Feed Yourself in Five Minutes: Five Breakfasts in Five Minutes



I got this idea while visiting the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, which is a retreat center in the Berkshires.  They provide fancy, wholesome food for visitors, and offered this breakfast every morning.  I'm not a nutritionist, but I've read that  unprocessed whole grains (like brown rice) mixed with a little bit of fat and protein (nuts) is the breakfast of champions.  You can find bags of chopped nuts without any added salt or oil in the baking aisle of the grocery store.  Syrup and cranberries (or raisins) are just to make this breakfast yummy.  I've also made this with barley, which is cheap and very good for you, or quinoa, which can be a little more expensive but has tons of protein.  Or, when I have a little bit of each grain leftover, I've just mixed them together.  In my fridge, these little cups of deliciousness keep for five days.  You will need five reusable food storage containers, which I've bought at the grocery store, dollar store, drugstore.  These are great to have on hand all the time so you can feed yourself efficiently all week.

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Study time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

3 cups of Brown Rice (or try barley, quinoa, or any combination of whole grains)
Pancake Syrup
Dried Cranberries
Nuts

Directions:

Cook the rice according to the package directions.  I have a rice cooker (which I got at Target for about $15) but you can certainly do this on the stovetop.  I like the rice cooker because it senses when the rice is done and turns off automatically, so in case I fall asleep at my desk waiting for the rice to cook, it's not dangerous or wasteful. 

Scoop the rice into five separate storage containers.  You might have a little bit of rice leftover. 

While the rice is warm, squirt pancake syrup into each container to saturate the rice.  This keeps the rice from getting dry and crunchy in the fridge, and is delicious.

Let the rice cool and top with cranberries and nuts. 

Put lids on the containers and put them in the fridge.  You'll have a fancy, wholesome breakfast every day this week.