Coconut Milk Hot Morning Cereal

What We're Eating for Breakfast

There are many variations you can create from this, including adding quinoa (soak for 10-20 minutes, rinse, cook for 20 minutes), polenta or grits, or any other grain that you like. This is a long cook porridge – you might want to start it the night before.

You can also cook fruit in the porridge like diced apples, dried bananas, dried mangos, raisins, dried shredded coconut, etc. Add the fruit at the same time as the oatmeal. To top your porridge, all kinds of fresh or dried fruit or nuts can be good. I like to add protein powder and agave nectar, Mike likes maple syrup and Edenblend rice/soy milk. I have a bonus recipe below for homemade almond milk – if you strain it, the resulting almond meal can be a nice addition to the porridge.

Ingredients:

¼ cup barley

½ cup brown rice

½ cup oatmeal

2 ¾ cups water

1 can coconut milk (I use low fat)

cinnamon to taste

pinch of salt

Bring the barley, water, and the pinch of salt to boil in a medium sauce pan. Reduce to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 30-40 minutes. Rinse and drain the brown rice. Add to pan and cook for another 40 minutes. Add the oatmeal, coconut milk, and cinnamon, cook for another 30 minutes. At any point (depending on your stove, pan, how fast it’s simmering), you might need to add more water to prevent the cereal from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Eat it up!

Bonus recipe; homemade raw almond milk

This is a recipe for raw homemade almond milk that is fresh and energizing. The date is optional, but it does add a little sweetness and thickness. This recipe is still not very sweet; if you like it sweeter, add another date, maple syrup or agave nectar. I sometimes use this milk as a base for my morning protein and greens drink (Amazing Grass makes a chocolate greens powder for all you chocoholics.)

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh raw almonds*, soaked overnight

3 cups water

juice from 1 orange

1 date (soaked for 10 minutes), pit removed

I admit this is best done in a Vitamix (you are welcome to bring you almonds over to our house to make almond milk!), but a blender will work. Add all the ingredients to your vitamix or blender, blend until totally creamy. Unless you like a slightly crunchy, mealy milk, strain the mixture and reserve the remaining almond meal for cereals.

Yum, yum, yum.

*Almond tip; raw almonds go rancid quickly, buy them as fresh as possible and store them in your fridge.