Tag Archives: breakfast

Oat groats and blueberries

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BlueberryOats.jpg

Nope, this isn’t oatmeal. These are groats – the whole oat before it’s been processed in any way other than having the inedible husk removed. Groats are loaded with insoluble fibre – the kind that’s great for lowering cholesterol.

Groats do take longer to cook than even steel cut oats, but you never end up with mush. Instead the groats are chewy and nutty.

You can find groats at your health food store (or probably a farm feed shop, but I don’t recommend that unless you want a 50 pound bag).

I make a few variations of my groats. This one is a mix of spices, nuts, applesauce and blueberries for a delicious, satisfying breakfast that will take you right through to lunch time.

You can make these groats on the stovetop or in a slow cooker overnight for a “wake up to a hot breakfast already made” day.

Ingredients

1 cup groats

2 ½ cups water

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cardamom

1 tsp vanilla

A pinch of ground cloves

2 Tbsp maple syrup (or more if you like it sweeter– my groats are not sweet at all)

2 Tbsp pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds)

2 Tbsp walnuts

2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce

½ cup blueberries (I use frozen wild blueberries).

Directions

In a small, covered pot, combine the groats, water, vanilla and spices. Bring to a boil then simmer covered for 40 minutes.

Alternately, you can put everything in a small crockpot/slow cooker and cook on low for 7 hours.

At 40 minutes you should have cooked groats with a bit of liquid left. Stir in the remaining ingredients and serve.

This dish makes 3 servings and can be served hot or cold. You can store the groats in a covered dish for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Pumpkin zucchini bread

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PumpkinbreadI make this bread or variations of it almost every week to have for breakfast. This is a quick bread, but it’s not sweet. It’s intended to be eaten with a nut butter or nut cheese.

This bread is super simple to make and versatile. I’ve substituted applesauce or mashed banana for the pumpkin and mixed up what other fruits and nuts I add. Use your imagination; just don’t mess with the chemistry – the basic mix of flours, baking soda and milk!

Lately I’ve been adding chickpea flour (a/k/a besan or gram flour) to amp up the protein content.

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

2/3 cup regular flour

1/3 cup chickpea flour

½ cup cornmeal

1 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp chopped walnuts

1 Tbsp pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)

1 Tbsp raisins

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp cloves

Wet ingredients

1 cup plant milk

1 tsp vanilla

¼ cup molasses

½ – 2/3 cup pureed fruit (in this case pumpkin, but try apple sauce or mashed banana)

½ cup fresh fruit (e.g. here I used grated zucchini, but try berries, diced apples or pears etc)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.

In a smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to incorporate but no need to mix well. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. A fork inserted in the loaf should come out clean.

TIP: Pumpkin tends to come in big cans. I dole out 1/2 cup portions of pumpkin in freezer bags and store it in the freezer for up to 4 months. This way, you waste nothing and always have pumpkin when you need it. Ditto zucchini – that grated zucchini in this loaf is from September’s harvest.