A New Quinoa Recipe

For those of you who, like me, are enamored with the many fantastic virtues of quinoa, here's one for the recipe box. It came from Family Fun magazine, of all places. I made it for dinner this evening and Gavin devoured it. I was lazy and used my phone to take the picture. It's much more delectable-looking in person. Bon appetit!




Quinoa Salad
with Apples & Almonds



Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
2 T. honey
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 t. coarse salt
3 T. olive oil
1 cup peeled, diced tart apple
1 cup finely chopped celery (I substituted carrots from our garden)
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds, toasted
coarse salt and pepper

1) In a medium saucepan, combine the quinoa and water, then bring them to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the quinoa is tender and the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl, stir, and let it cool completely.
2) In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, lemon juice, and salt. Gradually whisk in the oil until blended.
3) Add the apple, celery (or carrots), raisins, parsley, and almonds to the quinoa and toss once more to coat the salad. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature. Serves 6 to 8.

Shorter (but hotter) days

Lately we've been milking the daylight as much as we can. The weather has been ridiculously warm (today's high was 88), which makes getting out and about after work that much more tempting. Last night we went for a stroll in Blacksmith Fork Canyon where I picked up a few odds and ends to decorate our front door. Tonight the chickens got a rare opportunity to roam (mostly) free in the yard for a little while. Gavin did his share of roaming too, but he chose a vertical route.

Lovin' from the Oven

Brandon and I wanted to stock the freezer with meals so we wouldn't have to cook much once the baby arrives, so I trolled the internet and was lucky enough to stumble onto the Once a Month Mom website. Once a month, OAMM guru Tricia comes up with a menu, a grocery list, and step-by-step instructions for making a boatload of meals in one day using seasonal ingredients. So this morning, after having already spent a few hours yesterday doing some of the prep cooking, we took a deep breath, grabbed our knives and crossed our fingers. We literally spent the entire day together in the kitchen as we blissfully included fresh zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, herbs, and a TON of tomatoes from our garden in the recipes. I took it as a good sign when, at 4 pm, after spending the entire day on his feet and with a couple more hours of food prep ahead of him, Brandon said, "this was a really good idea".

Here's what we made...

Breakfasts: * Sausage Apple Egg Casserole * Apple Baked Oatmeal * Breakfast Wraps *

Lunches: * California Sushi Wraps * Chicken and Wild Rice Soup * Pizza Soup *

Dinners: * Eggplant Parmesan * Sausage Ratatouille * Baked Creamy Veggie Pasta * Tostada Goop * Down Home Spaghetti Sauce * Simple Down Home Lasagna *

...Not to mention a big ol' mess (even though we tried to keep up on doing dishes throughout the day)...
We had to do some creative stacking and rearranging to fit it all on our spare freezer, but we did it and we're dang proud. Note that there are 5 more 32-oz yogurt containers full of soup & spaghetti sauce on the freezer door. Whew!

The (short but) Happy Bathtub Song