How To Make Fluffy Quinoa!

I had heard a lot about quinoa and wanted to try it. Quinoa is a complete protein packed with iron, fiber, and essential amino acids. It is a wonderful addition to a healthy diet. I bought a bag of Goya quinoa one day at the grocery store and after putting it in the pantry I forgot about it for a while.  One night when I was making chicken I thought it would be a perfect time to try the quinoa as a side.  To my surprise there were no directions on the bag.  There were two recipes, but nothing explaining how to simply prepare it.  I took to the internet and started reading tons of pages, recipes, and blogs about quinoa.  Taking everything I had learned I developed a simple easy way to prepare delicious, fluffy quinoa.

If you want to try making quinoa you need to know right away that it takes time to prepare and involves a few steps.  I went to make it the first time thinking it would take 10-15 minutes like cooking rice or couscous, and that is not the case!

The first thing you want to do is rinse your quinoa!  Put your quinoa in a large bowl (I used two cups) cover with cold water, and mix it around to rinse it thoroughly.

After rinsing the quinoa you want to drain it using a fine mesh strainer.

This is where the time factors in.  After you strain the quinoa you want to allow it to dry for 20 minutes to remove the water. This is an important step because skipping it will lead to mushy grains.

Once it has dried, you want to toast the quinoa.  Using a dry pan you want to stir it around for about five minutes.  You will begin to smell the nutty flavor that this brings out in your quinoa.  This will also ensure you remove any left over water.

When you are done toasting the quinoa, remove it from the pan and set it aside

 If you cook quinoa like you would rice with the same liquid to grain ratio (2 cup grain, 4 cups water) you will prevent your quinoa from being fluffy and it will end up mushy.

What I learned is to cook it with a 1 part grain to 1.5 parts liquid ratio. (2 cups quinoa to 3 cups liquid)

When it comes to liquid you can use water, any type of broth, or a combination of both.  I tend to use chicken broth which gives it a delicious flavor.
 
Bring 3 cups of liquid to a rapid boil in sauce pan.

Once the liquid is boiling add your quinoa.  You want to cover the pan but also leave the lid with a slight vent so the steam can escape.

 Reduce the heat to medium-low so it can maintain a strong simmer.

Allow the quinoa to cook for 15 minutes or until all of the water is gone.

Once done, remove from heat and remove lid.  You want to allow the quinoa to cool and rest for ten minutes.  After you can fluff using a fork and enjoy.

It seems like a lot of work for a small little grain, but it's really just a few steps.  The time is what sticks out for me, so when I make quinoa I usually make some to store as leftovers for the week.

Have you tried quinoa?

Reflection!

2012 brought both highs and lows for me.  I started the year out mending a broken heart, grieving a lost loved one, had recently moved, changed jobs and had begun to find my independent self again.  I also had a great friendship turn into something wonderfully romantic.  For the first time I was truly happy.  It felt meant to be and I was truly captivated with life.  Things began to fall into place and my life, which not too long ago, seemed to be disheveled, now felt picture perfect. I soon after moved again and was now able to easily peruse my ambitions.  I was also introduced to wonderful new group of friends.

Fast forward to December, and I found myself basking in the sun on the exotic beaches of Mexico.  It felt like life couldn't get better.  We celebrated Christmas in Mexico and spent each day exploring a new adventure.  A few days before we headed home we decided to take a day and just lounge on the beach.  That relaxing day turned out to be one of the happiest days of my life.  Somewhere between a cat nap on the beach and a swim in the clear blue water I was presented with a diamond ring. 

 

It was both shocking and exciting all at once.  I couldn't believe what was happening and did not see it coming.  I don't think the smile has left my face yet.  Though I never expected to start the year reading wedding magazines and touring venues, I couldn't be happier.  I truly feel I have found my soul mate and best friend.

Humanity!

I was really disappointed to see a news article tonight about the vast amount of hateful comments posted on twitter tonight during President Obama's speech. It is not the matter in which he was regarding, but the degree of racism that still masks our country. The fact that he was honoring victims of a horrendous tragedy was just icing on the cake, and the fact that 20 of those victims were young children make it all the more shocking. The fact that people are so comfortable going on the World Wide Web, the biggest public forum, to casually spew such hate is actually very scary to me. I would like to believe that we live in a society where we have respect and compassion for our fellow man. We so easily forget about the important things in life and focus on trivial issues regarding our day to day lives. Is it such an inconvenience that a baseball game is delayed?

I will go to sleep tonight counting my blessing for my amazing family, my friends, and having the ability to live a life where I choose my destiny. We all need to take a step back sometimes and remember what is really important. We are all the same. We have faults, we make mistakes and we all have our strengths. The one thing we all have in common.. we are human. I like to believe that we will get to a point where hate for another person be it their gender, race, orientation or beliefs is a thing of the past. We hold the power to determine the destiny of humanity. I choose to spread love not hate! xox

Tuesday's Tip! How To Make Buttermilk!

Buttermilk is not something I usually have on hand in my kitchen.  I usually know beforehand if a recipe I am making calls for it. That being said, we’ve all been there when we come across a new dish we want to try or we get mid-recipe and realize that its calls for an ingredient we don't have.  This happened to me the other night and I know like most people I don't want to run out to the grocery store for just one item.  The best thing about being out of buttermilk though is that you can easily make do with a simple at home substitute. There are a few ways to make your own buttermilk, but I have always stuck to the old school, tried and true, and simplest way.  All you need is two ingredients and five minutes.

Ingredients:

• Milk (just under one cup)
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice (I have always used vinegar)

 

1. Add one Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.

2. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line.

3. Let stand for five minutes. (It will start to look curdled)

4. Stir and use.

TIP: If you have heavy cream on hand, use that in place of the milk and you will have real buttermilk

Green Smoothie!

 I don't always eat enough vegetables to get my suggested daily intake of nutrients each day.  A while back I started adding some healthier ingredients to my fruit smoothies to make them a little healthier.  Over time I have added more healthy ingredients and now have a power packed green smoothie each day that tastes like a fruit smoothie.  Here is a easy recipe and instructional video outlining what goes into my green smoothie as well as show how easy they are to make. 

  

Do you drink Green Smoothies?

Would you make these yourself?

Going Gluten Free!

For years, well for pretty much my whole life I have been plagued with stomach problems.  It had become a joke that I always felt sick after every meal.  In high school I went to a gastroenterologist and was diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).  After years of being sick it became almost a way of life and was seemingly put on the back burner.  It never really affected me after eating any certain type of food or anything in particular so I was lead to believe I just had a sensitive stomach.  As long as I had a bottle of pepto bismol in my medicine cabinet I was OK.

Over the years I have tried different diets and cutting out certain food groups to try and feel better, but nothing ever worked.  A few years ago with the rise of celiac disease and the concept of a gluten allergy being more in the news I again thought that maybe this could be a reason for my chronic illness.  After having an endoscopy and colonoscopy performed on me along with blood tests it was almost depressing to find out I didn't have celiacs.  Now don't get me wrong I am grateful that I don't have it, but once again I was at square one not knowing why I kept getting sick. 

Up until recently I felt defeated and that I would never get to the bottom of my stomach issues.  After much investigation and research on my part I learned that you can have a gluten sensitivity.  This is not the same as having an allergy to gluten.  If you have also been suffering from symptoms that tend to relate to gluten, it may be that you have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Research estimates that there are 18 million Americans who have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. That is six times the amount of Americans who have celiac disease.  The reason so many people don't know if they have a sensitivity to gluten is because there is no medical test for it.  That is why so many people like me suffer for years and get diagnosed with other ailments like IBS.

Recently I caught an episode of the Doctor Oz Show that dealt with this exact topic.  Watching the people on TV describe their battle was beyond eye opening to me.  A complete stranger pretty much described the last 15 years of my life.  They also showed what they called the gluten spectrum.  It outlines the small number of Americans on one end that have celiacs (a gluten intolerance), and the large portion on the other who are not effected by gluten.  What surprised me was the large number of people in the middle who gave a sensitivity to gluten.

I had already begun to eliminate gluten from my diet to see if I fall into the category of gluten sensitive.  But after taking the self assessment test on Dr.Oz.com I was convinced that my efforts had merit. They created a simple checklist of nine symptoms and if you have four or more of these symptoms you may have a sensitivity to gluten.  I have at least seven of the symptoms listed.  They recommend going gluten free for 2-4 weeks and or consulting your doctor.  Over the last few weeks I have been eliminating gluten from my diet which will hopefully eliminate the symptoms I have been experiencing.  I will have a follow up post with my progress.  If my story sounds familiar to you I urge you to read up on gluten sensitivity.  Also if you have a few seconds take the self assessment test HERE.

Do you have a sensitivity to gluten or another food allergy?

Gluten Free Chocolate Covered Pretzels!

I have come across a delicious new treat I can enjoy while eating gluten free.  As many of you know I don't like anything that tastes "diet-y" ESPECIALLY sweets.  I was nervous when I purchased this bag of Glutino fudge covered pretzels, but I was an instant fan at first bite. They are delicious and taste just like any other chocolate covered pretzel, which is one of my favorite treats.  If you didn't know they were a gluten free product you would guess.  I can’t even begin to describe how good these pretzels are! 

Have you tried these pretzels?

Bottle To Pen!

Knowing my propensity to be "green" whenever possible, a friend of mine bought me a few B2P pilot pens a while back.  I love them and wanted to share this great idea with you all.   Pilot created the Bottle to Pen (B2P), a retractable, refillable gel ink pen, which is made from recycled plastic bottles,

Hopefully you are aware of the alternatives to using disposable bottles and recycle the ones you do use. Here are some facts about how plastic bottles pollute. 

• Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting
• 80% of plastic bottles are not recycled
• 38 million plastic bottles go to the dump per year in America from bottled water (not including soda)
• 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles
• The average American consumes 167 bottles of water a year
• Bottled water is the second most popular beverage in the United States
• Plastic bottles make up close to 50 percent of recyclable waste in landfills

These pens are made from 89% recycled plastic bottles.   One plastic water bottle can be used to create two B2P pens, and the pens use the same gel ink as in Pilot's number one selling gel pen.  They work great and I love the bottle-styled barrel.  It reminds me of the bottles they are made from, and reminds me that we can find all kinds of new ways to go green!

They can be found at any office supply store or online and can be purchased singularly or in multiples.  I found a 5 pack of B2P pens at Staples for $5.99.

Would you buy these B2P pens?