Potatoes O'Brein

A freezer friendly plant based breakfast. How could breakfast get any better than this?

Potatoes. I'm not a huge fan of potatoes, however hubby and the kids are. I'll make them once in awhile since they really aren't that bad for you. They just need to be cooked the right way.

After purchasing large potatoes at the farmer's market one weekend, I diced them and boiled them for freezing. I also did so with bell peppers and onions.

First off, cook the potatoes in water in a large skillet or pan. I couldn't quite them brown since they kept burning and sticking to the bottom. I'm not sure how to get the potatoes that lovely brown, so next time I will try browning/baking in the oven. to get them that lovely brown color.

After trying to brown the potatoes, add the peppers, onions, and mushrooms. You can also add the canned Anaheim or jalapenos to it for more flavor.

Even though it wasn't brown, it was still good. The family ate it all up and wanted more. This is a great breakfast that you can make a double or triple batch to freeze for later. Talk about a filling time saver!

Hot Chocolate with Plant Milk

A nice warm cup of hot chocolate.

As the weather gets colder, hot drinks are in order. Blankets, sweaters, and a nice cup of steaming anything. This is a great time to pull out the slow cooker and warm up a cup of hot chocolate. If you're like me, you have a ton of soup in the freezer and enough hot chocolate packets to feed a third world country.

For Halloween this year, I handed out packets of hot chocolate. Definitely not a big favorite for the kids, but oh well. I don't need to buy candy. I'd rather be different and hand out something different.

When the kids want something warm to drink after a full morning of being outside, they want something warm and sugary. So it's a cup of lukewarm hot chocolate it is (with plant milk of course)!

Trying to convert them to drink plant milk hasn't been easy. So sneaking the soybean milk (meant to buy almond milk-oops) wasn't too bad. They actually enjoyed it!

Cooking Quinoa for the first time

As with anything, everything is new at one time or another. This was no different. Heck, I hadn't even heard about quinoa until I read some plant-based/real food blogs. Hubby really doesn't like anything whole grain, but trying to eat healthier, it actually tasted pretty good.

I cooked it with zucchini and yellow squash (peeled) and it was actually really filling. The website I used was http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/05/how-to-cook-quinoa/. They had step by step instructions with pictures. This is definitely not something I can find in my Betty Crocker or New Homes and Gardens cookbooks. One of these days I should buy some new cookbooks. According to the best bites website, quinoa is a great way to get protein.

I used 2 cups quinoa

 Rinse it out a couple times to get the outer shells off.
Below is what it looks like when you get it all rinsed off and put it in 4 cups of water or broth. I never keep broth in the house, so for me its always water.

Let it simmer for about 15 minutes. You can put a lid on it if you'd like

Still simmering...

I went ahead and added peeled zucchini, corn, and yellow squash

I didn't have time to take another picture before everyone started digging in. They were starving! Most websites say they will eat quinoa by itself as a side dish like couscous, but my family said no. They didn't like the nutty and slight bitterness. Even though the family didn't like this, I think this will be really good in some Mexican dishes. I loved this meal with salsa on top.

Not So Halloween Breakfast

The kids wanted toast. And pancakes. I wanted something different without 10,000 carbs. So what did we come up with? Smoothies. Having frozen strawberries and blueberries in the fridge, we pulled the blender out of the cabinet. I put in

2 bananas,
1 cup frozen strawberries,
1 cup frozen blueberries,
1 cup soymilk

"Wow!" the kids exclaimed as I pushed the magical yet loud button. I only had to push the berries down once and that was because I hadn't added the milk yet.

However, just throw everything in and push that magical "on" button.

Easy as pie! Or a smoothie.
Thanks for reading

These were the quickest thing they have ever finished for breakfast. Very tasty and healthy at the same time. Now to see if they will drink a "green" smoothie. Never know until you try...