Quinoa Flakes: Protein-Rich Option for Breakfast or Snack

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Make your early morning breakfast a real treat! Quinoa flakes is the best healthy option for your breakfast cereal. In fact it is even healthier than oats. It is very easy to prepare a hot cereal from quinoa. Just stir 2/3 cups of the flakes in 2 cups boiling water, any fruit juice or milk. Remove the mixture from the heat and let it rest for a few minutes, or you can cook it for another minute or two. If you keep on cooking, the it will get thicker and become more like porridge. Pour it in a bowl and if desired, add some raisins, figs or berries or add a little flaxseed, a handful of chopped walnuts, pecans or some nuts then sprinkle it with agave nectar or honey. Basically you can flavor it with anything, like you would oatmeal and the best is, it is gluten-free.

You can also try substituting quinoa for oatmeal and ground quinoa for flour in pancakes, waffles, muffins, breads, cookies, and casseroles. It can be popped like popcorn or toasted for a nippy cracker snack or use for the base of an herb-crusted quick bread.

Quinoa owns qualities that are superior to cereals and grains, because of the quality of its proteins and the minerals it contains. Instead of quantity, it is known by the quality of its proteins which it provides. The essential amino acids that make up quinoa, such as isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine creates the appropriate balance of amino acids needed by the body for proper nutrition. The protein of quinoa is its best warranty, as it also has a greater content of minerals than other products, such as phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and iron among others. It does not contain cholesterol, does not form fats in the body, does not cause weight gain, easily digestible and can be produced organically.

Quinoa flakes came from a native food crop of high nutritional value cultivated in the Andes region in South America and serve as food for the Incas and other ancient cultures. It served as a good substitute for scarce animal proteins and is still one of the principal protein sources in the region. The pearl like grain seed of quinoa are moistened with 15% to 16% moisture, and are later subjected to pressure between two rollers causing them to form spherical wafers; therefore very fine flakes are produced that conserve the majority of the proteins in it, and the cooking time is shorter. The quinoa flakes are used in a variety of dishes, like soups, breakfast cereals, juices and others.

No wonder more and more people are now including this super food quinoa in their daily diet for that complete nutrition without meat.