Category Archives: quinoa

Hello rainy Monday

A rather dreary start to the week.  It’s been raining pretty much since last night and shows no signs of stopping.  Flood watches are out and I am glad we live on top of a hill (except for when I have to bike up said hill).

I cooked up some quinoa last night to make a quick breakfast this morning.  Not a grain, so go me! :mrgreen:   I made up some pear/cranberry compote and put half of it on the quinoa.  Then I added 2 tablespoons of half and half.

Pretty good breakfast, although I was missing the cream consistency of custard oats.

Yesterday I had my biggest no-grain challenge.  Went to the movies yesterday and my sister shoved her big bag of popcorn at me and said “Can you hold this while I visit the restroom?”  Eeeek!  I love popcorn.  I felt like I was holding a bomb or something LOL.  I ended up giving it to my niece to hold, but I managed to not eat any of it.  I did have my own snack of blueberries and dates (yes, I brought my own snacks).

Speaking of the movie, we saw the new Planet of the Apes movie.  It was very good!  The last movie I saw in the theater was Inception in August of 2010.  It takes a lot to get me into the theater.  I just love Planet of the Apes and this take was really good.  Not campy in the least (thank you), and a few homages to the old movies in there, subtle and not so subtle.  I highly recommend it.

So, in case you were wondering where the other half of the pear topping went that I made for breakfast, here it is!

This is one of those food blog times where the picture just looks bad, but the food was good.  This was the topping mixed up into some 2% Fage and 1 tablespoon of ground flax.  I was surprised at how good this was!  I am never eating fat free Fage again.  Ever.

Gratuitous pet photo alert! The sleepy Ms. Pixie doing what she does best.

I was wonderfully productive with work today.  One of those days where I got in more than the usual lines in the same amount of time.  That = more money for Lori, which = happy Lori!  Gotta save for that Disney trip :mrgreen:

I broke for a snack:

These dried pineapple rings are advertised as low-sugar.  If so, I cannot imagine how sweet a regular one would be . I think the sweetness would make you see through time.  Maybe I should hunt some out and see.

More pouring rain:

John and I cooked up some burgers for dinner.  Cast iron pan as the grill wasn’t really happening tonight.

I topped mine with some laughing cow and caramelized onions (from my freezer stash).

Those are shredded brussel sprouts on the side sauteed in coconut oil.

Tonight is some football.  Yeah, it’s preseason but at least I get my fix!!

To be watched while noshing on these:

Pistachios are good snacks because of the time it takes shell them while eating.

Question:  How do you like to eat quinoa?

Quinoa Cakes

Okay, this is a super duper easy recipe that is customizable in many ways and a great way to use up leftovers.  It’s gluten-free, too!

Quinoa cakes.

Are you ready for a basic 2 ingredient recipe? Cooked quinoa and an egg.  How easy is that?

If you don’t have cooked quinoa already made, just boil 2 cups of water and add 1 cup of quinoa.  Cook on medium heat until the liquid is absorbed.  Voila!

Here were my sweet potato quinoa cakes:

  • 1-1/2 cups of cooked, cooled quinoa
  • 1 egg
  • 4 oz of cooked sweet potato, mashed.

Preheat the oven to 450.

You want the quinoa cooled, as you don’t want to cook the egg.  In a bowl, mix together the egg, quinoa and sweet potato:

This is the ‘batter’

Line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silicone mat.  Divide the batter into 4 equal portions and form into a patty.  Place on the baking sheet.  These are wet, so you can mush them in place a bit.

I sprayed the tops with cooking spray thinking I was going to flip them, but I didn’t.

Cook for 15 minutes or so.  The patties will firm up and hold their shape.  Let cool for several minutes before removing from the mat so that you don’t break off the bottom.

This is a very neutral-tasting cake.  I made it this way because John likes his sweet potato anything sweet, and I usually go savory.  He dipped his in maple syrup.

I spread mine with a bit of jam:

Each cake as made above comes out to about 125 calories.

Here is the fun part – leave out the sweet potato and add whatever you want to these!

– Mix in chopped spinach and feta cheese.

– Cook up some diced peppers and onions and add that to the batter.

– Using the sweet potato, add cinnamon, a bit of brown sugar, and some chopped pecans.  This would be a good pancake substitute for breakfast.

– Dice up some cooked ham and shredded cheese.

See how endless the possibilities are with this?

A couple things to note – precook any other ingredient that you add, as they only cook for a short time.

You could also try pan frying these if you want a real crispy crust on them.

What would you put in the quinoa cakes?

5-miler and hello toes!

Some slick sidewalks, so I am pretty much sticking to treadmill running for now.  Last winter I just exercised at home as I did not belong to a gym.  We don’t own a treadmill, so my outdoor running was really weather and neighbor side-walk shoveling dependent.  Now with the gym, I can still keep up my running (even though the dreadmill is boring).  I did 5 miles today.  This is becoming my go-to mileage on an average day, which I am so pleased about!  I did 3 miles at a 5.5 mph pace, then 1 mile at 6 mph, 1/2 mile at 6.5 and then 1/2 mile at 6.  Sweaty, sweaty!

Came home and had my steel cut oats for breakfast that I talked about earlier today.

Then it was work, work, work.  I put my feet up for a while and noticed this:

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So many of my socks look like this, although I don’t normally end up with both at the same time with holes 🙂 . I don’t know what it is about my feet, but I go through shoes and socks like nobody’s business!

Lunch was inspired by Caitlin today:

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Toasted quinoa on greek yogurt!  My yogurt has vanilla protein powder stirred in with strawberries.    My take on the quinoa was done a bit differently than hers:

  • 1/4 cup dry quinoa
  • 2 tsp agave nectar
  • cinnamon

In a small frying pan, toast the quinoa over medium high heat until light tan.  The quinoa will start to pop as it toasts.  Stir often so it doesn’t burn!  Then add in the cinnamon and agave nectar and keep stirring until the agave is absorbed.  (It will sizzle).  Just a couple minutes. It will kind of lump up in the pan a bit.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Then use as a topping.  Full of protein and crunch!  It kind of reminds me a bit of those chewy sesame candies – anyone know what I am talking about?

Ornament of the day:

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This is a Charming Tail.  I started collecting these 5 or 6 years ago.  I don’t do too much collecting because we try to lead a somewhat clutter-free life (said as I look away from my desk….), but they are just so cute.  I haven’t bought any in a few years, though.  I have a little Squashville parade that I should take a picture of, too.

Break for a snack with my latte:

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Yum!

So, having more tenant issues.  One of them is gone now and the other one needs to find another roommate or he needs to move out as he cannot afford the place on his own.  I am letting him stay for a while to find a roommate because I don’t want to kick him out at Christmas and I can’t afford to not have someone in there.  Finding tenants at this time of year is tough. I really want to get rid of this house!   I hope to put it back on the market this spring, so if he can just hang on for a few months, that would be helpful.   Sigh….

More protein for dinner!  These clam strips are loaded with protein.

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John has been prettying up my blog a little for the holidays!  I don’t have as much time as I would like to play around with it (just posting takes a lot of time!), so I let him fiddle.

Question:  Do you collect anything?