1 cup oats
2 cups water
pinch sea salt
1/2 cup Tompson’s raisins
pinch cinnamon
sprinkle of Sucanat

Soak whole natural oats overnight. Cook for 5 minutes or until desired consistency. If you forget to presoak your oats, cook them for 25 minutes. The key to unburned perfect porridge is a thick heavy iron pot and keeping the stove on the lowest setting. After boiling, cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook raisins, dates or any dried fruit or sliced apples with oats to soften them. You can add a mixture of powdered sesame or sunflower seeds, mixed with Sucanat. Oatmeal is a good health breakfast that will stay with you throughout the day. It has a light flavor that will not be overbearing to sleepy taste buds. Pennies per serving, it is a healthy alternative to Captain Crunch or Fruit Loops which is much more expensive and far less nutritious.

1 1/4 cups oat bran
5 cups water
pinch sea salt
1 apple, sliced
pinch cinnamon
sprinkle, Sucanat
handful Thompson’s raisins

There is a trick to producing a creamy lump-free oat bran. Once you have achieved this skill, you will produce a breakfast that is unparalleled in flavor and health. Allow water to come to a brisk boil, add oat bran slowly while whisking vigorously. Stir continuously at low heat. Then let stand for five minutes. If you have a lumpy mass, you can redeem yourself by throwing it into a food processor for 30 seconds. Your family will never know the difference. This breakfast cereal is filled with digestible fiber which has recently been discovered to lower blood cholesterol while increasing regularity. My daughter came up with the idea of adding slices of apple to her oat bran and she loves it.

1 cup quinoa
4 or 5 chopped dates
2 cups grape juice
1/2 cup of raisins

Cook mixture together. Serve hot or cold. Sliced frozen banana can be added just before serving.

1 cup rice
2/3 cup salsa sauce
2 cups water
1 chopped cooking onion
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 cup mushrooms
1/2 cup diced bokchow

Cook rice, onions, bokchow and mushrooms together. When rice starts to dry out, add salsa. Stir and serve. Simple, convenient, cheap and far more nutritious than white flour dinners such as macaroni, spaghetti, or pop tarts.

1 cup Basmati rice
4 cups water
1 tsp. curry
pinch sea salt

Wash rice thoroughly under tap, removing starch. Soak rice in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain. Bring water to boil and stir in rice, simmering for 5 minutes, drain off water and add curry and salt. Let rice stand for 5 minutes and fluff gently with fork. Yields 3 cups of cooked rice.

That wonderful aroma that is so familiar with Basmati is due to the natural chemical 2-acetyl-1-pyroline that is found in all rices, but is found in higher concentrations in Basmati.

4 cups cooked, short grain, brown rice
1/2 cup cider or wine vinegar
1 green pepper, chopped
1/4 tsp. mustard powder
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
6 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp. tarragon
1 small zucchini, chopped
1-5 Tbs. diced pimiento
1 cup cooked green peas
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Serve plain as a main dish, or piled on lettuce leaves and garnished with tomatoes and watercress. Preparation time is 30 min. with 2 hours to chill.

2 cups long grain brown rice
5 cups water
1 Tbs. low salt soy sauce
2 garlic cloves
2 Tbs. simulated chicken base
1/2 tsp. basil
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 celery sticks
pinch pepper

Rinse rice well. Process garlic, onion and celery into fine pieces. Add all ingredients to pot, cover, and simmer until water has been absorbed into rice. Average cooking time is 60 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes and fluff with fork. Cooking time can be reduced in half by soaking rice overnight.

Little brown rice kernels rise up to the top of the pot as they swell, absorbing the moisture and filling with flavor. A truly rapturous experience for seed and taste bud. Before the rice can be lifted up, it must first face the fire.