Move over oatmeal! It's quinoa's time to shine as breakfast food.

Sometimes I can't be bothered to plan for breakfast. Don't get me wrong, I never skip breakfast, but sometimes it's just an after thought. You see, I'm not a huge fan of cereal with milk, or oatmeal, or granola bars. In fact, I'd rather have something savory for breakfast such as bagels with cream cheese and lox, hummus or even chips and salsa.

Yesterday I took a day off work because whatever "bug" my body has been having for the last week hasn't entirely gone away. I opted for a day of couch sitting and TV watching. This, however, was also a great opportunity to make something that would last me a few days for breakfast.

In comes quinoa! Yes, move over oatmeal: it's quinoa's time to shine as breakfast food.

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

4 tablespoons dry milk (** you can omit this ingredient and just use 2 cups of milk to begin with, or just use water)

zest and juice of 1/2 orange

1 Granny Smith apple, cored and cubed

1/3 cup dried cranberries

pecans

Directions

1. Rinse quinoa in a fine strainer. Add to a pot with water and dry milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the grain is cooked through.

2. Combine quinoa with the rest of the ingredients.

You can serve this dish hot or cold. Add a bit of sugar if you like your breakfast on a sweeter side. Try to experiment with different dried fruit!

What are you eating for breakfast these days?