Sorry you are waking up not feeling well @Frank Sanoica I tried Quinoa once and didn't like it AT ALL. Chewy. Not a great taste. As far as hot cereal goes, I like them all. Just wouldn't like this stuff as hot cereal. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad in soup. I'm not big on rice either. Haven't cooked it at home in ages. I've also read you need to eat it the first day or if you store it, cool it quickly and eat the left overs no more than the next day. I can't remember why but it does something once it gets old. Nothing beats potatoes. Love them!
@Kitty Carmel We just opened a bag of cooked rice frozen in our freezer for many months. It "ate" as good as fresh. Frank
@Frank Sanoica I don't know what the issue is with rice that I read. Would have to google it. I think freezing would be OK. I went to Trader Joe's today. I wasn't planning on it but ended up in the area. They have a Quinoa and rice hot cereal. I actually considered giving it a try but got the multigrain instead and admittedly some of the instant maple brown sugar stuff because I love it.
I bought a little container of the quinoa so that we could try it, and I have added some into rice when we cook brown rice, and i like it find that way. Quinoa is actually one of the few non-animal proteins that is considered a complete protein because it has all of the essential amino acids in it; so it is a great protein source for vegetarians, as well as for people who just want to eat more healthy foods. I am going to try sprouting some quinoa and see how well I like it as a sprouted food, and I am also thinking about growing some, or at least attempting to grow some. It is actually a beautiful plant that can grow up to 10 feet tall, with colorful seed heads, so I think that i would like seeing it growing out in the yard. There is a variety of amaranth that is grown as a “flower” and it is called “Love-lies-bleeding” because the seed head stems trail down something like a weeping willow does. The leaves of amaranth and quinoa are also edible, so it is a plant that can be used as a green while it is growing and then the seeds can be harvested in the fall. Here is a picture showing some of the rainbow colors of quinoa, and the second picture is of the Love-lies-bleeding amaranth plant.
Have you grown the Amaranth plant that is gown for grain? It is also an Inca food, as is Quinoa. I grew it one year when I lived in North Carolina, and it was spectacular! It resembled the Love-Lies-Bleeding, but it was 8 feet tall! I remember that we harvested and ate the grain, but I have no memory of what it tasted like. I suspect it was a lot like Quinoa. There are at least three types of Quinoa--White, Red, and Black. All of them are covered by a protective coating that needs to be washed off prior to cooking. Many people who don't like quinoa haven't adequately rinsed the seeds (recommended even if it says it has been pre-washed). White has very little taste, Red a bit stronger, and Black is nearly inedible unless is it being used in a strongly-flavored or very spicy dish. None of it will grow here, but we do occasionally eat the white quinoa as a rice substitute, since my wife no longer eats rice. I hated rice, too, before I lived in Japan for 2 years. I love the stuff now.
The closest that I have come to ever growing any amaranth was the little lambsquarters that seem to always find their way into the garden. However, now that I would be happy to have some and harvest the leaves and seeds, there seem to be none sprouting up in our yard, nor have I seen any other yards or gardens with lambsquarters growing in them. This morning , I was reading about making quinoa sprouts, and since it is so closely related to lambsquarters, I looked up information abut growing some, and I think that i would like to try quinoa and amaranth both. As an experiment, I planted some of the seeds from my container of quinoa. It is just a plain bottle that came from the store, but all the label said was “organic quinoa”, so I am hoping that it might sprout. If not, I will order some seeds from ebay when I get back home next weekend, and plant that. I am excited about being able to harvest and use both the green leaves as well as the seeds !
There is a Leaf Amaranth from India and Nepal that is grown just for greens. The leaves taste similar to the young lambsquarter, but are much larger. Here is a link to the Mexican variety, which is not as tall as the Peruvian, but the leaves are more edible (tender) if you wish to try it. https://www.rareseeds.com/opopeo-amaranth/
It's one of the five grains I use in my Chicken-vegetable soup (what I usually eat for breakfast). Other four are long-grain brown rice, wild rice, millet, and barley.
My amaranth is growing and the colors are really beautiful ! It is the kind that turns into the Love Lies Bleeding with the drooping seed heads, like a weeping willow. I have one that is about 6” tall now, and the other are still tiny, and more seeds in the aerogarden that have not sprouted yet.
Is it one of the amaranth grown for grain, @Yvonne Smith? When we lived in North Carolina I grew the amaranth that is cultivated for grain--7 foot tall Love Lies Bleeding. Truly spectacular!
This one (Love Lies Bleeding) is not one that is grown for the seeds, @Don Alaska ; but the seeds are still usable, and it is also very decorative, plus all of the leaves are edible. In the heat of summer, most greens like spinach and lettuce will bolt and get bitter, so I try and grow some plants with edible leaves that are heat tolerant. I also have some of the Malabar spinach, and am planning on starting more of that, and it is a beautiful vine that thrives in the heat and have very nutritional leaves. I am hoping that some of the amaranth will go to seed for next year, but thinking that the birds and squirrels might eat everything that drops on the ground.
You can bag the seed heads when they lose their luster if you want to save the seeds. Wait until after they have all been pollinated and set seed, then put a fine mesh or lightweight paper bag over several of the heads and allow the seeds to mature inside. Thresh the seedheads if the seeds haven't dropped into the bags, then save seeds and put the others out for the birds if you wish during the winter. Save seeds from several plants to retain genetic diversity.