Spanish Quinoa

Spanish Quinoa - Easy and Healthy

 

 

I have to admit, when I made this, I forgot to write down what I was doing as I went.  Darn it!  I know that some of you like nice, neat, perfect measurements.  And truthfully, so do I.  Often I create something like this, love it, and can't duplicate it.  I should learn, but when I'm cooking and everyone is hungry and I'm trying to get it on the table as fast as I can, I am not always good about stopping to write down what I'm doing.  Sigh---

Happily, this recipe is so easy, that it really doesn't make a huge difference.  You should use the recipe as a foundation and make it your own.  :)  I know Martha Stewart says that cooking is a science, but I disagree.  I think baking is a science and cooking is an art!  However, if you want to reproduce the art, you better get it down to a science.  See what a nice circle I just made there.  lol

I served this dish with tacos, as a replacement to Spanish rice.  It had a nice Tex-mex flavor.  However, unlike rice, this was light.  Tacos, re-fried beans, and Spanish rice can be a very heavy meal.  The quinoa had all the flavor of the rice, but it was light and fresh.  The veggies really came to the front.  It was such a surprise when I first tasted it.  A very nice change in texture from the rest of the meal. And it was easy to make.  Bonus!!

Spanish Quinoa

3 c. cooked quinoa (about 1 c. dry)
1/2  10oz. can of enchilada sauce, (or make your own and use about 2/3 cup)
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes (I like the ones with green chilies)
1 15oz can Black beans
1 C. frozen corn
1/2 green pepper diced
1/2 orange or red sweet pepper diced (a few of the little ones that you get at Costco are great too)
1/2 large onion
1 Tbl. Olive oil
1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Rinse your dry quinoa for two minutes to get rid on the bitter flavor. Set aside.  In a large skillet heat olive oil and onion until oil gets hot.  Add quinoa and cook for about a minute until the moisture evaporates.  Add 2 cups of water, cover and lower heat to med low.  Cook for 20 min.  (This is how you normally cook quinoa, but I thought someone might not know.) :)

Once the quinoa is cooked add all the rest of the ingredients and cook until hot and bubbly.  the quinoa will absorb the liquid from the tomatoes.  Once that happens, and your peppers are soft to your liking, it's done. 

I topped mine with cheese, but it really doesn't need it. 

Super easy, huh?

If you want it spicier, use spicy enchilada sauce.  If you want it a bit wetter, use more sauce.  If you don't like peppers, don't add them.  Fresh avocado would be fantastic added over the top. 

Try it out and let us know how it worked for you. 

BLTs - Bites Licks and Tastes, plus a quick weekly menu

 

I have noticed that what really gets me, are BLTs. Bites, licks, and tastes. A bite of my child's cookie, a taste of my husband's dinner and lick- okay a tablespoonful of ice cream, 3 cheetos, and 4 chips... after a while they start adding up. I think if I avoided all BLTs, I might not even need to diet. I think a lot of my calories are coming from that. My goal has been to track everything. My goal now is to track everything and avoid BLTs.

 I do really well with my exercise. I am even working super hard to cook healthy.  I have tried diligently to add more vegetables and I've come up with some delicious dinners.  But I really think that one of the biggest changes I need to make is a small change- the BLTs.  That's the goal.  Wish me luck. :)

  How about you.  What small changes could you make to get healthier?

So here is a quick list of the dinners that I made this week.  I'll get recipes up soon.  

Sunday -- Pork Sirloin Roast with mashed potatoes and salad.  I almost always serve salad. It's so filling and good for you.

Monday -- Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas. (I made some with whole grain tortillas and some with white tortillas.  My kids loved the whole grain tortillas!) They were amazing. and Salad.

Tuesday -- Very Veggie Lasagna Casserole.  You can find the recipe Here. and of course, salad.  We also had whole wheat garlic bread

Wednesday -- Grilled Cheese (on whole wheat, of course) and Tomato Soup for the family.  I had a left-over quesadilla.

Thursday -- Lower Fat Stroganoff, fresh veggies with dip and green beans.

Friday -- Husband cooks-- will probably be burgers.  I will most likely eat mine bunless with yummy avocado added.

Saturday -- oh Saturdays are always a toss up.  so Free day.  :)

 Here is a list of Breakfasts that I made this week. Recipes soon.

Sunday -- I didn't eat breakfast.  :)

Monday -- Whole grain Breakfast Burrito

Tuesday -- Whole Grain Breakfast Burrito (what can I say- if I like it, I'll eat it 2 days in a row)

Wednesday -- 1 egg

Thursday -- 1 egg, 1 buttermilk, dollar sized pancake

Friday -- 1 egg, 1 pancake

 Okay so breakfast hasn't been exciting this week.  However, I will get the recipe for the breakfast burrito up soon.  It really is tasty, fast and low cal.  

Very Veggie Lasagna Casserole- And your kids will love it!

This is good stuff.  This is three helpings good.  This is healthy! But don't tell my kids.

This is my Very Veggie Lasagna Casserole.  Seriously, this stuff is loaded with yummy vegetables that my kids normally won't eat.  In fact, it has a veggie in it that I won't eat! As in, it makes me gag to think about eating it.  It took faith to add spinach to this. I hate cooked spinach. H-a-t-e! Would rather do laundry kind of hate. I had two helpings of this, my boys had three each.  And my little princess, who won't eat anything?  Oh, she happily scarfed it down.  Even the baby liked her ground up portion.  The husband had two helpings.  I'm telling you, it's good!

Guess what's in it?  Never mind.  I'll tell you.  :)  I'm generous like that.

Spinach, carrots, zucchini! Can you believe that?  My family ate zucchini and loved it!  I'm seriously doing the happy dance.

So you may remember an earlier post where I told you how to sneak carrots into your ground beef.  If not, you can find that here. That is how I got the carrots in.  The rest- easy peasy.  But no peas.  They wouldn't work in this one.  :)

Very Veggie Lasagna Casserole
1/2 of the meat mixture (found here)
OR
1 lb meat (shred 2 carrots into the meat while it cooks and add 1/2 large onion) cooked and drained.
2 cups of your favorite marinara, spaghetti sauce or even pizza sauce.
        (I used left over home made pizza sauce)
2 cups water with 2 beef bouillon cubes, or 2 cups beef stock
1/2 of a 13.25 oz box of whole wheat penne pasta (I used Barilla)
6 oz Cream Cheese
3/4 C. Cottage Cheese
1 10oz pkg of frozen spinach
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 slice swiss cheese (this is how I keep the amount of cheese down. - strong flavor but very little)
1 C. low fat mozzarella cheese divided

 Put the first 4 ingredients in a 4 quart stock pot.  Bring to a boil and turn down the heat to medium low.  While doing that warm up your cream cheese in the microwave so it's very soft.  Stir it until it is very creamy.  I added some basil and oregano to the cream cheese along with some chili powder because my homemade sauce was too bland for my tastes.  But if you are using a commercial spaghetti or marinara sauce, you don't need to do that. Add the cream cheese to the pot along with the cottage cheese and zucchini.  Cover for 5 min.  Now I recommend that you thaw the spinach first, but I didn't remember, so I ran a little hot water over it to remove any ice crystals and tossed it in the pot.  Cook for another 10 min stirring occasionally.  Just before serving add your slice of Swiss and 3/4 C. of mozzarella cheese. Stir in, allowing to melt.  When everything looks creamy pour into your serving dish and top with the remaining 1/4 cup cheese.  Serve.  YUM!

"Breaded" Grilled Salmon

I'm on a salmon kick.  When my hubby wants to say "I love you," he will bring me a salmon.  Okay- we aren't bears.  But, if he happens to be at Costco, he will pick one up for me.  He doesn't like fish, so he brings it to me knowing that I will cook it for dinner and he will have to cook for himself.  So I think that he brings me a salmon to show me he loves me.  :)

Anywhoooooo, he brought me a beautiful looking fillet the other day.  I wanted breaded, fried, yummy fish.  I also really do want to eat healthier and get the waistline back to my version of perfect.  Dipping a fish into a vat of fat doesn't seem like the best way to accomplish those two goals.  But I like food! A Lot!

I decided to grill my fish, but also to lightly bread it.  The result?  Wonderful.  I do love a good salmon!

So the recipe I used for seasoning the salmon is here.  I made this Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon last year and blogged it for you then, but I didn't put the ingredients into an easy to read form.  Shame on me!  That is so rude.  So here you go.  I hope this is a little better.  :)

Spices:
 juice from 1 fresh lemon or 1 Tbl. lemon juice
Old Bay (you will just sprinkle on top- so no real measurement, but I'd guesstimate 1 tsp.
1/2 tsp. garlic powder or 1 tsp. garlic salt (reducing the sea salt if you use this)
2 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 - 1/2 tsp chili powder
Pepper (again, sprinkle it over- not a real measurement)
Salt (see above)
1 Tbl. splenda or honey
1-2 Tbl Olive Oil

Drizzle Olive oil and honey (or sprinkle splenda) over your fillet.  Then drizzle the Lemon Juice over the salmon.  Next, sprinkle all other ingredients on the fillet, making sure to cover the entire fillet.

To bread the fish:

Sprinkle 3 Tbl. panko on top of fish.  That is all, just 3 table spoons.  Heat that grill up to between 375-450 and place your fillet on  a piece of aluminum foil that has been sprayed with cooking oil.  Place on the grate.  Cook until the meat is opaque and flaky.  (Should register 145 on a meat thermometer.)

I spiced and breaded both sides and sprayed with a little Pam before setting on the grill.  I did not need to turn the meat.  It got a nice brown crispness without turning. It tasted like a yummy breaded fish fillet, with hardly any actual breading. Nice for someone watching their carb intake. Clean-up was a breeze too.