Welcome to Day 9 of 30 Days to a Food Revolution. Our guest blogger is Alissa from Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. Alissa Segersten is the founder of Whole Life Nutrition, a health and wellness business based in Bellingham Washington. She holds a BS in Nutritional Sciences from Bastyr University and is the co-author of The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, a cookbook and reference guide for eating wholesome, nourishing food. She has four young children who love to cook and taste test her new recipes. She and her family enjoy harvesting food in their own gardens and throughout the area in which they live. Alissa and her husband Tom Malterre, a certified nutritionist, teach cooking classes locally. Tom also travels nationwide lecturing to large groups on various nutrition-related topics. Visit their website at www.WholeLifeNutrition.net or say hello to them on twitter @WLNutrition!
Alissa’s Recipe: Rice and Nut milk Hot Cereal
Alissa’s Tip: Breakfast can be quick and nutritious
Breakfast is often said to be the foundation meal for the day. Sugary breakfast cereals cause a quick spike in blood sugar followed by an uncomfortable and often irritable “low.” This is often the case even with low or no sugar commercial breakfast cereals. I know they are convenient but what if there were other ways to have a quick, nutritious breakfast?
We often have one or two different types of whole grain cooked and ready to be used for any meal. Whole grains, such as brown rice, quinoa, and millet, are considered complex carbohydrates. This means they provide a steady, slow release of sugar into the blood keeping you energized for hours!
On really busy mornings, with four little ones to feed, I like to reheat leftover cooked short grain brown rice with a high-protein nut milk. I will use either freshly made cashew milk or macadamia nut milk. Now I know this may sound exotic and complicated but it is really quite simple!
To make either cashew or macadamia nut milk: First take a small handful of either raw cashews or raw macadamia nuts and place them into a Vita-Mix or another high-powered blender. Add about 2 to 2 ½ cups water and a pinch of sea salt. Blend on high until very smooth and creamy. Add a dash of maple syrup if desired.
uncooked short grain brown rice
Rice and Nut milk Hot Cereal
I often make a much larger batch to feed my family and I usually never measure. These measurements work to serve about 2 to 3 people. We like to top the cereal with ground raw almonds, a little coconut sugar, and frozen blueberries.
3 cups cooked short grain brown rice
2 cups nut milk or your favorite unsweetened milk
pinch sea salt
few dashes maple syrup (optional)
Place all ingredients into a small pot and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 5 to 7 minutes or until thickened and warm.
More Nutritious Breakfast Recipes from www.NourishingMeals.com:
Don’t forget:
In order to be entered to win one of 7 cookbooks, here’s what you need to do to gather entries into the drawing. The more you do, the more chances you have to win!
- Leave a comment on this blog on as many of the 30 guest food bloggers as you like. Each comment is an entry.
- Sign up for The W.H.O.L.E. Gang newsletter.
- Visit that guest blogger’s site and leave a comment there too.
- Tweet about this project using both of these in your tweet so I’ll find you #30days2 #foodrevolution
When the initial 30 days of guest posts are over on June 4th, we’ll pick the winners.
Hooray, I am the first to comment on the wonderful Ali's post (because I am up so late and am on the west coast!)
I am struggling with breakfast for my daughter right now. I feel like she needs more protein in the morning (that helps with the blood sugar too, doesn't it?), but is allergic to eggs and nuts. She doesn't want meat for breakfast (I have offered). Any ideas? I do try to do whole grains and this morning I added Chia seeds to her pancakes (they are so small she didn't care), but I don't know how much that makes a difference. She was loving hot cereal for a while, but now she's not in the mood. Ah, there's always something to worry about. 🙂
I love leftover brown rice for breakfast, preferably with some nuts and raisins and maybe a dash of cinnamon. Yum! I'll have to try it with millet, too.
alison – what about sunflower seed butter? Or soynut butter?
I have not tried brown rice for breakfast but I will try this recipe. I also like the links to the other recipes. Great ways to start the day!
I always think how much healthier I would have been from Day One if I'd been raised by you, Ali! But, I'm trying to catch up. 😉 Love this recipe. So nourishing and yet so yummy I'm sure.
I'm drinking one of your green smoothies right now … modified a bit, of course. (I've told you a million times how thankful I am for those smoothies, and I mean it.) No pears in this one. I've added coconut, chia seeds, pineapple, and almond flour. I think these smoothies are great for breakfast for any age. One really can't taste the cabbage and kale I have in this one. You just taste freshness and goodness.
Love your post, Ali, and your family photo–it speaks happiness and health … something we all want!
Shirley
Ali — I'm on the same page with you on quick, nutritious breakfasts. I like to toast brown rice in a skillet and then save the toasted rice in the fridge. I mix it with GF oats or teff for a hearty breakfast cereal. And now that I have a Vita Mix (yippee!), I can make your nut milks with ease!
Melissa
What a coincidence! As I was reading this post, I was eating a bowl of warm quinoa with almond milk, blueberries, and cinnamon! This too is one of my favorite breakfasts. The macadamia nut milk sounds heavenly…thanks, Ali!
How timely and perfect! Just this morning I was thinking about making a brown rice pudding cereal kinda thing, as I had leftover brown rice in the frig. Now I know what to do with it. Couldn't be easier! Thanks for the tip. BTW, I have a rice cooker with a timer. I've used it for about a year, but never with the timer. Yesterday, for the first time, I used the timer. Just before I left the house at 1 PM, I set it to begin cooking the brown rice at 5:30. Bingo! When I arrived home at 6:30, the rice was perfectly cooked and kept warm by the machine. Thanks for your great post!
Ellen
http://www.Iamglutenfree.blogspot.com
yum! That cereal looks awesome.
I make very similar breakfasts with leftover brown rice. Also do this with quinoa – yum!
I'm having trouble with warm weather breakfasts. my kids are not wanting to eat hot cereal now. I've started making double batch of muffins with all the leftover hot cereal I have. the kids really like them and I can freeze half for another time.
I've never tried brown rice for breakfast but it looks good. I like the easy recipe for cashew milk. I didn't know it was so simple!
Wow that sounds so easy and delicious!!! Gotta try that soon =)
What a great sounding breakfast for my leftover grains. I make my breakfast when I clean up from dinner (have to be at work at 6am) and this is a wonderful way to use those up.
Thanks for the instructions for making nut milk. I've never done that before. I don't like the almond milk I've bought, and rice milk is too sweet which doesn't leave many options in a dairy/soy free diet.
Thanks for the nut milk recipe! Nut milk is so good. Sounds like a yummy breakfast. 🙂 Yesterday I made my leftover rice into waffles…used less nut milk, a couple of eggs, baking powder, ground flax seed, salt and a little oil.
Lovely, Ali. ♥
I have been enjoying teff porridge the last few months with just ghee and soaked pecans to avoid having sugar at breakfast. Now that the weather is warmer, I've been topping the cold teff porridge with cashew milk. It really is delicious and sustaining.
I just love your blog and your cookbook, Ali. Thank you!!
Your blog and cookbook are wonderful! I love them. My son has so many allergies and intolerances, it is challenging at times to find him something "good" to eat (good as in wholesome because he certainly eats healthy foods 😉 ), but I am grateful for your recipes and information to help me come up with things and sometimes not have to invent anything at all!
I love doing rice for breakfast! It has such endless possibilities. Thanks so much for all your fabulously healthy recipes. They're so amazing and fun, I love reading your blog 🙂
~Aubree Cherie
ok so i read thsi earlier this week and said..I have a vitamix. I have cashews. lets finally try making it. turned out a tad bland. any thoughts? or am i just used to the 'processing' taste of the boxed stuff I usually buy? I did use the cashew milk to make a GREAT cream sauce for baked ziti tonight. subtle cashew taste
Love this idea for breakfast — not hard at all. My kids would enjoy this. I made them overnight oats last week and they loved it (about 1/2 c. gf oats, 1 c. coconut milk, 1 tbsp chia seeds, and a few drops of vanilla creme stevia — put it in the fridge for over night and ready to go in the morning — they liked it cold).
I will try it tomorrow. Too bad I don`t have a Vita-Mix.
You recipe has come at just the right time; we are just going into winter in my part of the world, the brown rice with rice milk I usually have for breakfast leaves me hungry in no time at all.
I've just made some nut milk for tomorrow morning's breakfast.
Thank-you so much.
Thanks for the macadamia nut milk recipe.