Quinoa breakfast cake

I adapted this recipe from the Whole Food's site found here. This is the original recipe with my adaptations in blue.

Cocoa-Almond Baked Breakfast Quinoa

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups unsweetened hempmilk, soymilk or almondmilk, I used homemade coconut milk
1 cup pitted dates (about 5 ounces)
1/2 cup hulled hemp seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, I used one pear, sliced and thrown into the blender to reduce yeast feeding

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup almond meal, divided, my second time baking this I omitted completely and it was fine

Method

I soaked my quinoa overnight first. Rinse quinoa in a fine sieve until water runs clear, drain and transfer to a medium pot. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside off the heat for 5 minutes; uncover and fluff with a fork.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper; set aside. In a blender, purée hempmilk (or whatever nut milk you choose), dates, seeds, applesauce (or pear), cocoa and salt. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in quinoa and 1/2 cup almond meal. Transfer to prepared pan, scatter remaining 1/4 cup almond meal over the top and bake until firmly set, about 1 hour.

Set aside to let cool for 1 hour, and then carefully run a paring knife around the pan to loosen the edges. Turn out onto a flat surface, remove parchment paper, cut into squares and serve.

To freeze, wrap individual squares tightly and store in the freezer. Thaw in the refrigerator or microwave (do your health a favor and get rid of your microwave and buy a toaster oven! They work great without the negative health effects of a microwave).

Graduation money/candy lei

 

 This project is so easy, especially if you buy the 40" roll of cellophane. You need 80 " to make a nice, longer sized lei. You can combine two 40" pieces and it works perfectly. Cut 2 8" x 40" pieces. Overlap them by several inches, like 3 or 4 so it does not come apart. Start spacing out your items in the middle of the cellophane. I used 5 of the money rosettes and then filled in with candy. I used only candy at the neck so it was not so bulky. Then you fold the bottom cellophane up and the top down. Tie curling ribbon to secure. I would suggest you start in the middle and work out. When you tie it takes up a lot of space so that gives you the opportunity to readjust as needed without having to start all over (talking from experience here). Then you just add on tags, stars, hearts, whatever. I did 2 layers of curling ribbon, one of the pearl color and then I alternated red and blue over that. I used the red/blue to tie on my accents. Viola, graduation lei!!