Quinoa Crazy

It's pronounced keen wah, and it's an ancient grain* with a lot of protein, but will it save my life? I have decided to try something a little nutty, which is basically to say I am going to create a diet based around the regular consumption of quinoa. Why? Because I desperately need to lose weight and quinoa seems to really satisfy my appetite and give me a solid base of energy to work with. I have been eating quinoa flakes for breakfast for the last week, and have acquired a taste for them. This grain is like that. You may have to try it a few times before it starts to grow on you. I have also discovered organic red quinoa, which is a really good quality version of the seed with a nutty taste. (Cook it the same way you would make white rice.)

I will eat other things. It's just that I think I can control binge-eating this way and gradually get in control of my weight again. The trick will be to create many variations and versions of sweet and savoury quinoa recipes. Today I was really craving an egg for lunch, so I did the classic ten minute egg and sliced it on top of a quinoa salad made with cukes, oregano from the garden, toasted sliced almonds and a dressing made of lime juice, maple syrup, and olive oil. (Approximately a third of each.) I Sprinkled it with salt and pepper and ate it out in the garden with a cup of lemon ginger tea. Which brings me to the second component of my diet--tons of ginger. I love it and although it is used to stimulate appetite, I find it really helps me to curb mine. So today I made tea with fresh ginger, Duchy's lemon verbena, and Lemon Zinger from Celestial Seasonings. I will ice it once it cools down.

So far, with gardening, walking and cycling, I have had a moderately active summer, which I will try to crank up notch by notch. I am also avoiding plants from the deadly nightshade family which irritate arthritis. So let's see if I am sick of quinoa by the end of summer, or if this is something that finally works after all these years of trying to lose extra the pounds. It's all an experiment.

*Actually, it's a pseudocereal because it's technically not a grass. It also contains a small amount of saponins which make it bitter to birds and slightly toxic, so I need to do more research on exactly how much a person should eat in a given week.