Review - Quinola Mothergrain Quinoa Flour and flakes

Just recently I've been all about quinoa. Matt and I have been doing the 5:2 diet and quinoa is fab for low calorie meals on the two days a week that we eat limited calories. I'm thinking of doing a blog post of our experience of 5:2 if anyone is interested.


Above is the Black Bean and Quinoa salad from Appetite For Reduction. Below from the same book is Quinoa Puttanesca. These were both fast day lunches, full of flavour and nice and filling.


I spotted a range of instant pots from Artisan Grains in a health food shop the other day and can report that this Moroccan Spiced Couscous, Quinoa, Freekah and Lentils was tasty and filling enough for a fast day meal. They'd be great for camping too.


Back in the day when I was a reviewer for Can I eat It? App I discovered some amazing companies such as Artisan Grains who make these pots and also Mothergrain Quinola whose quinoa range I reviewed here. Recently Mothergrain contacted me to ask if I'd like some samples of new quinoa products that they've added to their range - quinoa flour and quinoa flakes. I'd been impressed with the previous products I'd tried and also with the fact that they are a Fairtrade company so I was happy to say yes.


I used the quinoa flour on two different recipes and was pleased with how both turned out. The first one was these Spiced Apple, Almond and Walnut Quinoa Breakfast muffins from the Yoga With Emma blog. As well as being vegan these are gluten free and refined sugar free. They were definitely a 'healthier' tasting type of muffin and we enjoyed them spread with some home made marmalade and accompanied by fresh Moroccan Spiced coffee over the course of a couple of breakfasts.


The other recipe I used the flour in was these Salted Chocolate Chip and Quinoa Cookies from the My Darling Vegan blog. These were a knockout and went down really well both at home and with friends. I would never have thought of quinoa as being something that you'd use in a cookie so I was pleased to have had my eyes opened to this!


Around the time I got the samples I had a sleep over at my sister's and she introduced me to the delights of Quinoa Porridge. Simply add 1/3 cup of quinoa flakes to a cup of plant milk and then sweeten with maple syrup and add some toppings. Goji berries and flaked almonds are a big favourite of mine. On the days I'm in the office I always take breakfast with me and this is my new go to favourite. I'd love to know what everyone else uses quinoa for. Let me know in the comments and also if a 5:2 post would be off interest.

Thank you to Mothergrain for providing me with samples of their products.

Comments

  1. Hillary29 February 2016 at 16:12

    I would love a post about the 5:2 diet I've never heard of it, and I love learning about new things! I have a love hate relationship with quinoa. I personally find it difficult to cook with, and I get frustrated because it is expensive. I would have never thought to use it in cookies, but they look amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joey29 February 2016 at 21:00

    I'd be really interested to hear about your 5:2 experiences - I'd wondered how it works with being vegan and having a job (as in, whether you feel too knackered at work!) I'm always interested to see people cook with new flours too - I've never tried quinoa flour, but those muffins look fantastic

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jasmine Trinity5 March 2016 at 13:58

    I don't think I could survive on the 5:2 diet so I would be interested to see how you got on :o)

    ReplyDelete

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