Quinoa X 2

Long time, no blog!

Monday we went to a potluck BBQ, so I decided to make an easy quinoa salad. Some people had never tried quinoa and were brave enough to try it! I think they were glad they did.

Greek Quinoa Salad
cooked quinoa (cooled)
cucumber
tomato
green onion (you could also use red, but they're a bit strong)
feta cheese
Mix all this together with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon pepper, and garlic salt. You can also add lemon juice if you have it. YUM.

Last night I made a Thai Quinoa salad. Yes, I'm obsessed with Thai and peanut sauce! My sister sent me this recipe and it was AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!! I didn't use the red onion, just added more green onion. I used a whole bunch of cilantro and an entire bag of shredded cabbage. I added the chickpeas but omitted the bell pepper. I am definitely making this again! Isaac even ate some...WHAT?!?!

Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing

Delicious vegan and easily gluten-free salad with Thai flavors and a perfect crunch. It’s even better the next day!

Author: Monique of AmbitiousKitchen.com

Ingredients

•       ¾ cup uncooked quinoa

•       1-2 cups shredded red cabbage, depending on how much crunch you like

•       1 red bell pepper, diced

•       ½ red onion, diced

•       1 cup shredded carrots

•       ½ cup chopped cilantro

•       ¼ cup diced green onions

•       ½ cup cashew halves or peanuts (honey-roasted is good)

•       Optional: 1 cup edamame or chickpeas

•       Fresh lime, for a bit of tang

•       For the dressing:

•       ¼ cup all natural peanut butter

•       2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

•       3 tablespoon soy sauce, gluten-free if desired

•       1 tablespoon honey (use agave if vegan)

•       1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

•       1 teaspoon sesame oil

•       1 teaspoon olive oil

•       Water to thin, if necessary

Instructions

1.     To cook quinoa: Rinse quinoa with cold water in mesh strainer. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.

2.     To make dressing: Add peanut butter and honey or agave to a medium microwave safe bowl; heat in microwave for 20 seconds. Add in ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and both sesame and olive oil and stir until mixture is smooth and creamy. If you want a thinner dressing, simply stir in a teaspoon or two of water or olive oil.

3.     Add as much or as little dressing as you’d like to the quinoa. I always start out with a little bit of dressing and usually add more to suit my taste preferences. Alternatively you can save the dressing for later and add when you are ready to eat; however the flavors of the dressing usually soak into the salad so I love adding it to the quinoa first.

4.     Next fold in red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Garnish with cashews and green onions. Serve chilled or at room temperature with lime wedges if desired.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1/6th of recipe Calories: 260 Fat: 13.5g Carbohydrates: 27.7g Sugar: 7g Fiber: 4.3g Protein: 8.6g 

Fresh Mama

Yesterday was Mother's Day which means I didn't have to cook! I decided to go to a place called Fresh Mama so we could use a Living Social deal that was about to expire.

When we arrived, we were the only customers there. I guess this isn't the hoppin' Mother's Day spot. It's kind of in a funky area, but the building also has a Hot Yoga studio, a salon, and a few other businesses, so those customers must keep them going. The counter guy seemed kind of annoyed that we were there, but he did get our orders correct and the food came out pretty quickly.

Kyle and I both had the Spicy Thai Wrap, mine with rice paper and his with collard greens. I asked for no jalapenos on mine, and I'm so glad I did!

As you can see, the presentation was quite lovely. The wrap was good, but had waaaay too many red onions. The Thai dipping sauce was so flavorful, but a little spicy, even for Kyle! A little dab here and there added some nice flavor though.

The kids both had smoothies. Since Esther can't read, I ordered her a green smoothie with oranges, mangos, spinach, and I can't remember what else. Isaac saw the menu and any smoothies that had spinach or kale were quickly rejected, so he chose one with berries, bananas, oranges, and some protein powder (it had whey in it, which is a dairy product, so Esther couldn't have had it anyway.)

They both sucked them down! When Esther saw the green, she was a little traumatized...but as soon as she took a sip, she said yummm.

Overall, the food at Fresh Mama was good and definitely healthy, but I felt it was a little overpriced. The smoothies were $7.99 each. I believe the wraps were about the same price. The reason I feel that's a bit much for a wrap is that it was just basically salad...there wasn't any protein or spread like hummus or anything like that. This place is literally across the street from Isaac's school (and I never noticed) so it would be a nice little after school date spot to grab a smoothie.

This morning, Esther made this "snack" for Kyle. My friend at Redeeming Nutrition would be proud.

Vegucated

So, when we started this whole vegan thing, it was strictly for health reasons. Obviously, I knew animals suffered when they were used for meat, milk, or eggs. I became a vegetarian for nearly 10 years after taking an Environmental Studies class in college. But I guess I just chose to ignore it? Or thought that if I only bought organic, free-range animal products they were treated better?

Last night we watched Vegucated because we've been slowly adding more meat and dairy to our diet. Kyle and the kids have definitely been eating more eggs because they all love them and it's something healthier than cereal to eat for breakfast. We thought watching another documentary would kind of get us back on track and give us more info about healthy eating. Vegucated certainly did that, as it had some of the same information from The China Study in Forks Over Knives.

At the beginning of Vegucated, they started talking about vegan shoes and clothing. "Ugh," I thought, "come on...I am NOT buying vegan shoes! They have nothing to do with health!" By the end of the film, however, I was reminded of the disgusting, cruel, abusive ways that the animals are treated in the process. The definition of "free-range" is not what I thought it was...happy chickens roaming a farm. Even small, family-run farms usually use inhumane methods for raising and utilizing their animals.

There are also some Christian vegans who believe we were originally designed to not eat meat. Eating animal products only started after sin entered the world and we were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. I need to read more about this.

So, although a little meat and ice cream here and there won't kill me, it does lead to the brutal death of many animals. I feel like I have some processing to do!

*One thing I did NOT like about the movie was that they ate so many soy products. Soy is no good for anyone! But maybe for the people in the film, it was a good way to get started instead of going from "normal" diet to strictly plant-based, whole foods.

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

Tonight I threw together a lentil shepherd's pie that turned out pretty well. I'm a sucker for anything involving mashed potatoes, so I loved it. The kids, not so much. Meh.

I cooked the lentils in turmeric and cloves and then mixed them with carrots, onion, corn, peas, and a can of diced tomatoes (I was planning on adding mushrooms, but they went bad before I got around to making this...boo.) I added some garlic salt, white pepper, and parsley. I put all that in a 9x13 baking dish, then topped with some skin-on mashed potatoes. Luckily, I made "too many" potatoes so I can eat starchy white carbs to my heart's content tomorrow. Then I baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes to let the carrots cook.

I didn't take any pictures, but this meal is very filling and affordable. We could probably eat it for the next two days but tomorrow is Mother's Day...I think I'll pass on eating leftovers!

May the Fourth be with you!

Yes, we are a dorky Star Wars family! I had planned on being super fun and making a whole themed dinner, including these Princess Leia cupcakes, but sadly, Esther has a stomach bug. The kid loves cake...it would just be rude to make them and for her to not be able to enjoy them.

But, people still need to eat dinner at some point, so no need to throw all the fun out the window. Esther will be forcing down some saltines and 7-Up, while the rest of us get our nerd on. This recipe isn't vegan or even healthy at all! But at least it's dairy and gluten free.

I call these bad boys "Han Solo Hot Dogs in Cornbread Carbonite."

My friend Marla made the Pioneer Woman version of these and they were great, but not gluten free. So I stole her idea and used this GF cornbread recipe. Instead of the flour mixture, I used King George GF flour.

I put little hot dog pieces in a mini muffin tray (sprayed with Pam, which has soy in it...boo.) After putting the hot dogs in I realized, duh, it would be a good idea to put some of the batter in, then the hot dogs, then more batter.

I baked them at 400 until they were golden, which seemed to take forever! You'd think teeny tiny muffins would bake quickly, but it was well over 20 minutes.

Anyway, here they are in their glory!

I must say, they were pretty tasty! They didn't taste gluten free, but the cornbread was a little dry. I'd rather have dry than mushy/gummy though. In this case, just add ketchup and mustard, but for regular cornbread...you can never have too much butter and honey!

Catching up...

Well, hello again! I just have a couple good recipes to share! I've been doing some repeats lately and we have bean tostadas probably twice a week. The kids love them and I don't have to listen to complaints. I also made the chickpea curry again, which Kyle and I love. And of course, plenty of stir fry!

A couple of weeks ago I made these Sweet Potato Fritters with Smoky Pinto Beans. Yum. I'm so glad I read the reviews about adding more spice because these could be bland, depending on the peppers you use. My store didn't have poblano peppers (what?!) and I wasn't sure what type of pepper would be close, so I used one bell pepper and one can of diced green chiles. Instead of all-purpose flour I used King George gluten-free flour mix. It didn't have that weird GF flavor. The beans were fantastic! I might make these again, but the kids didn't really love them (shocking) so we'll see.

Another new favorite that I discovered somewhere online (wish I had bookmarked it) was a guacamole hummus thing! Mash together an avocado and drained can of garbanzo beans. Then add some chopped green onion and cilantro, lime or lemon juice, and some salt and pepper. So tasty! This could be a dip for chips or vegetables, or make a great substitute for tuna or egg salad.

And finally...and I have no idea what my problem is...but I'm loving this drink. Someone help me. But, hey! It's vegan! That means it's healthy, right?!