Keen-wha?

I’ve recently become more aware of what I am eating, along with what I feed my family.  With my Oral Allergy Sydrome, it is very difficult for me to get protein that is not from meats.  My search led me to try and find foods high in protein that I could eat to replace the fruits and veggies that I couldn’t eat.

Recently I learned about Quinoa, pronounced keen-wah.  It is a sort of seed that is full of protein.  It also has all 9 amino acids that we need daily.  003Before trying this tiny little nugget of goodness, I researched a little bit about it.  Everywhere I read, it said how good it was.  I found nothing bad about it.

I decided try it and I used a recipe out of a book that I got on my Kindle fire.  The book is called Quinoa Salads and Side Dishes by Sarah Clarence.  The recipe that I used was called Potluck Favorite.  I can’t share the recipe with you, but you are more than welcome to download the book below onto your Kindle for it.  The garlic in this recipe was delicious and I really liked it.  However, I was eating only the quinoa, nothing else, and it needed something more to be able to keep eating it alone.  I added some soy sauce and it was great!

Check out the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Quinoa-Salad-Side-Dishes-ebook/dp/B008QD4BY4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354943003&sr=8-1&keywords=Quinoa+Salads+and+Side+Dishes

The next time that I cooked the quinoa, I did as the box says and cooked it like rice.  I cooked it in chicken broth instead of water, like I do my white rice.  I tried it and it was very good.  But I like salt so I added some soy sauce again and gobbled it down.  Now what I liked about the quinoa being cooked this way was that the little sprouts come out a little.  You can see them in my picture above.  It’s the white parts that curl around the seed like little tails.

(Honestly, my favorite so far has been left over and re-heated!)

Last night's dinner
Last night’s dinner

While shopping at Safeway last week, I was given a chance to sample some new sausage meats that were out.  I loved the garlic flavor, so that’s what I tried.  Oh it was delish!  When I went shopping for food yesterday I had bought a package of that garlic meat to try and picked up a box of Quinoa and Brown Rice to try.  It was Olive Oil and Rosemary, a Mediterranean style.

The rice and quinoa was something new and different.  I liked it, but I’m not sure that I will buy it a lot.  The flavors are something to get used to.  The meat was really good, and even my hubby who hates bratwurst liked these.  The bonus part of Aidells All Natural sausages were that there were no added hormones or MSG and it was made out of chicken.  I didn’t tell anyone in the family that.  Shhh, it’s our little secret!

The dinner was all new and turned out pretty good.

Now here’s my list of extra bonuses with quinoa:

  1. The kids loved it and even ask for more!
  2. All 9 amino acids that our bodies need daily are in a single serving!
  3. Quick and easy to make!
  4. Can be bought in a flour form to use for baking to avoid wheat!
  5. Perfect for diabetic menus!
  6. Fills you up faster and leaves you filled longer!
  7. Packed full of protein!
My dinner cooked and ready to eat!!
My dinner cooked and ready to eat!!

I really wish that we had found out about this little morsel of delight sooner!  I could have been feeding my family this awesome seed for a long time.  But thankfully, I’ve not wasted any time since knowing about it and we are benefiting from it’s goodness!

Christmas Angel

Our Fat Beagle

I have been sick the past couple of days. I hope you’ll forgive me for not posting yesterday and for the short post tonight.
This is our beagle Molly. Here she is shown laying on the back of the couch. I guess that she saw the cats doing it and thought, why not? She loves it up there!
We just took her in a few months ago. Our plan is to lighten her up a bit since she is on the unhealthy side. She is so attached to the kids, especially my daughter. She fits in perfectly with the family