Quinoa

[Harrysmom]

I'd like to make some Quinoa porridge for my DS, does anyone know how? someone suggested using the pre-ground flour but Im not sure if its safe/clean??

I've use ground quinoa with no problems. I can't remember the proportions I used, but it was probably about 1 quinoa to 2 or 3 water. Mix in a bowl and put the bowl in a pan of simmering water, stir occasionally until most of the water is absorbed and the porridge is cooked.

You can of course cook it with milk. It's quite nice to cook it with slightly less water than normal, tip it into a serving bowl, and pour a little milk over it without stirring.

Thanks for that. I bought the quinoa flakes and the flour, Ive tried the flakes already but no matter how long I simmer them for I cant get them to a smooth puree ..I'll try flour next) was just a bit concerned about how clean it was as you can rinse the seeds/flakes, but not the flour.

If that concerns you, you could always make porridge with the flakes or grains, then zizz them in the food-processor. Some grains go a bit gooey or (strangely enough) bitter when you do that though.

How old is your ds? He may not need a perfectly smooth puree anyway.

Hes coming up for 6 months, and wont eat any lumps!! Ive tried cooking the flakes and blitzing them, but quinoa seed seems to have a fibre on it which is hard to puree. Only way I can make it smooth is to cook, blitz and then pass thru a sieve which is very time consuming and fiddly. Maybe Im being a bit paranoid about the flour??? It would certainly make life easier.

Harrysmom - at the risk of resurrecting my reputation as the biggest quinoa bore around - yes you can make porridge from the flakes. This is what I've done for my dd from about 7 months (she's now 2.5 and still has it occasionally).

I use 2 tbsp quinoa flakes, to about 4-6 oz milk (am guessing a bit here). Simmer in milk for about 5 minutes.

It doesn't go completely smooth, and another mumsnetter found her ds objected to this. You could try blending it after cooking (or maybe even grinding up the dried flakes). But at any rate it is no lumpier than porridge made with porridge oats.

Make sure you've definitely got the flakes and not the grains - I have got a more or less unused pack of quinoa grains and I imagine they would make a very lumpy and indigestible porridge.

Oh and I always stirred in some mashed banana or pureed apricot or prune to sweeten it, as quinoa has a slightly bitter taste.

I knew I should have stuck to Ready Brek. Having seen previous threads about quinoa, I bought some the other day to give to dd but the porridge I made the other morning was a complete failure - now I know why! I've got grains not flakes.

Any ideas what I can do with the grains?

I got grains too (grains, flakes and flour!!) I cooked the grains and the end result was the same as the flakes!!

You can use the grains in your own food. They make a nice change from, say, rice, and look quite unusual on the plate (cooked quinoa grains look like tiny pearls with a little spiral inside). It's very nice simmered in stock. It takes longer to cook than couscous, but when cooked can be used in the same dishes.

If you want a perfectly smooth, gluten-free porridge, try making it with buckwheat flour.

I would have thought, Harrysmom, that if at 6m your ds is rejecting food, then he's not quite ready for it yet. Certainly there's no urgency at that age.

I weaned him at 4.5 months and he eats with gusto, but dosent like lumps yet thats all, just couln't get the quinoa smooth, but since then have had success....simmered it for about 10 mins and then pureed it thoroughly, he liked it

Success .