My day always starts around 6am with a pint of filtered water, a large mug of matcha green tea and 2 rice cakes with almond or peanut butter. It’s the routine I’ve had for years and my day just doesn’t seem to go right without it! I need the hydration, I need to kick from the green tea, I need to drink it alone, in silence before the rest of my family wake up (and the chaos starts!), and I need a little something to line my stomach and the 2 rice cakes with nut butter do the job well. If I eat too much I feel heavy and lethargic and with 3 boys to get ready for school and all the associated running around that goes with that, I need to be feeling light and energised! After 2 hours of school, runs, lunch boxes, making beds, picking up dirty clothes, wet towels, finding random things my boys have lost (but have only just thought they need as leaving the house for school, grrr!) by the time I return home again around 9am, I’m ready for a proper breakfast!
However, I’m easily distracted and if I’m not organised or prepared, I end up skipping this extra breakfast, busying myself with my to-do list and by 12pm, my blood sugars have dropped, I’m ravenous and grab whatever is most convenient. This might be hard to believe, considering I am normally in the kitchen working with food all day! But yes it does happen! So I try to bulk prep just one pan of grain and keep it in the fridge which can be used for any meal with a variety of fresh ingredients. It really does make like so much easier. I’m not a fan of prepping ALL my food because I often like to choose what I’m going to eat, just as I’m about to eat it but when it comes to grains or beans, these pretty much go with every meal and you can add so many different flavours to change them up.
Today I made a big pan of quinoa and bulgur wheat and I’ve used some of it here in my breakfast with a tart raspberry coulis from blended frozen raspberries, banana and lemon juice. Top with some cherries, pomegranate and the ripest, juiciest nectarines, m m mmmm 🙂 and chia, hemp and crunchy peanut butter. So good and really not a bad way to start a Monday I’d say 😉
Quinoa & Bulgur Wheat Bowl with Summer Berries & Pomegranate
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup a mix of quinoa & bulgur wheat see notes
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
- 1 small ripe banana
- 1 juice lemon
Toppings
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tsp chia seeds
- 1 tsp hemp seeds
- 1 small handful cherries halved, stone removed
- 1 small handful pomegranate pips
- 1/4 nectarine sliced
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa and bulgur wheat as per packet instructions (cover with water in a pan, bring to the boil, simmer for about 20 minutes, drain any excess water after cooking). Place the quinoa and bulgur wheat in the serving bowl to cool while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- Place the raspberries, banana and lemon juice into a blender, blitz until smooth.
- Add the blended mixture to the bowl and top with the topping ingredients.
- Serve immediately.