I get a kick out of advertisements that claim their product contains ‘real’ food …

When a processed, packaged product boasts that one of its ingredients is ‘real’, you have to wonder what else the product contains.

I decided to investigate a breakfast cereal that brags about containing ‘real’ strawberries, and sure enough the product contains freeze dried strawberries … ingredient number 23 of a whopping 38 ingredients.

Other interesting things about this ingredient list is that the word ‘sugar’ shows up 4 times, and on closer examination I discovered that there are an additional 4 types of sugars (honey, molasses, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup) listed AND a chemical sugar (sucralose).

That’s 9 forms of sugar to go with those freeze-dried real strawberries!

Tomorrow morning I’m going to slice some really-real juicy ripe fresh strawberries onto my really-real bowl of brown rice and top it off with really-real almond milk.

Here is the complete ingredient list of the breakfast cereal I investigated. The numbers, indentations and colours are my additions.

1. Whole Grain Wheat
2. Wheat Bran
3. Sugar
     Berry Flavored Oat Cluster
          Toasted Oats
               4. Rolled Oats
               5. Sugar
               6. Soybean Oil
               7. Honey
               8. Molasses
          9. Sugar
          10. Rolled Oats
          Strawberry Flavored Apples
               11. Dried Apples
               12. Artificial Flavor
               13. Citric Acid
               14. Red #40
               15. Sodium Sulfite
          16. Corn Syrup
          17. Brown Sugar
          18. Natural
          19. And Artificial Flavor
          20. BHT [For Freshness]
21. Wheat Flour
22. High Fructose Corn Syrup
23. Freeze Dried Strawberries
24. Salt
25. Malt Flavoring
26. Natural And Artificial Flavors
27. Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)
28. Sucralose
29. Niacinamide
30. Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6)
31. Reduced Iron
32. Folic Acid
33. Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
34. Vitamin A Palmitate
35. BHT (Preservative)
36. Thiamin Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1)
37. Vitamin D
38. Vitamin B12

Quinoa (pronounced “keen wah”) is a super-nutrient grain-like product that comes to us from high in the Andes Mountains of South American.

Botanically speaking, Quinoa is a member of the Goosefoot Family (Chenopodiaceae). Other distinguished super-nutrient members of the Goosefoot clan are Beets, Swiss Chard, Spinach, and Amaranth.

That’s quite a line-up of stars from one family!

Quinoa seeds cook up quickly and are as versatile as any food I know.

I like to keep a cooked pot of either Quinoa or Brown Rice on hand in the fridge to use as the base for breakfast cereal, super salad, or as a quick snack on its own splashed with a little Tamari sauce.

Quinoa supplies nutrition and bulk to soups and stews.

The uncooked seeds can be ground up and used as gluten free flour.

If you are into the raw lifestyle, Quinoa can be soaked and/or sprouted and incorporated into raw recipes.

Quinoa is an excellent source of protein, calcium, iron and B-vitamins

Cooked Quinoa is:
- low alkaline forming
- dairy free
- diabetic friendly
- gluten free
- vegan

Ingredients
1 cup Quinoa seeds
2 cups filtered water

Directions
1. Put Quinoa seeds into a fine mesh sieve and rinse with cold water
2. Add rinsed Quinoa seeds to water in medium sized pot
3. Turn heat to high just until the water starts to boil, then turn heat to simmer and place lid on pot.
4. Let simmer with lid on for 20 minutes.
5. When 20 minutes has passed, gently lift the lid and tilt the pan slightly to the side. If the Quinoa holds in place, it is ready. If the Quinoa starts to slide, there is still too much moisture in the pot, so put the lid back on and return it to the heat for a few more minutes. But watch carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn.

See Brown Rice for Breakfast for ideas on how to use cooked Quinoa as a breakfast cereal and simply substitute Quinoa for rice.

For lunch, dinner or untraditional breakfast, use cooked Quinoa in a super salad … tomorrow’s entry.

As a quick and nutritious snack, toss cold cooked Quinoa with Tamari soy sauce, or your favourite spices, and enjoy. 

Cooked Quinoa will store in the fridge for up to a week.

Almond milk is easy to make at home … really!

When you make your own almond milk you avoid having to deal with the cartons, both lugging them home from the store, and sending them back to the recycler. And home made almond milk is much more economical than the commercially prepared brands, especially if you purchase almonds in bulk and store them in the freezer.

Another advantage of making your own almond milk, is you can sweeten it how you choose … or don’t sweeten it at all. And you can filter it or not. This flexability allows you to create almond milk to suit your particular need. For instance, if I am going to use the almond milk in a recipe that already contains sweetening ingredients, I make an unsweetened version. I make a sweetened almond milk to pour on my unsweetened breakfast cereal (usually cooked brown rice or quiona).

The only time I filter my almond milk is when I am going to drink it on its own.

It takes less than 5 minutes to make a full litre of almond milk that will keep in the fridge for several days.

Almond milk is
- low alkaline forming
- dairy free
- diabetic friendly
- gluten free
- raw
- vegan

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
4 cups filtered water

Optional Ingredients
Sweetener: 1-2 pitted dates OR 1 tbsp honey OR 1 tbsp maple syrup
Flavouring: pinch of sea salt, splash of vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla bean, 1 tsp cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg
Enhancer: 1 tbsp organic coconut oil (adds richness to the finished product) 

Directions
1. Place almonds and water into high speed blender (Vita-mix works perfectly for this)
2. Blend on high for about 60 seconds
3. Decide what type of almond milk you want and follow the appropriate directions below.

For unsweetened, filtered milk:
- Pour it through a strainer or nut milk bag. The ‘pulp’ will keep in the fridge for several days, or can be dehydrated and ground up into almond flour. 
- Enjoy the milk as is, over ice, or added to recipes

For sweetened, filtered milk:
- Pour it through a strainer or nut milk bag. The ‘pulp’ will keep in the fridge for several days, or can be dehydrated and ground up into almond flour.
- Put the filtered ‘milk’ back in the blender
- Add your choosen sweeteners, flavourings and/or enhancer and blend for about 30 seconds. When using dates as a sweetener, you may need to blend a little longer to ensure the dates are completly broken down.
- Enjoy the milk as is, over ice, or added to recipes

For unsweetened, unfiltered milk:
- You’re done!
- Enjoy the milk as is, over ice, or added to recipes

For sweetened, unfiltered milk:
- Add your choosen sweeteners, flavourings and/or enhancer and blend for about 30 seconds. When using dates as a sweetener, you may need to blend a little longer to ensure the dates are completly broken down.
- Enjoy the milk as is, over ice, or added to recipes

Still on the subject of breakfast, I am a big fan of making a pot of rice every few days and storing it in the fridge (still in the pot … why not? …saves on washing dishes and cuts down on my use of plastic containers that may leach nasty stuff into my low crap food.) I eat that rice cold, like a breakfast cereal.

Rice is easy to cook. The trick is to have a pot with a fairly heavy bottom. You also need to know how hot the ‘simmer’ setting is on your stove. I always use the same pot and burner, so I know I can go away and leave it to cook by itself. If you have never cooked brown rice before, you’ll want to stick within sniffing distance of the stove during the last 10 minutes of cooking to make sure that first batch doesn’t burn.

Rice is made by combining 2 parts water with 1 part rice. I’m in the habit of washing the rice before I cook it, but that is not necessary.

1 cup of rice with 2 cups of water will make about 3 cups cooked rice.

My latest purchase of organic brown Basmati rice cost $1.35 for one cup of dry rice. That works out to about 45 cents per serving. Basmati rice is always more expensive than regular long grain brown rice, which makes this low crap food very economical.

Brown rice by itself is:
- Low acid forming
- Diabetic Friendly
- Gluten Free
- High Fiber

Ingredients
1 cup brown organic rice
2 cups water (you can substitute apple juice, broth, or other liquid)

Milk or Milk substitute: almond, rice, hemp seed milk, etc.

Optional Ingredients. Remember you don’t need to use all the optional ingredients. Just pick and choose what you like and what you have on hand.
- Chopped raw nuts: almonds, walnuts, filberts, pine nuts, etc
- Seeds (whole or ground): sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, flax, salba, hemp, etc
- Chopped dried fruit: raisons, currents, apricots, dates, coconut, etc
- Sweeteners: honey, maple syrup, etc
- Fresh or frozen fruit: berries, apples, peaches, bananas, etc
- Dash of flavouring: cinnamon, ginger (fresh grated or dry powdered), dark chocolate (grated), allspice, vanilla extract, carob powder, lemon or lime zest

Directions
1. Put the rice and water together in a pot and turn the heat to medium-high.
2. When the water starts to boil, turn the heat to ‘simmer’ and put a lid on the pot.
3. Set your timer for 50 minutes.
4. Water may seep out of the pot through the lid. This is ok. It the pot starts to boil over, then you need to turn down the heat.
5. Don’t lift the lid during cooking as you will let out too much moisture and the rice may burn before its properly cooked.
6. When 50 minutes has passed, gently lift the lid and tilt the pan slightly to the side. If the rice holds in place, it is ready. If the rice starts to slide, there is still too much moisture in the pot, so put the lid back on and return it to the heat for a few more minutes.
7. To make the rice into breakfast cereal, simply spoon about one cup of either hot or cold cooked rice into a cereal bowl, add any optional ingredients you like and top it off with milk or milk substitute.

Cooked rice can be stored for a week in the fridge … if it lasts that long. Once you get in the habit of always having cooked rice on hand, you will be adding it to salads, soups, snacks and of course breakfast.

Recently a large breakfast cereal company began advertising that some of their boxed breakfast cereals cost less than 50 cents per bowl, including the milk.

Does that seem like a reasonable price for a mediocre breakfast in these tough economic times?

And how many people do you know who can fill up on just one bowl of boxed, dry cereal? I remember my kids motoring through 2 or 3 bowls before feeling some sort of satisfaction, and then pouring half of the milk down the drain … there goes that nutritional part of a healthy breakfast.

Then there’s that issue of the cereal’s packaging. While the outer cardboard portion is recyclable, the inner plastic bag may not be where you live.

A low crap diet strives to reduce the amount of garbage the earth has to deal with. While recycling is a great option for now, reducing really needs to be the ultimate goal.

But reducing doesn’t mean having to go without convenience or taste.

Here are two ways to have a low crap, convenient, nutrition-rich breakfast for less than 50 cents per person. Yup … I’m talking about good old fashioned rolled oats served hot as Porridge or cold as Muesli.

In keeping with a Low Crap tradition, purchase rolled oats in bulk, using your own reusable bag.

The cost for a ½ cup serving of organic rolled oats is about 25 cents. Add a few chopped nuts, raisons and a dash of cinnamon and you have a hearty breakfast that truly costs less than 50 cents per bowl because you will only need one bowl of it to feel satisfied for hours.

You’ll even have money left over to thrown on some fresh fruit slices.

Rolled Oats Raw is quick and easy to prepare. Mix it up before you go to bed and it will be conveniently ready to eat when you wake up.

Rolled Oats Raw are:
- Low to Neutral Alkaline forming
- Diabetic Friendly (use caution with sweeteners and fruit)
- Gluten Free
- High Fiber
- Raw

Ingredients
½ cup rolled oats per serving
1 cup water per serving
¼ cup plain yogurt or to taste

Optional Ingredients. Remember you don’t need to use all the optional ingredients. Just pick and choose what you like and what you have on hand.
- Chopped raw nuts: almonds, walnuts, filberts, pine nuts, etc
- Seeds (whole or ground): sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, flax, salba, hemp, etc
- Chopped dried fruit: raisons, currents, apricots, dates, coconut, etc
- Sweeteners: honey, maple syrup, etc
- Fresh or frozen fruit: berries, apples, peaches, bananas, etc
- Dash of flavouring: cinnamon, ginger (fresh grated or dry powdered), dark chocolate (grated), allspice, vanilla extract, carob powder, lemon or lime zest

Directions
1. Place rolled oats and what ever optional ingredients you are using into a glass bowl
2. Add water and stir well
3. Cover with an upturned side plate and place in fridge over night
4. In the morning the oats and other ingredients will be plumped up by the water
5. Spoon yogurt on top
6. Serve and enjoy

Contrary to popular believe porridge cooks up quickly, in about the time it takes you to dry your hair or put on makeup.

You don’t have to buy those sugared up individual little packets to have porridge in a hurry. Purchase organic ‘quick’ rolled oats in bulk (using your own reusable bag) or buy the paper bagged version.

“Quick” oats are simply rolled oats that have been ground up a little so they cook more quickly. You can make your own by whirling steel cut oats dry in the blender for a few seconds.

Rolled Oats Cooked are:
- Low to Neutral Alkaline forming
- Diabetic Friendly (use caution with sweeteners and fruit)
- Gluten Free
- High Fiber

Ingredients
½ cup ‘quick’ oats per serving
¾ – 1½  cups water per serving (depending on how thick you like it)

Optional Ingredients. Remember you don’t need to use all the optional ingredients. Just pick and choose what you like and what you have on hand.
- Chopped nuts (raw or roasted): almonds, walnuts, cashews, pine nuts, etc
- Seeds (whole or ground): sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, flax, salba, hemp, etc
- Chopped dried fruit: raisons, currents, apricots, dates, coconut, etc
- Sweeteners: honey, maple syrup, etc
- Fresh or frozen fruit: berries, apples, peaches, bananas, etc
- Dash of flavouring: cinnamon, ginger (fresh grated or dry powdered), dark chocolate (grated), allspice, vanilla extract, carob powder, lemon or lime zest
- Milk or Milk substitute: almond, rice, hemp seed milk, etc. If you make the porridge ‘sloppy’, i.e. you add a little extra water during cooking so it doesn’t thicken up as much, you won’t need to add milk. This is a great way to serve porridge to lactose intolerant individuals without incurring the expense of milk substitutes.

Directions
1. Stir oats and water together in a pan and bring to a boil
2. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 3 – 7 minutes, stirring often
3. When enough water has evaporated so the porridge is the desired thickness, remove from heat
4. Add optional ingredients if using
5. Serve and enjoy

Hint: Remember to put the pot to soak right away to make clean up a breeze.