Monday, January 31, 2011

Oh, you fancy, huh?

All I know is that my breakfast was pretty fancy this morning.

The beginning of the semester always starts off really slowly, and then all of a sudden, everything happens at once. Well, that unfortunate "all at once" thing has begun. And it will not end until the end of the semester.

So I decided last night that I'd make my breakfast for this week (or at least for a few days) to save precious sleeping in time in the morning.

On a completely related note, I went to Trader Joe's yesterday to pick up a few things, and eyed the rice pudding in the milk section of the store. I used to buy TJ's rice pudding all the time.

And then I decided to make some healthy brown rice pudding. For breakfast. For the next few days.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
  • 3/4 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • ~1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Put all ingredients into a large pot and heat to a boil.


Stir and reduce to a simmer. Cover and let cook for 45 minutes.


The pictures don't capture the creaminess of the rice!


Store in a container and keep in the fridge. 

The next day, take a portion of the cooked rice and add 1/4 cup any kind of milk. I felt like eating it cold, so I stirred and added chia seeds to thicken. Let sit for about 15 minutes. You can definitely microwave this to thicken with or without chia seeds!


For additional protein/fats to keep me full, I added walnuts and flax seeds.


Delicious! Creamy! Filling! And a totally fancy breakfast. It was awesome.

The rest of my meals this week are definitely not going to be as fancy. In fact, most of these are going to be quick 10-minute meals, such as this green bean scramble.

Oh yeah, this week is green bean week!!!

Saute a handful of fresh green beans (wash and chop them first), snap peas (I used frozen), and tofu in olive oil.


After snap peas have thawed, add soy sauce and rice vinegar.


Add an egg. (I used egg substitute). Keep this on medium heat until the egg has completely cooked.


Serve with your favorite hot sauce.


I guess I just can't get enough of the green vegetables.

3 comments:

Lalita said...

Speaking of fancy, I have a legitimate question for you: A lot of the products you use can get really expensive, and as you said, you eat a lot because you spend so much energy. How does that affect your budget, and is it easy to be healthy AND frugal?

(Now I'm getting into all sorts of socioeconomic access-to-food issues...lol)

Tulika said...

Oohh good point.

I actually AM a pretty frugal person, and even though I use some "fancy" products, most of the stuff I get isn't that expensive at all (frozen fruits, fresh/frozen veggies, oats, milk). Also, even though I eat a lot, I eat small amounts at a time. So a lot of my meals actually take me a few days to finish! (Such as the two above). I'd say it's pretty cost effective.

ALSO, I actually go to different stores when I get my groceries to optimize on the cheapest items I can get at each store. For example: Sunflower/Sprouts for fresh veggies versus Walmart for frozen veggies. It works out pretty well!!

Tulika said...

Another point! As far as nuts/seeds go, they are pretty expensive no matter where you get them. But it does actually take a few months to get through them so even though you're investing at the time, I think it works itself out in the long run (keeps you full/saves you money on eating out).

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