From the moment my daughter wakes in the morning, she wants food. First I nurse her, then we brush our teeth [yes, we are pre-breakfast brushers], try to make my bed as quickly as possible [she loves to hand me the pillows in between emptying Daddy's bedside drawers], and then promptly head for the kitchen . One of her favorite meals over the last few months has been warm oats with fruit and a variety of seeds. We cook the oats together [she loves to be my little sous chef] and then head to the floor where we eat picnic-style.
Maybe it's the cold winter weather or the large open space that comes with having combined kitchen, dining, and living areas, but for some reason it just feels cozier if we snuggle up, hidden within the confines of the cupboards. It's one of my favorite times of the day - something I cherish and look forward to each morning. I hope that one day my daughter is able to look back on this time we have together and remember, if not the specific event, the feeling of morning breakfasts with mom. May she always experience breakfast this way.
Amaranth is a great food, especially for infants and toddlers and pregnant women and nursing women and people who do heavy manual labor and on and on and on [you'll find it in this recipe]. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization found that wherever amaranth is consumed regularly, there is no malnutrition [see source below]. Let me say it again, no malnutrition. It is packed with protein [apparently the digestible kind!] providing half your daily needs, as well as calcium [and the necessary nutrients to help calcium absorption - magnesium and silicon], phosphorous, iron, and zinc. If your child is congested, try giving him / her amaranth to disperse the dampness [found with congestion] and relieve the stuffiness. If you suffer from heavy menstrual cycles, amaranth may help to reduce some of the bleeding if consumed regularly. It is worth trying to fit this food into your and your family's diet whenever possible. Start small [as in this recipe] and work up. My daughter now loves it plain, especially the texture, or with fruit and seed milk.
[THE RECIPE]
1 c. old-fashioned gluten-free oats*
1/4 - 1/3 c. amaranth [experiment with the quantity to find something you like]*
2 tsp. freshly ground flaxseeds**
2 tsp. freshly ground pumpkin seeds**
2 tsp. freshly ground chia seeds**
8 slices of frozen peaches [or 1 large fresh peach if in season]
2 - 2 1/2 c. of purified water
1 c. frozen blueberries [or fresh if in season]
1/2 c. freshly made hemp or pumpkin seed milk***
Place oats, amaranth, water [start with the smaller amount and add if necessary], ground seeds, and peach slices in a small saucepan. Cook on low to medium-low until soft and all the liquid has been absorbed [appx. 10 minutes]. Once the oat mixture is cooked thoroughly, gently fold in the blueberries. Cook for 1 minute and remove from heat. Pour into bowl[s] and top with freshly made hemp or pumpkin seed milk.
Serves 2 - 4 depending on serving size / appx. $0.80 per serving.
*I like to soak my oats and amaranth over night [well, when I remember]. Place both in a glass bowl and cover with 1 cup of purified water. Place in the refrigerator and let soak overnight [appx. 8 hours]. Soaking will make these foods more digestible and will also cut down on cooking time.
**If you are short on time you can make a larger batch of these ground seeds, mix them together, and store in a glass jar [tightly sealed] in the freezer. They should keep for about a week.
***For great, step-by-step instructions on how to make seed milk [it is really easy and will save you money] go here. Boxed milks are actually considered a processed food, something worth eliminating as they can tax your digestive system, specifically your liver. I found a great old-fashioned glass milk jar while antiquing one day. The look of my homemade milk in the jar encourages me to keep it full!
Source for information on amaranth: The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood, pg. 10
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