Quinoa and the Word

Youtube: the great self-promoting, get-famous, share with friends, waste-time-before-finals site! At the end of last quarter, the "Sh** Girls Say" video became viral. If you havn't seen it yet, please go watch it. It's freaky how accurate it is! Once this video became viral, people started to make spoofs about smaller demographics of girls ("Sh** Asian Girls Say", "Sh** Yogis say", etc) that are, although stereotypical and ridiculous, quite funny. There is one video in particular that my friends and I kept watching again and again, laughing at the comical references: "Sh*tuff Christian Girls Say". There are so many one-liners in this video, but one that stuck out was:
"Coffee coffee coffee...I just love coffee and the Word"

Why is it that so many Christian girls love coffee so much? We always meet up to coffee dates, always have coffee at church....it seems to just go along with who we are!

Anyways...I take yoga at 8AM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. (at least, I'm trying to make it to as many classes as I can!) I don't like to eat a full breakfast before class--I usually just have a banana or an apple. However, a piece of fruit doesn't cut it for a meal and I can't last till lunch on just that. I've been packing my own breakfasts-on-the-go for those mornings. My quickie microwave oat cakes are always a delicious option, and many times I just grab a quick pack of oatmeal to make on campus after yoga class. However, I do like to vary up my diet and don't want to OD on the oats!

Enter, quinoa flakes. My mom first introduced them to me because I missed my good ol' quinoa since I've been at college. This is the brand that's available at my local Whole Foods.

You use quinoa flakes just like you would quick cook oatmeal: add hot water, or microwave with normal water!

However, quinoa flakes are pretty dense, and I've found that the best method of packing them to go in the morning involves spooning out a 1/4 inch layer of flakes into a tupperware, then adding boiling water to just cover the flakes, then pouring another layer of flakes, then adding more hot water, repeating until you've made enough for a breakfast serving! You can add fresh fruit (in this case, I added chopped apples), cinnamon, raisins, or flax seeds between each layer too. Without these extras, the flakes are a bit too plain for my taste. After I've made enough, I pour another 1/4 inch of hot water over the entire thing (because the flakes will absorb much of the water and you don't want to end up with a solid, dense rock of quinoa!), cover up the tupperware, and pack it in my backpack!

These pictures were taken about 1.5 hours after I made the flakes; the flakes absorbed all the water and I was left with a hearty, multi-layered breakfast. Easy, portable, and combined with a mug of tea (or coffee) + the Word, this makes for a great post-yoga breakfast and awesome start to my morning!

Quinoa & the Word.