Good morning! No, great morning!

I am feeling super jazzed today for two reasons…

First, because I have gorgeous and creamy steel-cut oats that I made with my rice cooker.

Seriously, these rice-cooker oats are life-changing levels of good!

I just put 1/4 cup of steel-cut oats, a spoonful of ground flax, a spoonful of chia seeds, half a banana torn up, and 1 cup of almond milk into the rice cooker and put it on the porridge setting. It took about an hour and 20 minutes, but it was so worth the wait! Next time I’ll prep everything the night before and set a timer so I can wake up to a hot delicious oatmeal morning!

And second, because my body feels so relaxed and stress-free from attending my first ever hot yoga class last night!

I attended a 90 minute class at Atlanta Hot Yoga with 3 lovely ladies: Lee from In My Tummy, Kristy from Kristy Runs, and Laura from Laura Dishes.

I was interested to try it, but not sure if it was going to be right for me. Turns out, I love hot yoga! I think I may have stumbled on to something that I’m going to really enjoy.

I have always had some balance issues because of my scoliosis offsetting my spinal alignment, and I could tell that I had more issues with holding poses when on my left leg, but as the class went on I got better at maintaining my balance, and I think that with regular practice it could really help me. I expected to wake up sore all over, but actually it’s just the opposite. A lot of tension I’ve been holding in my upper back is nearly gone, I find it easier to sit up straight, I don’t have a neckache like I often do in the mornings, and I just feel so light and stress-free. Jackpot!

I think taking up a regular yoga practice, not only just for fun but also as a supplement to my chiropractic care, could be beneficial for me in maintaining flexibility and overall good health.

Thanks girls, for a fun exercise date and for turning me on to a new hobby! If anyone is interested in trying out Decatur Hot Yoga with me, I’m there!

Behold, the newest addition to my kitchen army!

I have been wanting and needing one of these for a long time! This little baby is a Zojirushi induction-heating rice cooker, we bought him with Christmas money we got from family.

Take a peak under the hood…

Yeah, tons of cargo space. This is my kind of hot-rod.

Before heading out to the gym today I filled my new toy with 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water and set him to cook while I was gone.

That may look more like rice than quinoa to you because it is rice. That’s a shot of some rice I made last night that didn’t turn out too great because I had it on the wrong setting, but I forgot to take a picture of the quinoa before cooking, so this’ll do.

When I got back from the gym I had this waiting for me…

Perfect, fluffy quinoa ready to eat and still warm!

There was a ton of it so I decided to make two different preparations, one sweet and one savory.

For the sweet one, I added the following:

• handful of chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup or so mixed dried cranberries, golden raisins, and goji berries
• about 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• zest of a small orange

I then made a dressing with the juice from the orange and a spoonful of honey, and heated it in the microwave so it would be thinner and distribute better. I just tossed it all together for this delicious sweet treat.

That one will be awesome in the morning with some almond milk drizzled over, or piled on top of yogurt. I’ve made a sweet maple cinnamon breakfast quinoa before, but this one is even better!

For the savory one I added:

• half a red bell pepper, chopped super small
• one chopped scallion
• one carrot, grated
• a handful of spinach, chopped finely
• zest of a lemon

For the dressing I used the juice of half the lemon, a pinch of salt and pepper, about 2 tsp. white wine vinegar, 2 tsp. tahini, and olive oil whisked in.

To make I just grated the carrot directly over with a microplane to get it really fine…

And added the chopped spinach…

Having a quality knife has been so wonderful!

Mixed in the dressing and here it is!

Believe it or not, this one was even better than the sweet one!

I had both for lunch with an apple dusted in cinnamon.

The quinoa gave me a big dose of protein to repair my sore muscles after today’s workout. Both preparations were so delicious and I managed to whip up both of them in about 20 minutes total.

I am hopelessly in love with my new rice cooker. I can’t wait to try cooking millet, farro, oatmeal, and of course rice, in it!

Look for many, many rice cooker recipes to come!