Nutmeg Spinach & Millet Breakfast

So far this week I've featured oatmeal, polenta, millet, and quinoa as healthful, budget-wise breakfast grains.

At approximately one dollar a pound the savings on whole grains bought in bulk, compared to boxed and prepared cereals, is about 2 to 4 dollars a pound.

And without the sweeteners, sodium, preservatives etc., making your own breakfast from scratch with whole grains is one of the healthiest and smartest things you can to do start your day.

Yesterday, I made reference to millet's high-protein content, ditto quinoa and buckwheat. These 3 grains, plus amaranth, have more protein per 100 g than soy and each has all the essential amino acids.

The health and budget benefits are obvious, I'm guessing it's the convenience of use that may have some readers resisting swapping out prepared granola for whole grains.

Bar oatmeal, the aforementioned grains require about 30-plus minutes of cooking so I advised in Tuesday's post cooking a batch of your choice of grain ahead of time and storing it in the fridge for re-heating and consumption the following morning.

I cooked half a cup of millet earlier this week and this morning I ate the last of it, so half a cup or about a quarter of a pound of millet (approximately 25 cents worth), has been the basis of three breakfasts.

And rather than add primarily sweet (dried fruits, honey, marmalade) and or nut and seed toppings, today I decided on savory additions.

As you can see in the pic above and to the left, my breakfast mix consisted of cooked millet, baby spinach leaves, raisins, a dash of nutmeg and some butter for cooking.

Firstly I tossed the butter into my skillet, followed by the cooked millet, nutmeg, then the raisins and the spinach. I stirred the lot with a fork over medium heat until the spinach had wilted slightly -- about 5 mins.

Nutmeg is delicious with spinach. It's sweet, nutty and aromatic flavor compliments the mildly bitter flavor of spinach.

Consider swapping spinach out for kale, chard or beet greens, picking the youngest, most delicate leaves so as to avoid chewing through fibrous greens at breakfast.

If I were to add a nut to this dish, it would be pine nuts since their buttery texture and flavor adds richness, but pine nuts are spendy so I just used butter.

Try swapping out millet for quinoa or polenta or brown rice; the combination of spinach, raisins, nutmeg, butter or pine nuts with any of these grains would work well.

Having mentioned buckwheat as another breakfast grain option, rather than re-print the recipe for buckwheat granola here, I'm going to suggest you follow the link to the post I made back in June. One of my readers volunteered her recipe for that post.

Amy's gluten-free granola calls for buckwheat groats, seeds, nut butter and coconut oil. According to the number of visits that post has received, it's one of the more popular recipes on this blog so do check it out.

Quinoa for Breakfast, Quinoa for Lunch, Quinoa ...

Zac and Alyssa shopped successfully on a budget, taking home 4 bags of groceries.

They spent $120, reducing their weekly expenditure at Whole Foods by one third!

And they brought their own carry bags (pic above) -- the per-bag credit WFs grants came off their total bill.

I dissuaded Z & A from buying a number of items including a very expensive bag of gluten-free pancake mix, suggesting they make their own breakfast pancakes using rice flour.

Here's the recipe for gluten-free pancakes:

Rice Flour Pancakes
1 cup rice flour
2 tblsp sweetener i.e. honey or maple syrup or brown sugar)
1 egg - lightly beaten
1 cup regular milk or rice milk or soy milk
2 tsp oil or ghee
pinch of salt and cinnamon if you wish

Beat ingredients together to form a thick batter. Drop spoonfuls into a well oiled skillet over med heat. Cook both sides till golden brown.

Zac mentioned that he sometimes eats quinoa granola for breakfast -- given his probable gluten sensitivity.

While at WFs, he showed me the boxed quinoa granola he's bought in the past. At about $7 for a small box, I dissuaded him from buying it again.

Instead, I proposed the following quinoa breakfast, which can be consumed hot or cold:

Quinoa for Breakfast
1) Boil a cup of quinoa in two cups water, lower the heat and continue cooking for about 20 mins or until the grain is light and fluffy and all the water has been absorbed.
2) Optional: To the cooking quinoa, add a cup of dried fruit, i.e. black cherries, raisins, cranberries.
3) Once cooked, either let the cooked quinoa cool before storing it in the fridge for consumption as a cold breakfast, or spoon the hot quinoa into a bowl for immediate consumption.

To Serve: As you can see from the pic above, I added sliced bananas, which I'd tossed in a little butter in a hot skillet (sauteing bananas enhances the flavor and removes some of the sticky starch consistency). To the side I added a blob of 365-brand black cherry fruit spread, then I tossed chopped nuts over the lot. A blog of yogurt would be a great addition.

Quinoa is a grain recommended for people who are gluten sensitive. It's high in protein, easy-to-digest, nutty flavored, and very versatile.

In addition to making the above breakfast dish, I used the leftover quinoa I cooked with dried black cherries to create a quick, light lunch. Like Z & A, I have braising greens, spring onions, and broccoli in my fridge this week so those are the veggies I used.

Quinoa for Lunch
1) Saute chopped spring onion, braising greens and broccoli in olive oil for about 5 mins
2) Add cooked quinoa, stirring well.
3) Pour in 1/4 cup water and quickly place the lid on the pan, steaming the veggies and grain for about 10 mins.

To Serve: Season, add chopped walnuts. You could also serve this savory quinoa dish with a blob of the 365-brand black cherry fruit spread since black cherries are a sweet-sour flavor and they compliment well the slightly bitter greens and nutty quinoa.