Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Spiced quinoa seed clusters

I love spiced quinoa seed clusters but I'm not sure I should eat them very often. They are the "perfect" sweet, salty, crunchy, high fiber snack for someone who can't eat nuts or sugar. I could eat them endlessly but then I'd get a wake-up call from my stomach, saying "What were you thinking eating all that hard to digest stuff?" But if you don't have a problem with the fiber, they would be great to snack on.

Allergy season has been awful for me this year. When my body is being overwhelmed with environmental allergens, I really need to watch what I eat as I found out when I over did it on strawberries. I lay awake all night writhing in pain with nausea, bloating, the usual stuff I get when I'm having a reaction to a particular food. Then, the three days of additional misery ensued. Now, I am avoiding strawberries for a good period of time before I try eating them in small doses to see what effects they produce. It's painful not being able to eat strawberries when they are in season and so delicious.

I keep reminding myself of that horrible experience every time I am tempted to reach for something that might pose a problem. That's why I am passing on the recipe for Spiced Quinoa Seed Clusters to those of you who have bodies that can handle it.

Mix 3 cups seeds of your choice (I used half pumpkin seeds and half sunflower seeds) with 1/4 cup each ground flaxseed and raw quinoa seed. In a separate bowl, prepare egg replacer for two eggs. Mix the egg replacer with hemp milk or other alternative dairy beverage. Add in 1 T. SweetLeaf Stevia powder, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. each cayenne, cumin and cinnamon. Toss with the seed mixture.

Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees until dry, stirring occasionally, about 20-30 minutes. Cool and break into pieces for snacking. Makes about 16 servings.

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