What do you call a car that requires you to shift gears? No, this isn’t a set up for a bad joke. I call mine a “standard,” but clearly, this isn’t the standard any more, and few people know what I’m talking about when I use that term. A stick-shift? A manual?
So why this discussion of standards? Well, I wanted to What-I-Ate-Wednesday (Darn right I use that as a verb), but I’m pretty sure I eat the same thing every weekday.
- The standard bowl of PB&J oatmeal.
- The standard leftovers-on-lettuce.
- The standard piece of fruit.
- The standard socca and roasted veggies.
- The standard protein powder and banana smoothie.
But WAIT–there’s a new standard in town: The Gingerbread Quinoa Flake Cake.
It looks like this:
Which isn’t particularly exciting. But if you were thinking, “Hey, I’d like something cake-like, I’d like it to be gingerbread, I want it in minutes and I’d like it to be crazily good for me,” then trust me, looks aren’t everything.
Gingerbread Quinoa Flake Cake
- 1/2 C Quinoa flakes
- 1 T chia seeds
- 1/4 t baking powder
- Lots of cinnamon
- Generous sprinkle of nutmeg and ginger
- 1/2 C Applesauce
- 1 T molasses
You may want to add a smidge more sweetener (such as brown sugar) if you have more of a sweet tooth than me. Whisk up your dry, stir in the wet, microwave for 4 minutes. Yep, it’s that easy. Cake in 4 minutes.
Recipe inspired by Healthful Pursuit.
Do you eat certain things over and over? What are your standards?
I love that cake! Everything that has a gingerbread “feeling” is the best
And having a cake in 4 minutes is always a plus 
I eat the same thing over and over, and I don´t mind it. I have the same bowl of oatmeal in the morning, the same grains+legumes combo for lunch, a salad for dinner and a couple of pieces of fruit for snacks…
Here we call these cars “a manual”, and the opposite is “an automat”, but I am not sure if it is the correct labelling
I like to mix it up as much as I can, but sometimes I get stagnant and roll with a standard smoothie or a grain + bean bowl. It’s much more fun to have variety though!
I can not eat the same thing everyday. My husband can, but it makes me nuts.
I need variety.
Car wise, I learned to drive on a manual (standard transmission). My mother said every girl needs to know how to drive both types of cars. So “she” is never stuck even if her date/friend is unable to drive. Or, it could be that my mom had a manual car and needed a good explanation for torturing me and her clutch.
Either way, I can drive both.
Very nice and seasonal too! I’ll have to try adding blackstrap molasses to my next quinoa flake bake.
The Flake Cake looks great, and well I just love the title. Love Ginger & Molasses and used to make raw gingerbread cookies all the time.
I think most people called it driving a stick around here, but I knew what you meant.
I’ve only driven one a handful of times, so I can do it, but it’s just not very pretty.
I have a little bit of molasses in my pantry and have been toying with added it to breakfast. Might have to try it now!
I used to eat the same thing every day for a long, long time, and it never bothered me. I still do for breakfast to some extent, but there are just too many places to eat downtown for lunch!
I definitely eat the same thing until I get too sick of it to enjoy! But it;s stuff that I love
Oh hello!! That quinoa cake sounds awesome! Quinoa is the best, and so is ginger bread- this is a winner!!
I eat the same thing over and over too! Chcolate ecpecially! With my meals I get on kicks! Like now, Im on a huge nori+roasted pumpkin kick! Like this kick very much
Yum! I definitely am guilty of eating the same foods over & over again…sometimes they’re just so good!
I talked about something like this in a post once too! Called ‘choices’(http://ibakewhoeats.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/choices-and-an-update/)! I’m VERY guilty of having ‘standards’.
I need to find quinoa just to make this! (so hard to find where I stay!)
Your Gingerbread Quinoa Flake Cake looks sooo good!
I just bookmarked this, it looks fabulous! I’ve never tried quinoa flakes, but I will definitely have to buy some now
I have no idea how to drive with a stick-shift and I don’t plan on learning any time soon. I’m not the best driver, and so I figure, why make driving harder than it is?
Cake in 4 minutes sounds like the way to do it! I have certain things that I eat over and over, but I like trying a new recipe or two every week. Sometimes those new meals turn into standards!
I’d call it a manual, though I know literally *nobody* who drives an automatic so I usually wouldn’t have to specify. I’ve never tried quinoa and I had no idea you could use it for something like this. I try not to eat the same things over and over but my sister pointed out that I eat “weird salads” all the time, haha.
It’s getting hard to find standard transmission cars these days. Are manufacturers going to stop making them?
OOOH CAKE! And a healthy gluten free one!