Mid Morning Porridge

One of my most loved and challenging tasks throughout morning garden and playschool days is meal preparation.
For morning garden, the young children are served an organic snack; they bring their own beverage and cup.

During playschool, I serve 2 snacks and a hot lunch. All meals and snacks are included in 'tuition', so I work very hard to keep food costs within my budget. This doesn't mean I buy cheap, processed and empty calorie foods. 98% of the food I serve to the children is organic (always produce) and I never purchase anything containing food dyes. (which, by the way, *really* creep me out. I know I am not alone in this.)
Most of the food is also, consequently, meat free, since I am a near life long vegetarian. I do prepare organic meats for my family, but it doesn't fit into my playschool/garden meal budgets.
My "go-to" staple for snacks and meals is whole grains.

W grinding grain at The Waldorf School of Philadelphia

Grains are filling, nutritious, and very much within any budget.

Rudolf Steiner emphasized once, 'if everybody will eat one kind of grain per day, good health will be the result of it...'
In fact, and many of you may already know this, there is a "Whole Grain for each day of the week" that is followed in many Waldorf schools, and I am interested in beginning this rhythm in the coming season...

    Monday: Rice

    Tuesday: Barley

     Wednesday: Millet

     Thursday: Rye

      Friday: Oats

     Saturday: Corn

     Sunday: Wheat

To help me along, I might purchase these food plans from Little Acorn Learning...

Making grains ahead of time for the following days really helps me with cutting preparation time before the meal when the children are becoming hungry. I create dishes using grains by making them either sweet (by using maple syrup) or savory (a teaspoon of organic vegetable base). It's easy!

Lately, my favorite creation is Mango and Quinoa Porridge.

It is as good as is sounds, friends!

Quinoa is my favorite grain, as it is delicious and packs a serious protein punch for those growing bodies:)

But, wait! Why isn't it included in the weekly grain calendar?

Who knows?

But, it's surely included in mine:)

Recipe for Quinoa and Mango Porridge

1 c. of rinsed and prepared quinoa

4 tbsp of coconut milk (or other milk)

3 tsp of pure maple syrup

handful of diced mango and shredded coconut

a bit of vanilla

Simple. Mix all ingredients together and enjoy.

...more information about whole grains and the days of the week can be found in the Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Book