Breakfast Quinoa

I'm a real novice at creating my own recipes. I just don't trust myself to put flavors together that actually work. Once in awhile, however, I get desperate and throw things together based on what I have on hand. Tonight was such a night. Came home late from work. No vegetables in the fridge. Only leftover chicken strips to be found. I have to pair this with some healthy carbohydrates. Millet I cried! Dang! No millet in the grain shelf (who didn't replenish the millet container? Oh, me.). . Had to settle for quinoa. Quinoa, quinoa, quinoa ...what to do ... a sweet quinoa was sounding good. Leftover dried fruit would do with this nicely. And a sweet quinoa was born, albeit tasting more like a breakfast food than something to pair with chicken and ketchup, but it worked. Soren ate it, and a large quantity at that, in addition to his ketchup laden breaded chicken . Not that this is terribly creative. I've seen plenty of breakfast quinoa recipes, but for once I forwent the urge to research the perfect recipe online and just threw together what I had. Based on my husband's mad cooking skills, I'm sure if he were home he'd shake his head and sigh, but hey, the Dude ate. And I have breakfast for tomorrow. Who's sighing now?

Breakfast Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 cup apple juice

1 cup water

1 cup quinoa, washed

½ cup diced dried apricots

½ cup dried cranberries

1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted         

Plain yogurt, if desired.

  

Method:

1. Place apple juice and water in medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add quinoa and diced apricots. Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

2.  Remove and heat and set aside, still covered, for 5 minutes. Remove lid and stir through cranberries and walnuts. Serve with plain yogurt, if desired.

Gluten-Free Chicken Strips (baked, not fried!)

As some of you know, my 2-year old son is going through a "dipping" phase. He wants to dip everything he eats in some type of sauce. And up till now he's been a rather picky eater, but this dipping fetish is taking things in a totally new direction. Adding sauce to previously rejected foods has been revolutionary. One of those foods I can rarely get him to eat is meat. He was practically vegetarian ... until now. I recently got the brilliant idea of "hiding" a thin strip of chicken in a light breading while simultaneously slipping a convenient saucer of ketchup next to him. Mission accomplished! Most protein I've ever seen that young man eat in his entire life. And just for kicks I made it gluten-free having found a GF box of corn flakes at the store and remembering a hidden bag of rice flour tucked away in the bottom drawer. I will admit, for the truly discerning palate, this recipe could use a little oomph. Whether it's salt or maybe combining the breading with a little Parmesan cheese, it's lacking a little something. I will keep playing with it, but in the meantime, it really does taste fine with a sufficient quantity of ketchup or tartar sauce close by. 

Gluten-Free Chicken Strips

Ingredients:

4 cups gluten-free corn flakes or corn check

2 Tablespoon gluten-free flour, such as rice flour

2-3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 pound skinless chicken breast, cut into strips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Method:

1. Place the corn flakes in a food processor and process until thin crumbs formed. Take the crumbs and place in a medium sized bowl. Take also the eggs and flour and place in separate bowls so now you have three bowls total.

2.  Dip each chicken strip in the flour, then in the eggs, and lastly roll in the corn flake crumbs to completely cover. Place on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil.

3.  Bake for 10 minutes, then turn strips over and bake another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with sauce of choice.

Spring is here ... time to shop seasonal

Spring has finally arrived and I couldn't be happier. That winter lasted way too long if you ask me. The sun has just started to make an appearance in Seattle and all the happy little urban gardeners are finally coming out of their domestic caves. I am not one of them ... yet. I have grandiose plans for a great garden this year, bursting with broccoli, green beans, and carrots, but my list of to-dos has not yet allowed me to venture out to the dirt. But let it be known that I plan to do so soon. While I wait for my veggies to be planted and sprouted, I get especially excited that the Farmers Markets are starting to bloom, so to speak. An abundance of new produce is hitting the outdoor shelves which means more variety is in store.

A question I often get asked it how to know what it is in season so as to ensure one is getting the freshest produce possible. I often check into that myself. Not that produce from Mexico or Florida is inherently bad, but I love to support local farms and producers whenever possible. Instead of re-creating the wheel, I thought I would point you to a few handy online resources that one can use to check if their basket of edibles is seasonal or not. Give these a try:

http://www.pickyourown.org/WAharvestcalendar.htm
http://www.seasonalcornucopia.com/sc/default.asp

Hope that helps! Happy Spring!

Oh Yeah, It's Pizza Night

My hubby and I have always enjoyed pizza nights at home, way before any kids were in the picture. In fact, it’s almost hard to go out for pizza because we prefer our tasty homemade creations. Ok, except for Serious Pie downtown Seattle. They make some seriously good pizza. Kudos Tom Douglas. Now that we have a dude to feed, pizza nights have become slightly more frequent but also healthier. I often buy organic cornmeal or whole wheat pizza crusts, which our son loves, and top it with a light tomato sauce, an array of veggies, a little deli meat and a light coating of cheese. Our son loves the crust and the cheese and I take delight in the fact that it becomes a secret delivery mechanism for broccoli, red peppers, and zucchini (ditto for my husband … don’t tell him I said that). Sometimes, like tonight, he gets wise to the fact that there are superfluous ingredients and he takes great measures to remove every vegetable trace, but other days he eats them without much thought. I’ll take what I can get.

I know pizza gets a bad rap as being unhealthy, and for the most part it is, BUT, when you make your own pizza at home it almost always has less calories, less fat, and less SODIUM. You get to control what is in the final product and therefore pizza can be healthy, believe it or not. Find a healthy crust at your local store (organic grocer if possible) or consider finding a whole wheat recipe online and making your own crust. You’ll save a lot of dough … pun intended. Load it up with veggies, choose a nitrite-free deli meat for a touch of protein, add a minimal amount of cheese and add only a trace amount of salt to your sauce and whala, you have a healthy dinner. Add a salad and your totally set.

Also, this is a fantastic dinner to get your kids involved with. Let them grate or spread cheese, dollop on the sauce, and add all the toppings. I even got my 2-year old to join in. Unfortunately he cried when the fun ended and it had to go in the oven, but he reaped the tasty benefits shortly thereafter. Hope you’ll give it a try!

My little helper.

Not the oven!

Danielle’s Family Night Pizza

Ingredients:

·         2 homemade or store-bought pizza crusts, 6-8’’ diameter

·         1/2 cup pizza sauce (see below for homemade sauce)

·         2 cups chopped veggies (broccoli, zucchini, red peppers, etc)

·         ¼ lb thinly sliced turkey or chicken deli meat, nitrite free (if nitrite free is not available, use shredded chicken or turkey breast)

·         1 cup shredded mozzarella

·         2-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Method:

1.       Preheat oven to 425 or according to crust package directions. Place crusts on a baking sheet and spread thin layer of pizza sauce.

2.       Top pizza sauce with a thin layer of cheddar cheese.

3.       Add other toppings as desired.

4.       Cover the toppings with the mozzarella and rest of the cheddar cheese.

5.       Bake 10-15 minutes or as directed by your crust package.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

·         ½ - ¾  cup tomato sauce, preferably not from a can to avoid BPA (jarred passata, pureed Pomi in BPA-free cartons)

·         Assortment of dried herbs/spices, 1/8 – ¼ tsp each - basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, etc. (For my latest creation I used ¼ tsp each oregano, thyme, basil and parsley. You can change it up each time to find out what you prefer.).

·         ¼ tsp salt or to taste

Method:

1.       Place tomato sauce in a bowl and stir in desired herbs and salt. Spread on pizza dough!

Finished Product.

Cruciferlicous Mac & Cheese -- Toddler and Dad approved!

I’ve been searching for a tasty mac and cheese recipe that my son would eat (yes, he so far has refused mac and cheese, a staple of most kids’ diets). Ok, yeah, I add stuff to it. It’s not purely white noodles and cheese, which maybe is why he has taken offense to it, but I knew there must be something tasty out there that would work. Finally I came upon this recipe from Jamie Oliver’s cookbook Jamie’s Food Revolution. A hit! Of course I adapted it to include more veggies and changed the noodles to whole wheat, but the important thing here is that he ate it, and Dad ate it too . A winner I do say. I feel warm and fuzzy knowing both of my men got a hefty dose of calcium, whole grains and cancer-fighting cruciferous power. I think this will be my go-to mac for some time to come. Let me know if you try it and how you like it.

MACARONI AND CRUCIFERLICIOUS CHEESE

INGREDIENTS:

·         1 small head of cauliflower

·         2-3 medium stalks of broccoli

·         8 oz. Cheddar cheese

·         4 oz. Parmesan cheese

·         1 cup finely chopped parsley

·         Salt

·         1 lb. dried whole wheat elbow macaroni

·         1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream (I used crème fraîche which I found in the dairy section)

Method

1.    Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil.

2.    While the water is heating, chop the cauliflower and broccoli into very small florets. Set aside.

3.    Grate the cheese into a large bowl. Set aside.

4.    Add the macaroni and the chopped vegetables to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions. Drain in a colander and return to the pan.

5.    Place the cheese along with the crème fraîche or sour cream into a medium saucepan over low heat. Carefully stir until the mixture is smooth and melted. Add the finely chopped parsley and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

6.    Pour the melted cheese into the macaroni mixture and stir. It should have a nice, silky consistency, but if it’s too thick for you, add a splash of water to thin it out.

7.    Reheat over low heat and serve!