the apples.

2.  Coat a large skillet with cooking spray, and set over medium-high heat.  Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter, then add apples and cook until soft and beginning to caramelize, about 5-10 minutes.  Set apples aside.

apples with begin to brown slightly

remove from heat while you finish the quinoa

3.  Rinse and drain quinoa.  Add quinoa and 2 cups cold water to a medium saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat; boil for 1 minute. 

4.  Reduce heat to low, cover pan and allow quinoa to simmer for 10 minutes.  When quinoa is cooked and most of the water has been absorbed, remove from heat and fluff with fork.

5.  Add remaining 1/2 T. butter, cinnamon, and milk;  stir to combine.  **At this point, I took out a little bowl full for Annalyn.  I chopped some of the cooked apples really finely and mixed them into the cereal.  Once cooled, it would make a great finger food for baby.  As I said above, I ended up blending it slightly for her along with some banana and a little water since she just wasn't ready for the texture.

cereal for my sweetie

chop or mash cooked apples for baby

add to cereal

puree as needed for your munchkin,

adding liquid to desired consistency

6.  Add the brown sugar to the remaining quinoa in the saucepan; stir in apples.

enjoy this yummy, healthy recipe for breakfast

or as a warm fall night dessert

printable recipe

If you're feeling extra crazy, try mixing in raisins or other fruit or spices.  Heck, maybe go nuts and add pecans or walnuts!  (but not for baby... as always check with your doctor on when to add these common allergen foods)