Peanut butter popcorn

Morning snack:  Quinoa porridge topped with cinnamon and raisins

Lunch:  Pita stuffed with hummus, avocado, chicken and Parmesan, red bell peppers and pretzel Goldfish

Afternoon snack:  Clementine and peanut butter popcorn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's no secret that our favorite snack is peanut butter.  We eat it by the spoon full on a daily basis.  So, I was ecstatic when a couple of years ago I stumbled across a fantastic product, PB2.  Normal peanut butter has about 16 grams of total fat while PB2 has 1.5 grams of total fat.  So if you're watching your weight but love peanut butter as much as we do, this is a great option.  Plus, it's a powder which makes it easy to sprinkle on all kinds of stuff.  And another bonus, they have chocolate flavored peanut butter!!  

Ingredients

1 TBS popcorn kernels

1 TBS PB2

1 brown paper bag

Method

Put popcorn kernels in a brown bag and fold over the open end.  Put it in the microwave.  Microwave for 3 minutes and listen for when most of the popping stops.  Each microwave is different, it takes a little over 2 minutes in mine.  Once the popcorn is done sprinkle the PB2 in the bag and shake.  (Unfortunately, I didn't have chocolate PB2.)

Quinoa porridge

Morning snack: quinoa porridge sweetened with dates

Lunch: steamed carrots, pretzel Goldfish, grapes and Quorn meatless "chicken"

Afternoon snack: clementines and almonds

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anybody who knows me knows that I just LOVE quinoa!  It's a very versatile grain, highly nutritious, high in protein, a good source of magnesium, dietary fiber, folate, zinc, and even contains Omega-3 fatty acids. So every Sunday I make a stock of quinoa.  Yep, you read that right...a stock of quinoa.  I basically cook an unseasoned batch of quinoa that I pull from for the week.  

Quinoa stock

Add 2 cups of water for each cup of dried quinoa to a pot.  Turn the heat on to high.  Once it starts to boil turn off the heat source and cover.  Once the water is all soaked in your quinoa is done.  (Makes 4 cups)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another thing I like to keep in my refrigerator is date paste.  I often use it to sweeten foods or baked goods to avoid using sugar.  

Date paste

Using a food processor process pitted dates and add a little water at a time until a paste if formed.  Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bare with me here, as I try to describe how to make quinoa porridge because, like oatmeal, it really is a matter of preference.  In my house we all have a different preference, I like my oatmeal a bit runny, my husband likes it dry and LQ likes it a bit in between.  So I've provided the ingredients and I hope you can find your own perfect mixture.

Ingredients

Date paste

Chopped pecans (or walnuts would also work nicely)

Cooked quinoa

Almond milk

Cinnamon

Method

Combine the ingredients to your desired sweetness (dates), moisture (almond milk) and texture (pecans).  If you don't like the texture you end up with you can always throw it in the blender, it comes out very creamy. This can be eaten cold or hot, either way it's delicious!