Quinoa Salad

I may or may not have been eating this obsessively for the past 2 weeks.... It is yummy! If you haven't met quinoa yet, let me introduce you. Quinoa is a little grain-like seed and when cooked it opens up and looks like a cross between a mini-pasta and exploding couscous. It really doesn't taste like much, but it's pretty good for you, being relatively high in protein and fiber. This is, by far, my favorite quinoa recipe yet.

Ingredients: adapted from here
* Mix all together in a big bowl
1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup corn
1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper chopped
1/2 small red onion, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup cooked quinoa (I found that about 1/2 cup dry quinoa will end up to be about 1 cup cooked)
1 pomegranate (I added this to give it a little bit of sweetness and since it is currently pomegranate season. But I bet you could add mango or strawberries or something too!)

dressing: (whisk all together and pour over the ingredients above)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil

i'm addicted

Cranberry Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

These are delicious... and currently what I'm stuffing my face with. I've never really baked or cooked with cranberries before, but they are weird little guys. They're light and almost hollow inside! (P.S.  don't try eating them raw. They are not really any good until you put them in some sort of dish. Trust me on this one...)

Well, let's get to the point.

Ingredients: (orignially from here)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 425

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda, and stir until combined. If you have a pastry blender, this would be a whole lot less messy, but I just dove in with my hands. Mix in the butter until coarse crumbles remain. Add your cranberries and buttermilk and stir until combined. (I had to use my hands again)

Drop by about 1/4 cup onto a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. (I used my silicone baking sheet which made things super easy.) Enjoy!

Roasted Fajita-Spiced Chickpeas

Chickpeas (or garbanzo beans- that just sounds like a muppet name doesn't it) have been a staple in my pantry since I love making (and eating) hummus.  But I recently stumbled upon a recipe for roasted chickpeas. I've never considered eating chickpeas all by themselves, but this seemed like something I'd like.  AND chickpeas are actually kinda good for you. Ya know, all that fiber and protein? It turns out these little babies are yummy. Nice for snacking, or even on top of a salad!


Ingredients:
2 (15oz) cans chickpeas
2 T olive oil
1/2 tea. salt
1/2 tea. pepper
1/2 T. chili powder
1/4 tea cumin
1/4 tea. paprika
1/4 tea. onion powder
1/4 tea. garlic powder
1/8 tea. cayenne (optional if you like heat)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Drain and rinse chickpeas and pat dry.
• Mix oil, salt, pepper and spices and toss in chickpeas to coat.

• Spread on a baking sheet (lined with foil) in a single layer.

• Bake 40-50 minutes (Shake once or twice through baking)
• Store in airtight container once cool.

Pumpkin Yogurt Pudding

I accidentally bought a ridiculously large can of pumpkin not thinking that its primary purpose was to be used in Pumpkin Spice Lattes (2 Tablespoons at a time...). So I tried to find some other recipe besides pumpkin pie, that would use up some of this pumpkin.  I found lots of recipes for pumpkin pudding, but many of them were complicated and used ingredients I didn't have on hand (including tofu??!!), but then I stumbled upon this beaut.

Ingredients:
2 cups vanilla yogurt (I had a tub of nonfat plain yogurt and so I added a dash of vanilla and a squeeze of honey)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
cinnamon for sprinkling
whipped cream for topping (clearly optional, but mandatory for me...)

Mix yogurt, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice and refrigerate for about 10 minutes.

Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Yummmm.

Tamale Pie

I decided to go out on a limb and out of my comfort zone on this one... This recipe calls for Tempeh, pronounced Tem-pay. It's fermented soybeans and it's actually quite gross-looking, but the original recipe touted it as being high in protein and it should be delicious if prepared properly. (have I sold you on it yet??) Well, have no fear. It really was well-disguised in this recipe and my husband actually ate it. Granted, I didn't tell him there wasn't actually any meat in there... he didn't notice:)


Filling:
1 medium onion
1 8oz package Tempeh crumbled (easiest to grate it)
2 tea. minced garlic
1 tea. chili powder
1/2 tea salt
2 tea. apple cider vinegar
1 tea maple syrup
1 14oz can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can beans (I used black) drained and rinsed

Crust:
2/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tea. baking powder
1/4 tea salt
1/2 cup milk
1 T. maple syrup
2 T applesauce
1 cup corn kernels
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400.
• Saute onion for 4-5 minutes
• Crumble/grate tempeh into pan and brown 2-3 minutes (yes, this was a bit weird looking... see the original recipe for great step-by-step pics)
• Add garlic, chili, 1/2 tea salt, vinegar, 1 tea. maple syrup, tomato sauce, and beans and simmer for a few minutes
• Transfer to a 2 qt. backing dish.
• In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt.
• In a liquid measure, combine milk, syrup and applesauce.
• Stir wet ingredients into the dry and add corn.
• Spread mix over baking dish mix and sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake 15-20 minutes until cornbread mix is set and chesse is melty!

This was quite good, but I think I'm going to try it next time with some ground beef just to see what happens.  I think I could even be a bit lazy and used a boxed cornbread mix supplemented with some corn kernels... we shall see.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

So I wanted to make myself a Pumpkin Spiced Latte the other day and realized I was missing a key ingredient... the pumpkin pie spice. Kinda important. So instead of putting real clothes on, getting in the car and either driving to the nearest Starbucks or grocery store, I did some searching and found out that I had all the spices that go into the pumpkin pie spice, so I made my own!

All you need is:

3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

Mix all to combine and store in airtight container... or sprinkle a little on your favorite fall beverage!

Pumpkin Spiced Latte

I'm a big fan of a fancy-schmancy flavored coffee on a nice, lazy fall Sunday so I can relax and catch-up on my reading, TV watching, blogging, cleaning, etc. I saw many different versions of the Pumpkin Spiced Latte floating around lately and I decided to give my friend's recipe a try. I must say, it was delish.

What you'll need:
1 shot espresso (or about a half a mug of strong coffee)
frothed milk (as much as you want- depending on how Latte you like it)
2 Tablespoons canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons brown sugar
dash of vanilla
sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice

Mix and In Your Face, you over-priced coffee establishments;)

Ps. if you don't own a milk frother.... you're missing out. It kinda tricks you into thinking you're having whipped cream when you're not. Love.

PPS. Sorry I've been a blogging delinquent. Spending upwards of 20 hours a week coaching water polo PLUS actually trying to do my real job of teaching middle schoolers is a bit exhausting and as you can see, well, time life consuming.

A Dog's Purpose

This story follows a dog through several lifetimes.  Each life leaves the dog with bits of wisdom that he will use in the next lifetime. Each time he comes back into the world, he feels that he has not yet fulfilled his purpose. But he is getting increasingly depressed as he leaves people he loves.   I will not go into detail because there is a lot that happens in this book, but I will tell you that I cried like a baby. I mean, sitting on the couch absolutely sobbing.  Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that the book ends badly... This just made me look at my dog a bit differently. Like, what is he thinking? Is he having a good life? If he died and came back, would he remember me and think fondly of our time together?

Any dog owner (or animal-lover for that matter) will be able to relate to this book and will probably want to go give their pet a big hug after reading this touching story.

While I highly recommend this book, you've been warned! Come armed with a box of tissues:)

Dinner derailed...

So. I've been rather busy traveling around and I haven't been cooking all that much. So when I came home last night after a long weekend coaching, I decided to pop something in the oven for dinner. Well, that was the plan until I started smelling something quite repulsive. I thought maybe something had dripped to the bottom and was now burning. I kept opening the oven while it was preheating trying to find the source of the offending odor.  I finally looked close enough and saw it... underneath the bottom of the oven....where the gas flames were a-blazing...a bit more than usual. ICK. Really? So that is where the mice were communing. Perfect. Dinner derailed.

I knew I had mice. As much as I'd like to deny it, they popped up after my visit to Boston and we had set traps and finally caught 2.  Then I came home the other day and found my dog 'playing' with a baby mouse. Yuck.  There had been no new evidence of my furry nemeses for a few days until last night's adventure.  Luckily my handy brother was around to show me how to dismantle the oven to remove all the fluffy nesty stuff that I had almost blazed to a fiery inferno. 

So here's a tip. If you go on vacation, make sure to check the oven before you turn it on! Just in case some furry friends decided to take up residence.

Hummus

I love hummus... I've had the store-bought kind and I've had home-made.  I particularly liked the kind my mom makes and I've helped her make it. Not too difficult. IF you own a food processor.  So even though I've known how to make this for some time now, I've never actually owned a food processor and therefore haven't been able to make it.  I just recently remembered that I do in fact own one now and so I whipped this up the other day:)

Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans; drained and rinsed
1 tea. minced garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 T. Tahini paste (sesame seed paste often found in the ethnic food aisles near the Mediterranean section)
1 tea. cumin
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 T. olive oil
1/2 tea. salt
1/8 tea. cayenne
1/4 tea. pepper
1/4 tea. paprika

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. This may take several minutes. You may need to add a bit more yogurt to get a smooth consistency.

Serve with toasted pita or fresh veggies:)

Brigadeiro- Traditional Brazilian BonBon

Sorry it's been forever... life happens:) I've been on vacation!

Well, as usual, I was craving chocolate and decided to make these delicious fudgy chocolate bites that I learned to make from my Brazilian cousin. She always made these for her daughter's birthday parties and I was always found near the dessert table shoving these in my mouth one after the other. yummmmm. When I asked her for the recipe, she told me there were embarrassingly easy- and they are!

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon butter
i bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
*additional cocoa powder and/or assorted sprinkles for coating

Directions:
 Mix all ingredients and cook over medium/low heat until melted and thick.

Pour into a glass bowl/pan to cool ( I like to refrigerate to speed things up)
Roll into balls (I use a little scooper) and coat with desired toppings. 

I believe they are traditionally covered in the chocolate sprinkles (jimmies), and my personal favorite is the cocoa powder, but my husband said the one coated in rainbow sprinkles tasted like a birthday cake;)

rolling in cocoa powder

rolled in cocoa powder

rolled in rainbow sprinkles

the traditional chocolate sprinkles

Sister of My Heart

This book is set in India and is told in alternating chapters by two girls, Anju and her cousin Sudha.  Anju is the daughter of an upper-class Calcutta family who has fallen on tough times.  Both Anju's and Sudha's fathers died while on an ill-fated adventure weeks before the girls' births.  Anju and Sudha are inseparable. Their bond is unbreakable. However, when Sudha learns the truth about her family's past, she questions this bond.  As a family illness develops, the young girls are pressured into marrying young.  They both find what they think to be love, but one will sacrifice her love in order to let her cousin have her own happiness.

As the girls grow up and distance is put between them, they realize that they can always count on one another when they are in need.

A good story with several unexpected twists!

Breakfast Casserole Muffins

Who doesn't like breakfast on-the-go? I'm usually in a hurry since I often dilly-dally around in the morning and then realize, "Oh shoot, I have to leave in 5 minutes!" So, breakfast is usually consumed on my way out the door. And I've quickly realized that cereal is not best consumed whilst driving... 'nuff said. So these can be made in advance and then heated up and carried out the door mess-free!

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground sausage (I used the Bob Evans brand that comes in the tube by the bacon section of the grocery store)
1 tube crescent roll dough
cheddar cheese (original recipe called for 12 slices of Velveeta, but I prefer shredded cheddar- I used about a Tablespoon per muffin)
6 eggs, beaten
1/8 cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Line or grease 12 muffin cups.

Brown the sausage until no longer pink, and drain.
Line the bottom of each muffin cup with a portion of the croissant dough and press down. (I tried to make a few into cups by lining both bottom and sides- but you'll need more croissant dough)
Put a spoonful of browned sausage on top of the dough and sprinkle with cheese. 

In a bowl, beat the eggs and milk together. Divide the egg mixture evenly between the 12 cups. Make sure not to fill to the very top.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

My friend lent me this book and I'm glad she did! This is the story of an African American woman born in the early 1900s to a poor southern farming family. Henrietta Lacks developed cervical cancer and was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital, which was segregated at the time.  When doctors took a sample of her tumor and sent it off to the lab, Henrietta hadn't a clue.  This was before informed consent and such.  Henrietta's cells were the first to be successfully cultured in a lab. They multiplied ferociously and ended up being integral in the development of many important drugs, treatments and vaccines that helped millions and millions of people around the world.  Meanwhile, Henrietta dies at 30 leaving behind her husband and young children, none of which know anything about Henrietta's cells and what they've contributed to medical research and development.

While this is nonfiction, it reads very much like fiction.  This is the story of the author's journey to write Henrietta's story, which has never really been the focus before.  Most in the medical field have heard of HeLa cells and their contribution to their field, but very few knew where those cells came from; Henrietta Lacks. 

I highly recommend this book. While it is very informative, it is extremely interesting to know how a lot of our current medical practices came to be (albeit some were rather controversial and questionable).

Blueberry Brunch Bake

I don't normally cook breakfast, mostly because I like my sleep too much and by the time I get up I don't have much time to spend cooking.  But my husband convinced me to cook breakfast for his office and this was something easy that could be put together the night before and cooked in the morning. I found it in my cookbook stash from one of the Taste of Home books. 

Ingredients:
1 loaf (1 pound) day-old French bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries (plus extra for topping if desired)
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup maple syrup (plus extra for serving if desired)

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the eggs, yogurt, sour cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Gradually add milk and maple syrup until blended.

Place half of the bread cubes in a greased shallow 3 quart baking dish.

Sprinkle with blueberries, then pour half of the cream cheese mixture over top. Top with remaining bread cubes and cream cheese mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 20-25 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with additional blueberries if desired. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with additional syrup if desired.

Book Club Read: One Day

This month's book for book club is One Day.  I had never heard of it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The story visits the two main characters, Emma Morely and Dexter Mayhew on the same day each year over 20 years.  Everything begins in the 1980s as both are graduating from college and are getting ready to embark of their new lives.  Emma is a bookish, shy girl who wants to change the world, while Dexter is a handsome, cocky playboy who is getting ready to travel on his parents' money for the next year or so.  They decide to be friends, despite the sexual tension and the reader gets to see how their friendship develops over time with all their ups and downs, successes and epic failures. 

Very cute book. Since this takes place mostly in and around London, there is that certain British humor that I love. All the one-liners and quippy dialogue to keep things interesting!

Room

I actually listened to this book because I was being stingy and didn't want to buy it and the library only had an audio book available. No ebook...  I've never listened to a book on tape... and I discovered that I'm really not a fan of audio books.  I got distracted or fall asleep, waking up chapters later and had to try and find the exact point where I dozed off. HOWEVER, I did manage to make it through the book and it was good.  I think I would have liked it even better if I was actually reading and not listening to it.

This is a story about a young woman and her young son who are being held captive in a small one room 'apartment'. The story is told by the young son, Jack and his mother.  Jack's voice in the beginning is simplistic and was a bit irritating (especially since I was listening to some actor's version of his voice). But once the mom joined in the story-telling, it was much better.  Anyways, Jack describes the world as he knows it, which centers around their daily schedule of games, TV watching and the nightly routine of Jack hiding in the wardrobe until "Old Nick" (their captor and Jack's father) leaves for the night.  It was interesting to see how a 5 year old perceives the world around him and how his mother tried to explain things that didn't make any sense to Jack.  Eventually, the mom makes some bold decisions and Jack must be exceptionally brave as they plot their escape to rejoin a world Jack doesn't believe exists and cannot even begin to comprehend what awaits him on the other side of "Door".

Like I said, this was a great book and I would have liked it even more if I was actually reading it and not listening to it. 

Caprese Skewers

A perfect summer appetizer that is ridiculously easy!  All you need is some bamboo skewers, fresh basil leaves, grape or cherry tomatoes, some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I could only find the long bamboo skewers, so I cut them into thirds.  I found these little mozzarella balls in the fancy cheese section;)

All you do is skewer one grape tomato followed by one basil leaf (folded in half) and one mozzarella ball. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkle with salt and pepper if you want and enjoy!
Little portable Caprese salads!

Grape Pizza

So I know this sounds strange, but I encountered this pizza last weekend when we were in Fayetteville, WV white water rafting.  We went to this place called Pies and Pints, which seemed to be the only 'hoppin' place around.  They had quite a few interesting pizza options (kinda Dewey's-ish) but we settled on this lovely pie.  It was absolutely delicious! And I got to thinking... I could probably make this myself.

So for lunch today, I tried and successfully created my own version! Yummmm!


I kinda cheated again, and used a pizza crust mix that you only have to add water to.  I'm a big fan and like the way it tastes as it gets a little crispy but still stays soft.

I flattened my dough onto my pizza stone and pricked it with a fork several times.

Then I spread about 1 clove of chopped garlic onto the dough, followed by about 1/2 cup mozzerella cheese.  Then I sprinkled about 1 Tablespoon of coarsely chopped rosemary followed by about 4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese.  Last came the 1/2 cup sliced red grapes.

I baked it according to the package directions, about 12 minutes.
Voila!

Trust me, it is amazing!


Ingredients breakdown:
1 pizza crust (I used a mix)
1 clove chopped garlic
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1 Tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2-1/3 cup sliced red grapes (halved)

The Apothecary's Daughter

This was one of the books I hadn't heard of, but purchased on my Nook because it was on sale or free... When you read as much as I do, you read just about anything that is free since you don't want to spend a fortune on books.  I still frequent the library, especially since they lend ebooks too, but when I need a book instantly, I'll check out what Barnes and Noble has for free.

This was actually a cute book. Nothing earth-shattering in terms on literary genius or anything, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable story.

Set in rural England in the time where medicine was an even more inexact science and apothecaries were frequented for remedies and tonics, Lilly Haswell longs for more than being the apothecary's daughter.  While she excels in the field, she is not respected due to the fact that she is a woman.  She longs to travel the world as she believes her mother is doing. Her mother mysteriously left the family a few years prior, and she still holds onto hope that she may return. 

The story takes some unexpected turns, but Lilly ends up discovering she had everything she always wanted, she just didn't realize it yet.

Stuffed Strawberries

I was struggling to find something new to bring to my cousin's cookout awhile back and I had already decided to bring something really really bad for you... so I tried to find something a bit healthier to balance it out;) I stumbled upon this 'recipe'. It doesn't require any cooking or anything truly special, but it does look impressive, and tastes delicious!

The original post says these were for the 4th of July, which would be cute- I ignored this fact considering it was May.

Start with washed strawberries. I ended up using about a pint and a half since I had some gigantic berries in there.

Hull the berries- I twisted off the leaves and then used my vegetable peeler to scoop out the insides.  I was curious to see if there was some fancy schmancy gadget out there that does this for you. And by George, they do.... Here's a boring one.... and a super cute, but totally unnecessary version....

Cut the very ends off the berries so they'll stand upright.

Grab some whipped cream. Homemade would have been very Martha Stewart-y, but the handy-dandy Reddi Whip worked wonderfully with the tip that fits right into the berry's middle.

Fill 'er up!

Top with a blueberry or other berry of your choice.

The original post had you drizzle some warmed-up apricot jelly over top, but I skipped that step. Figured there's enough going on there....

I will say, trying to travel with these things was a challenge.  They slid around a bit in the car in this glass dish, but they still looked good enough to eat apparently! They would be much better suited to being served at the same place where they were made.  So maybe next time, bring all the prepped berries and fill them up on site;)