Birdseed Breakfast

This simple, delicious porridge is inspired by mother's "kanji" (or congee), a hot breakfast made from roasted lentils. millet and nuts. Once roasted, she would take the lentil-and-nut-mix to a local mill to grind it in to a fine powder. Eventually, we got our own blender at home and kanji became my classic cold-weather comfort breakfast.

This is my modern version, made from a mix of seeds harvested in fall.

Ingerdients : Birdseed Mix (~3 servings)

Sunflower seeds: 2 tbsp
Pumpkin seeds: 2 tbsp
Chia seeds: 2 tbsp
Flax seeds: 2 tbsp
Hemp seeds: 2tbsp (not shown in picture)
Coconut flakes, dried, unsweetened, preservative-free: 1 or 2 tbsp

Grind in your blender and store in a glass jar in the fridge. Makes about 3 servings.

Toppings(choose all or some):

*Nuts: walnuts, pecans, or other
*Fruit: banana or other seasonal fruit
*Sweetener: a dash of raw honey or blackstrap  molasses. 1 tsp goes a long way if you also have a fruit with it.
*Spices: cardamom, cinnamon or pumpkin spice mix.
*Milk: dairy or nut milk of your choice

Method:

Heat 1 cup of water in a pan and stir in 3-4 tbsp of the seed mix. Stir well as the mix begins to thicken. Add a little water to thin it out if needed. Pour into a bowl, add a milk and toppings of your choice.

“With brown rice protein powder + molasses + cardamom”

“With Forager cashew milk + Blackforest honey + Pumpkin pie spice”

Notes:

One serving of birdseed mix has about 7g of protein. I like to stir protein powder (adds ~20g of protein) in to the porridge while it's hot, for a total of 27g of protein to begin my day. Additional nuts and milk toppings will also contribute some protein.  As a post-exercise meal, this porridge keeps me full for about 5-6 hours. Great for staying focused and productive until lunch time.

Coming soon : Quick boost protein powders.