Zesty Cook » berries

Quinoa in the Morning…. A Breakfast Switch

zesty — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:21:08 +0000

Good morning, afternoon or night! It’s Friday morning and the frost is lining the trees. A gorgeous start to the day. What a better way to start off your day than a balanced nutritious breakfast. Wow – that sounds like something from a parenting report or a TV commercial – but you know better.

I am really just making a glorious transition into today’s post. This dish is really not in need of a recipe but I thought I would share it with you as just a different option in the morning. Some folks have cereal, others do eggs and toast, maybe some oatmeal, yogurt and fruit, pancakes or waffles – which are all great choices.

Today, I wanted to share a quinoa breakfast as an alternative to oatmeal. Before doing so, here are some quick facts on QUINOA

Quinoa Nutrition: The most protein of any grain, great source of vitamins & minerals – iron, magnesium, Vit E, potassium, amino acids, fiber – ideal for vegetarian or vegan diets.

Cooking Quinoa: Simple to cook, like rice. Cooked quinoa looks a bit like couscous, but is more substantial and slightly crunchy.

Prep & Cook Time: 5 minutes prep, 15 minutes cook time

For the dish below, I followed the instructions on the bag/box and topped it with some fresh fruit, a few almonds and a drizzle of maple syrup. It was actually quite tasty. I never realized the nutritional value in Quinoa until recently. We bought a huge bag at Costco on the weekend so it is experimental time for me.

Question of the Day:

What s your favorite way to prepare Quinoa?

A couple of Frosty shots

I hope you have a great Friday, leave a comment or hit me up on twitter or even post it on my facebook. Looking forward to hearing all the ways to prepare quinoa. Have a fun filled weekend and I will see you on Monday.

Take care

zesty

Summer Food Through a Straw!

zesty — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:30:50 +0000

It is mid week Wednesday and the end of the work week for me! I will pretend I am not excited as I type this little intro but you know I am bouncing around in my chair with excitement. Tomorrow is Canada day here and I took Friday off as well to make a 4 day weekend. Whoooo Hooooo!

Both yesterday and on the weekend, I was inspired to make smoothies. I had tried a smoothie with POM juice and I almost fell off my rocker ( I really mean my office chair ). It was so damn good I knew I had to make it again and again. For this creation I did a combination that I like to call POM Star Summer!

Ingredients

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
Blackberries
Raspberries
Banana
POM Juice
Whey Protein Powder ( optional )

Method

Get out your blender or Magic Bullet.
Add all ingredients and blend
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: If you are using protein powder and a blender I like to add the powder at the very first so it mixes well. The same holds true for a magic bullet but just in reverse because you flip the cup over so add it at the very end.

I hope you have a great Wednesday and I would like to wish all the Canadians a Happy Canada Day tomorrow. I will be doing something fun for the long weekend and I am hearing rumblings of sun sun sun all weekend long. Talk to you on Friday.

Take care

zesty

What Is Your Ultimate Bowl Of Cereal!

zesty — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:15:28 +0000

What is in your ultimate bowl of cereal? For me it is always a combination of flavors and textures and very rarely does it come from one box. Sounds odd doesn’t it? Well to be honest I am quite weird anyway so it seems a perfect match.

How do you like your cereal – crunchy or soggy? I was always a big fan of soggy cereal when I was younger especially Raisin Bran and Shreddies. I think I have grown to like more of the crunch now but love the addition of berries, nuts and raisins in the cereal as well. I could eat cereal anytime of the day and often devour a bowl in the evening if I have no chips and chocolate left.

Here is the mix I put together today.

Ingredients

Kashi Cinnamon Harvest
Kashi Toasted Berry Crumble
Kashi Honey Puffed
Blueberries
Raspberries
Skim milk

Tell me your favorite cereal and or cereal combination. Crazy as you want and as colorful as you want. Let me know.

Have an awesome Wednesday and I will see you on Friday. My latest release inside the G! hits shelves tomorrow and the theme is finding your summer sweet spot. I hit the spot with some grilling.

Take care

zesty

Zesty's Top 10 Cereal Toppings

zesty — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:00:09 +0000

Yes I know… cereal toppings (not that exciting but in actual fact you see them everywhere). People love putting things on top of their cereal whether it’s hot or cold. I want to share some of my favorites and create a list in the comments section. Lets see if we can get to 100 different toppings and then create a super cereal.

For me, I have a wide variety of add ins for both hot and cold cereals.

I am a huge fan of fresh berries (of any kind, I am in love with nuts and raisins). I also like to add seeds if I have them kicking around. What I have been using often recently is dried fruit which is pretty fun as well. Now for hot cereal I do love both brown sugar and peanut butter. Please note that I do not include MILK as one of my toppings.

Zesty’s Top 10 Cereal Toppings

Strawberries
Blueberries
Almonds
Bananas
Peanut Butter
Brown Sugar
Raisins
Raspberries
Flax Seed
Butterscotch Chips

So there you have it! I am excited to hear your favorite cereal toppings whether they are for hot or cold – I want to hear them all! I hope you have a great day. The weather in the DC area is fabulous. I am having a lot of meetings but I can’t complain.

Things are going well and I hear the house is moving along as I was speaking with the builder today. Prepping for the roof – so be prepared for yet another house update in the near future.

Have a great Thursday.

Take care

zesty

Super Star Toast II

zesty — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:00:28 +0000

Happy Easter to you! I hope you had a great weekend. For our family, the Easter egg hunt was a lot of fun and the food was great as well. Easter morning is a nice relaxing time to spend with the family. We like to enjoy a slow pace breakfast then hunt for Easter eggs that the Easter bunny dropped off!

Today, I thought I would share with you a couple of new renditions of the super star toast that I posted a little while ago.

This concoction is a great way to play around with toast combinations and add variety to the everyday breakfast.

Ingredients

2 slices Whole wheat bread( Toasted )
1 Tbsp. Peanut Butter
1 Banana ( sliced )
Drizzle of Honey
Blueberries/ Raspberry Jam
Sprinkle of Flax seeds

Method

Toast Bread
Spread Peanut Butter
Add banana, blueberries/ raspberry jam, then drizzle with honey
Add Flax seeds

ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When creating this combination, I like to put the honey on top of the banana so that it will create a glue like adherence for the blueberries.

Easter Dinner Recap

I would like to say that I had a fabulous Easter dinner compliments of my Mom and Dad. The food was amazing as I just showed up in time to cook the beef, help with the gravy and do a few side jobs with the salad and such. I did bring the camera but I was a bit disappointed with the quality of the photos but I will share with you some of them.

On the Menu

Main Course

Glazed Ham with Mustard and Corn Syrup ( topped with pineapple)
Prime Rib
Mashed Potatoes
Carrots
Turnip
Peas/Corn
Crunchy Coleslaw
Garden Salad
Homemade Mustard Pickles
Beets

Dessert

Lemon Pie
Raisin Pie
Apple Pie
Skor Bar Trifle

The meat, so tender, moist and delicious. The ham had such a nice flavor with the pineapple and the mustard glaze. The prime rib was so tender and flavorful. By searing the outside you guarantee to lock in the juices and ensure a tender moist piece of meat. It was a huge hit.

With all the vegetable trimmings, one of my favorites is the homemade mustard pickles. It was simply great. And to feel spring like, the crunchy coleslaw and garden salad made a nice addition to the meal. As you can see by the delicious dessert list, I intentionally only had one heaping plate of dinner to make room. The desserts were amazing. If you like pies then you have to try my Mom’s pie crust. It is so flaky and melts in your mouth.

I hope you have a great Monday but before you go, don’t forget to enter in the clothing line giveaway . If you have a few extra dollars, order your favorite zesty wear and support the food bank (100% of the profits are donated). Talk to you tomorrow.

Take care

zesty