Winter Harvest Quinoa Oatmeal

Hi Everyone,

I have a fun recipe today!!  It’s something new and exciting for me and oh so healthy, vegan, gluten-free and just plain good.  Let me tell you the idea behind this recipe.  Todays post is what I called “CHOPPED” Quinoa style!!  Or the official name “Ancient Harvest Recipe Face Off.”  I am in a recipe cook-off with two other fabulous bloggers.  I was contacted by Ancient Harvest and asked if I wanted to participate.  I of course said yes!!!  I’m a little competitive. So how does “CHOPPED” Quinoa style work?  I was given 5 ingredients and I had to incorporate them into a recipe.  Here are the 5 ingredients.

I had to use the following:

• Ancient Harvest Quinoa Harmony Tri-Colored Blend,
• Ginger
• Apple Cider
• Butternut Squash
• Pecans

So what do I make?  My original idea was Quinoa burgers, but then I didn’t think pecans would go great in a burger, maybe they would?  Then I thought all of these ingredients would make a fantastic salad, but a salad is so traditional.  So then I thought oatmeal!!  Oh baby, I picked a good one!!!  My Quinoa oatmeal turned out fantastic!!  But before I get to my quinoa dish, let me introduce to you the other two bloggers, my competition.  First up is Marie from Citron Limette.  Ohhh this will be tough one!   Marie is an actual professional chef and her passion is cooking healthy.  Second up is Kelly from Nosh and Nourish.  Kelly is health food blogger who believes in adding nourishing ingredients in her recipes to boost vitamins and antioxidants.  Boy this is going to be a tough competition!!!  I don’t know how Ancient Harvest Quinoa found me, this is going to be hard!

I went with Quinoa Oatmeal because I wanted something healthy, filling and will give me energy to get me through the day and my recipe covers it all. It’s thick, creamy, sweet, has the perfect amount of crunch and chew. I simply love it.

The recipe is also very easy to make and really doesn’t take very long! First thing I did was add my apple cider, ginger and quinoa to a pot and cooked it until it was thicken up. Meanwhile, I added my cut up butternut squash to a microwave safe bowl and cooked it for about 5 minutes, until it was fork tender.  then I added the butternut squash to my mini food processor and pureed it.   Once the quinoa was cooked, I whipped in the pureed butternut squash and coconut milk. Yup, you know I needed to add some coconut milk. It just gave it a thicker, creamier taste. Let it all cook for a few minutes more and then added my quiona to a bowl and topped it with dried cranberries and pecans. I also added some maple syrup because you can’t have Quinoa Oatmeal without maple syrup! Oh baby is this ever good! It completely satisfied me and because of the sweetness to the dish, it also satisfied my sweet tooth! This recipe was a win win for me and I will most definitely will be making it again!!

Guys, you have to try the Winter Harvest Quinoa Oatmeal! It’s crazy good!!! The competition officially starts on Monday and I would LOVE your vote. I think this is going to run for 7 – 10 days, but I am unsure at this time.

To vote, you can go to Ancient Harvest Quinoa Facebook page here.  I’ll be adding a little widget to my blog, so you can vote if you would like.

Here is the picture I entered into the competition.  I thought it was bright and colorful and may grab your eye?  Hope I picked the right picture, after all a picture is what grabs you first!

Eck!  All I can say is wish me luck!!

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Toodles,

Jennifer

P.S.  This Recipe Cook Off is sponsored by Ancient Harvest Quinoa.  I was given Ancient Harvest Quinoa and a $20 gift card to buy the ingredients.  I don’t believe there is any prize for the winner of the competition, it’s just all in good clean fun!