Quinoa Hot Cereal

It snowed today. I hate snow. I mean, I really really hate snow. It's cold, a pain in the butthole to drive in, and makes everything all messy and gray. Now before you run off and start calling me a hater, I will admit that it has one redeeming quality: it looks pretty when it's falling. The building I work in has a rotunda with glass windows all in front. When it's early, dark and the snow is falling, it will catch the light from the street lamps. Looks kind of like a postcard. Just don't make me drive in it.

When it's cold out, there's nothing like a hot breakfast to lift your sprits. My problem is that there's only so many bowls of oatmeal I can eat. Dress it up different ways, change the fruit, toppings, whatever - it's still oatmeal. At home it's easy, but hot meals I can take to work are a little trickier.

We had some quinoa left over from dinner last night, so I threw all of this together in a bowl, hoping it would come together and taste good. Um, yeah, it's good. Really good. Sorry, oatmeal, you may have a replacement for cold mornings.

One word of caution: this recipe has the potential of being very calorie dense. For my protein powder, I use Dymatize Iso-100 Vanilla because it only has 106 calories per scoop. My other favorite, Syntha-6, has 200 calories per scoop. If you work out like a madman, you'll be okay on the higher calorie end. But if you're a once-in-a-while exerciser like me, I highly recommend picking something up that's on the lower end.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1 scoop protein powder
1/4-1/3 cup cold water
1/8 cup Craisins
1 T. walnuts

Put quinoa in a serving bowl (or in my case, a tupperware to go). In a small bowl, whisk together protein powder and just enough water to make it pourable. I started with 1/4 cup and added a little more at a time until it was about the consistently of thin pancake batter. Pour protein over quinoa. Top with Craisins and walnuts (I crushed the walnuts a little with my fingers).

Microwave for 30 to 60 seconds or until warm, stirring halfway through so the protein doesn't clump.