|i heart my freezer, part two: tiny zips|

In my continued ode to my freezer, let me tell you how much I am in love with the snack-size ziploc baggies. They seem to hold just about a cup if you fill them really full, which means they are perfect for freezing all kinds of single-serving things, like...

• Fresh corn...just cut off the cob and baggie them up
• Cooked beans...I like to cook them in my crockpot then put in the tiny bags for later
• Extra pasta sauce....the baggie is just the right size to make one more dinner for me + one
• And my new favorite....BREAKFAST (see below for recipe)

In addition to loving my freezer, I also have a crush on Dr. Dean Ornish. I don't usually get into diet fads and he does technically write books about nutrition, but they aren't crazy. He is very well-respected in the medical/nutritional world for creating a diet that helps cure heart disease and prevent various kinds of cancers. I was recently perusing one of his books in the bookstore, and found a recipe called "Morning Quinoa." I altered it slightly based on what I had in the house and here it is. It is sooooo tasty.

Breakfast Quinoa and Fruit
1/4 c. orange juice + 1 3/4 cup green tea
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup quinoa (dry)
1 cup oatmeal (quick cook)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
3-4 tablespoons flax seeds, ground
Splenda to taste

1. Bring the juice, tea, and cinnamon to a boil. You could just use water but I had green tea on hand, so I figured it would add some more nutrients. Who knows?
2. Once it's boiling, add the quinoa. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. (note: if you only have rolled oats instead of quick cooking, you can add them at this point, too, so they get more cooking time)
3. Add the quick cook oatmeal, and rest of the ingredients, too. Cover and let sit for about 5 minutes. You may need to add some more liquid to fluff it up.

This will make 5 generous servings. If you care about points, it's about 4 points a serving. Here's the BEST PART.....you can eat one this morning and then put the other 4 in the tiny snack zips. Flatten them out and squeeze the air out. Put them in your freezer. Have some happy, warm, whole-grain-goodness breakfast four more days in just a couple of minutes!

To defrost mine I made extra hot water when I made my morning tea. I poured it over the zip baggie and let it rest for a few minutes. Then I popped the thawed quinoa out into a bowl and microwaved it for one minute. Yum, yum!