Quinoa Summer Saute

Its, summer, and I have not been posting many recipes consistently. My apologies. Its hard to get cooking in the summer when you're constantly going. I have been on several camping trips, and I have been traveling quite a bit. I have been doing pretty good about eating okay, but let's face it. Its a lot harder and I have definitely been eating junky food. That's okay every once in a while though, so I was not really worried about it. However, it definitely felt good to get home and start eating good food again. I can already feel a difference with my energy, no more headaches, no more stomach aches, and simply all around, I am feeling better with good food in me.

This was a new recipe I made tonight. I saw a picture of quinoa, and started craving it. Then, I decided I would try cooking with ginger. Something I haven't tried yet. So, if you get bored on a summer day and want to try some quinoa lovin', then try this recipe. It was really fresh tasting and quite satisfying. D E L E C T A B L E !


serves approx. 3-4 people

Ingredients:

• 2 cup cooked red quinoa
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 Tbs. ginger root, skinned & chopped

which looks like this. You will find it in the produce section,typically near the cabbage family.

• 1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil (possibly more to prevent burning of vegetables, use at own observations)
• sprinkle of onion powder
• dash of parsley
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• dash of cayenne pepper for a little zip!

1. Follow cooking instructions for quinoa as instructed on the package
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium sized sauce pan
3. Sauté bell pepper, ginger, and celery for approximately 6-8 minutes  
4. Add seasoning 
5. Once the quinoa is cooked, add it to the saucepan with sautéed vegetables

Easy peasy right?!


SIDE NOTE ON QUINOA: Did you know that quinoa is a complete protein. It is also a seed, not a grain. It is gluten free so it is safe for those with celiac disease. YAY FOR QUINOA! :D You can find it at almost ANY local grocery store. It is fairly cheap, but if there is anywhere near you that sells bulk foods, it is nearly almost always cheaper bought bulk.

Protein Pudding

 

Confession time everyone!! As much as I am fairly good about eating healthy, I am weak around chocolate. It is my weakness. After a hard test day, or maybe after a really hard workout, all I want is a little chocolate lovin'. It's so good! (milk chocolate though, not my favorite. I'm a dark chocolate kind of person) So anyways, I try to make chocolate "healthier" because the craving comes up too often for me not to. When I discovered this idea of putting chocolate protein powder in plain Greek yogurt with some agave (thanks for the idea Ally), I fell in love. Now I haven't done my research on protein powder and if it is really all it is cranked out to be, nor do I know if it is all natural, BUT I don't know if I care enough at this moment. Maybe one day I will dig my head into a little research (but where to even begin for reliable sources?! Geesh!). Anyways, if you ever need a little chocolate fix and/or you want something really filling and fairly healthy, then please. Let me lead you to my friend "Protein Pudding"!

Side note: This actually a really good way to snack if you find yourself a little hungry in the middle of the day or at night. It is full of protein from the greek yogurt and the protein powder, and it has a good amount of fat (which is GOOD!  Don't be scared about it!), and some nice carbs from the agave nectar. It is really balanced, therefore, your body will have everything it needs and your brain will detect that you are full! Hurray for feeling satisfied for longer!! :)




Ingredients:

• about 2/3 cup or so of plain Greek Yogurt (my new favorite is Fage Total)
• about 2 tablespoons of chocolate protein powder (I have just been using Shakeology because it has been the only thing in my dad's cupboard...I heard its expensive. Not sure on that one!)
• as much agave as you want to thin it out and sweeten it up a little

1) Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and enjoy!

Haven't Lived Till Now Spaghetti Sauce

K so you know that saying “You haven’t live until you have done [insert amazing thing]”. Well my friends, I have a few of those for ya today. And they all come from my personal experience and expertise. Pretending of course that I have any. ;)

You have not lived until you have…

 1)      eaten stove popped popcorn

       2)      repelled down a cliff
       3)      jumped off a cliff….please oh please make sure there is deep water, free of boulders at the bottom ;)
       4)      ran, simply put
       5)      held a baby 
       6)      held a baby monkey ;)
       7)      watched the Pixar movie "Up"
       8)      snorkeled over the Great Barrier Reef
       9)      had a lemonade stand
     10)   and last but not least…..you have NOT lived until you have tried my homemade spaghetti sauce

Oh and before we go any further, I totally lied about snorkeling over the Great Barrier Reef. Sorry folks. Maybe one day though. :)

Now, now, you may have a pulse and you may be breathing. But I’m not too sure! Now I will make a deal with you. I can pardon the other 9 requirements of living if you simply do the 10^th one. Once you try it, then I will say you have lived. ;) Sound like a deal?

Ingredients:

  · 5 medium/large tomatoes

      · 2 cloves of garlic
      · 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
      · 2-3 tablespoons of agave nectar (depending on how much sweetness you want to taste)
      ·  1 tsp. dried basil
      ·  ½ tsp. onion powder
      ·  ½ tsp. oregano
      · Sprinkle of black pepper
      · Sprinkle of cayenne pepper
      · Sea salt to taste
      · About 4 oz. of Ground turkey  (I like to use 93/7 lean turkey)

1.Finely chop the tomatoes and place them in a medium sized sauce pan over med-high heat

 2. Mince the garlic and throw them in with the tomatoes

 3. Tomatoes should start to bubble, once this occurs, pour in vinegar and agave nectar

 4. Once vinegar and agave are stirred in, stir in all your seasonings

 5. Wait for approximately 10 minutes

 6. While you are waiting, brown your turkey in a frying pan

 7. Once turkey is cooked thoroughly and most of the liquid in the spaghetti sauce has evaporated, mix turkey in with the spaghetti sauce.

 8. Wait till is has come to the consistency you like

 9. Pour over wheat noodles or spaghetti squash or rice or whatever your pretty little mind desires. :)

"Tour de Colorado" Whole Wheat Bread

Today was just one of those days. Those beautiful days. Visiting my dad, we went for a 12 mile bike ride. I like to call it the Tour de Colorado.  {eh? eh? See what I did there?} It was so beautiful outside and such a good activity that not only exercises your body, but exercises your mind. Riding a bike is such a perfect time to think. The trail we rode is so beautiful and feels so secluded from the world. My favorite part by far was the people we saw along the way. They never failed to smile or wave or say "hi there" when we passed. It just made me think, wouldn't the world be so great if everyone just loved everyone? We really have no reason not love everyone. So let's start! Yeah? Me and You. Here we go. Let's just love everyone. Let's not be afraid to say "hi" to those strangers we pass everyday. Let's not hold back from a harmless conversation with a person we have never met. You never know how far that little act can go. That's gonna be my goal. After all, we are all sent here to live a life of our own. We were all nervous to leave our heavenly home and come to create our own story. So why not reach out to each other a little? These were just some thoughts strolling through the beautiful countryside today. And I just know I surely need to work on reaching out.

Hey! Remember that bread recipe I got you all excited about in my Divine PB & Blackberry Sandwich post?! Well, hopefully you don't remember how long ago that was because let's just say, I slacked off on posting that as quickly as I hope. I apologize! But here it is. It is sooooo delicious. Please try it if you want to be happy in life. Yep, that's right. I'm giving you the key to happiness right here in this recipe. {Okay so maybe it isn't the key to happiness, but its gotta be pretty close!}

Oh and this is one recipe that I did not create. I got it from a woman in my church ward. So don't give me credit.   :)




Ingredients

*Makes either 2 large loaves, or 3 small-med. loaves*

• 5 cups hot water
• 1 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 cup honey
• 4 Tb. yeast
• 12 cups whole wheat flour (be brave and grind some hard wheat yourself. It is too good not to)
• 2 Tb. sea salt

1. Dissolve the honey in the hot water and mix in the oil
2. Once the mixture has cooled to a warm temperature, sprinkle the yeast gently on top
3. Mix the flour and salt
4. Once the yeast mixture has foamed, about 8 minutes, pour it into the flour
5. In a bread machine and or in a kitchen-aid, knead on medium speed for three minutes(If you don't have either, just knead really well for about 3-5 minutes)
6. Let the dough rise for 30 minutes
7. On an oiled counter surface, roll out dough and form the loaves (to avoid creating air bubbles, fold in the sides of the rolled dough to the middle, and then throw it hard onto the counter a few times)
8. Press the dough into the corners of a bread pan
9. Bake on 200 degrees until the bread has sufficiently reached the top of the pan
10. Once it has reached the top, turn up the heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes (I found that to be not quite enough, so I would suggest 38-40 minutes)
11. Remove and let the loaves cool before you take out of the pan
12. Enjoy the happiness that will flood over you the second you take the first bite!!

Greek Pasta Salad

Lately I have been looking into my family history and it has been really fun! I's really interesting looking at old profiles, old immigrant records, and especially old photos. Old historical photos are hard to find, especially when they are your own family. But guess what? I found some! My dad practically has a whole family history museum in a chest in his house. It is full of records of my grandparents and great-great grandparents. There are plenty of pictures and I got glued to the floor for a good half hour just flipping through them. So interesting! I love it! I can't wait to look farther back in history and start discovering some mysterious family stories!

Anyways, on the topic of food, let me introduce to you a pretty stinkin' delicious pasta salad recipe. It is really refreshing and light. It is a Greek style salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, feta cheese, and kalamata olives. Great for a light lunch! Here you go my friends. Try it out....





Ingredients

• roughly 8 oz. dry whole wheat noodles, cooked
• 2 Tb. extra virgin olive oil
• 20 sweet golden cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1 large cucumber, chopped
• 20 kalamata olives, seeded, chopped
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• sea salt to taste
• drizzle of agave (optional)

1. Mix all ingredients in a tupper-ware container
2. Refrigerate
3. Serve when desired
4. Enjoy

Protein Cinna-Banan-cakes

These pancakes are a perfect breakfast to get you going in the morning. They're full of protein and they taste perty good. I like them cause they have a sponge-like consistency and they're really filling so I am not hungry right after breakfast. (Which is pretty astonishing because yes, I am carb crazy and yes, I am pretty much hungry every second of my life...) But these keep me full so that is always desirable in my book. Try'em out! Here, how 'bout you get the griddle going while I give you the recipes! Yes? Alright, let's go.....













Ingredients
*Made 3 pancakes*

• 6 Tb. whole wheat flour
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 Cup Greek yogurt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 Tb. raw agave
• 1/2 banana, smashed

1. Mix together the yogurt, banana, agave, and egg whites.
2. Once completely mixed together, stir in the flour and salt and cinnamon.
3. Heat a greased frying pan or griddle on low-med. heat
4. Pour your batter onto the pan and with a spoon or spatula, thin out the batter to make a pretty descent sized pancake
5. Flip after roughly 4 minutes
6. Let the other side cook for roughly 2.5 minutes
7. Remove from pan
8. Top with agave and/or fresh fruit

Don't Be Afraid of Brussel Sprouts!!

Ok, so you read the words "brussel sprouts" in the title! Don't turn away!! Brussel sprouts just have a bad reputation for some reason as that one tasteless healthy gross food that you threaten your kids with. But I'm here to say, challenge that reputation! I did and I came to find out that there are really good and if prepared the right way, I actually crave them! Say what?! Crazy I know. But try it sometime. You might actually surprise yourself. This is the way that I like to prepare them even though there are several different ways I'm sure. You could always steam them, roast them, or other methods. Personally, I like boiling them. Here is how I do it....

First Step:

Peel off the first layer of leaves

Second Step:

Chop of the little stem thing at the end

 

Third Step:

 

Cut an X on the bottom, as shown

 

Fourth Step:

 

Place brussel sprouts in boiling water so that there are covered completely

 

Fifth Step:

 

Take out after 8  minutes of cooking



Sixth Step:

 

You can either stop here, OR what I like to do is chop them up a little just to make it a little easier to eat.

 

Last Step:

 

Top with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice along with some sea salt and pepper and enjoy your snack! :)