Quinoa

Quinoa, you say like this Keen-Wah, it's a delicious little seed, seems like a grain but it's actually a seed. If you want to learn more about it and it's amazing health benefits click here. I love it as an alternative to rice and pasta because it is super healthy and it cooks so fast! I first tried quiona for my family about 2 years ago, I made it with water and we did not like it. Then my friend Catey told me to cook it in broth or stock and that was the ticket. Really it makes a huge difference, a step I would highly recommend not skipping. There are tons of things you can do with quinoa, eat it warm or cold, in salads or just eat it alone. This recipe is very basic but it's my favorite way to eat it.

Ingredients:
1 cup Quinoa
2 cups chicken or beef stock
1 t olive oil
1/2 cup onion, diced small
1/3 cup carrots, diced small
1 T Fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:
Add quinoa and chicken stock to a pot, turn the heat on and bring to boil, then cover and turn the heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes until the stock has been absorbed. Then fluff with a fork and remove from the pot. Add the oil, onion and carrot to the pot and saute for about 5 minutes until the onion and carrot begin to soften. Add the quinoa back in and stir to combine then add the parsley and serve.

I love Trader Joe's!

It is a beautiful little seed...

Did I mention that it cooks so fast???

These just add extra flavor and texture.

If you haven't tried it, you should!

Weight Watcher Friends: This makes four 1 cup servings, each has 5 points.

Gazpacho

I love summertime for all the yummy veggies we grow right out of our garden. My mom's garden is so over-run with delicious cucumbers that we need to figure out something to do with them! My mom makes this and it is wonderful, I took her basic recipe and added my own touches.  My daughter and I can't stop eating this one!


 Ingredients:
4 ripe tomatoes
3 cucumbers, unpeeled
1/2 red onion
1 bell pepper, any color
1 shallot
3 cloves garlic
1 handful fresh parsley
2 cup tomato juice (I used V8)
Juice of a lime
1/4 cup vinegar (red or white wine)
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 t salt
Fresh cracked pepper to taste


Directions:
Roughly chop vegetables, (tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, shallot, garlic, bell pepper and parsley) in large pieces. Add them to your food processor and pulse so they are combined but not puréed. (I like it a little bit chunky, for the texture otherwise I think I would feel like I was just drinking tomato juice!) This may take a couple of rounds depending on the size of your food processor. Next transfer the vegetable mix to a bowl then add the tomato juice, lime juice, both vinegars, salt and pepper. If I wasn't going to be serving this to my kids then I would have added a jalapeno pepper but since I knew my 4 year old daughter was going to devour this one i didn't. place in the fridge and chill for at least 3 hours. This is best served the next day!

I love having homegrown vegetables available!

I took the seeds out of the cucumbers because they were so big and rough chopped the veggies

Throw them in the processor, how easy is that??

It looks frothy at first but once it chills and settles down it looks much prettier

Like this! Yummy!

Weight Watcher Friends: This makes about 7 cups of soup, each cup has 1 point! Actually individually there are 2 points in the whole recipe but when I put them all in on the point builder on the WW site it says it has 1 point per serving, regardless whether it has 0 or 1 points, eat up it's super healthy  and delicious! I love making weight watchers 0-point soup in the winter, so this is my summer version!!

Roasted Corn and Poblano Peppers

It's been a long time since I have posted, but I do have some great recipes to make up for it! On June 29 swim team ended, while the kids attended their 'end of the season' parties we packed up the car and headed to with beach with my family for the week. It was a great trip! We have been back for just a couple of days and now I finally feel like summer has actually started, Hallelujah!!! This recipe is my husband's creation, I asked him what he wanted this week and this is what he described. I had to call him a couple times to make sure I was making it just right and in the end he said it was a winner, we hope you like it too!

Ingredients:
3 Ears of Corn, kernels removed
2 Poblano Peppers, diced
1 Sweet onion, diced
1 t olive oil
2 T cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1 t salt
fresh cracked pepper to taste

Directions:
Grill corn in husks or clean and wrap in foil to place on grill (either way works fine), cook until done, allow to cool then remove kernels from the cob. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet, add onions and peppers, saute over medium-high heat until they begin to soften. Then remove from heat and combine with the corn. Finally add the cilantro, squeeze the juice of the lime on top, add the salt and pepper toss together and serve. We ate this on chips, on our forks on the side of of plates, it was just good!

Weight Watcher Friends: This makes 4 servings each are 1 cup and each have only 2 points per serving. Makes it a great app or side dish!

Honey Cashew Chicken

For my birthday last year my sister-in-law gave me subscriptions for Cooking Light and Rachel Ray. Both have been great! I love getting good ideas from them, testing things out and tweaking the recipes.When the June issue of Cooking Light came I was super excited because there were several recipes that looked great, I kept going back to this one several times to put it on my weekly menu but finally made it this week and it was delicious.  My husband complained because he doesn't like cashews, he whined a bit but then ate two plate fulls so I guess he got over it, my kids ate it up and were hunting for the cashews and were both clean-pate-clubbers. Hope you and your family enjoy this one too!

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin then in strips
1/2 t salt
fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 T canola oil
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup shelled edamame
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 onion, sliced (I used a red one but it doesn't matter)
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1/3 cup unsalted cashews
1 T rice vinegar
2 T honey
2 T soy sauce (I use Tamari, gluten free)
Sriacha (hot chile sauce) to taste

Directions:
Heat wok over medium-high heat, add the oil, season chicken with salt and pepper then add to the wok. Cook on high until chicken pieces are browned and cook through. While that is cooking whisk together the rice vinegar, honey and soy (if you don't have kids and like a little spice go ahead and add some Sriacha about 1t-1T be careful it is really hot). Remove chicken cover with foil then add to the wok the broccoli, onion, garlic and bell pepper. Stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes then add the edamame, cook for 1 minute then add the chicken back in along with the cashews. Pour the sauce over the top and toss a few times to combine. Serve over rice or just eat it alone, delish!

I usually slice my veggies for my meals early in the day when my kids are having 'down time'

These are what you need for your sauce, whisk until the honey is no longer sticky

Slice the chicken thin, then in small pieces

Stir-fry the veggies

Then add back in the chicken and the sauce.

Weight Watcher Friends: This dinner is healthy, colorful and delicious you won't feel at all like you are 'cutting back' when eating this one. If you divide this into 4 servings each serving is 7 points. It is a lot of food, I served mine over 1/2 cup of rice and it was a 10 point dinner.
Source: Cooking Light June Magazine

Beef Tostadas

Well life has been crazy to say the least, good but crazy for sure! I used to have this idea of the "lazy days of summer" but that has definitely not been the reality for us so far. We are up and out early each morning for swim team and then the days haven't seemed to stop until bed time, play dates, dr. appts, birthday parties, etc. We did get to go on a last minute beach trip with some precious friends last week and that was super great, relaxing and made for a perfect weekend getaway! I have been cooking a lot lately but I have been making some of my favorites that have long been posted. I threw this together last night and when I say threw, I mean it! I had extra kids over at my house from 10am-4:45 so I had no time to shop, so I loaded up my kids in the car at 5pm for our weeks grocery shop, which any mom knows is NOT an ideal time to take two kids to the grocery store, wait... is there ever an ideal time to take two kids to the grocery store?? I knew I had set out ground beef and I had seen these precious little taco cupcakes on Pinterest, where you use a wonton in a cupcake pan and fill it with taco meat and top with cheese and salsa, and I thought my kids would love it and it would be fun. I don't really care for wontons so I wanted to try it with a corn tortilla but my daughter saw the tostadas and everything changed. We just  had to try those 'giant chips'! And so my taco cupcakes flew out the window and I made these instead.

Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef (I usually buy Laura's Lean Meat)
1 cup sweet onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup fresh pico style salsa (I always use La Mexicana)
1 T fresh cilantro
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cumin
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1 Package Tostadas

Directions:
Brown the ground beef in a non-stick skillet for 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat. Add the salt, pepper, and cumin. Then once the meat is about 2/3 brown and 1/3 pink add the onion and bell pepper. Saute together until the the meat in cooked through and the onion and peppers begin to wilt. Next add the salsa and cilantro and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then just turn to low until you are ready to serve. To serve, plate a tostada then top with 1/3 cup of meat top with salsa and fresh cilantro and serve. Yum!! My kids put colby jack cheese on top and ate them like they were pieces of pizza. It was a fun dinner and super easy!

In this pic the meat was slightly pink but I don't think you can tell, it looks cooked here.

This is after you add the salsa and cilantro and it's ready to serve!

The finished Product, Yum!

I did try to put the meat mixture in a corn tortilla in a muffin tin to try the taco cups but they fell apart once I took them out of the pan, but they sure looked cute in the pan. I am going to work on this one!

Weight Watcher Friends: This could go a few ways, when I used the point builder on ww site, I got that 1/3 cup of the meat mixture had 2 points and each tostada has 1.5 points so each one made is 3.5 (without cheese, the meat mixture had enough flavor I didn't miss the cheese, and I love cheese). I had two of them. But if you divide the entire meat mixture into 4 portions each portion is 4 points and 3 tostadas have 4 points, so I think I actually could have had 3 for the same amount of points which makes no sense however I really don't think I could have eaten 3 I was perfectly happy with 2 :)

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

Thanks goodness this is the last week of weeknight swim team! I feel like I haven't been able to feed my family as well as usual and it makes me crazy! Walking in the door at 6:15pm on a school night, having to feed and bathe two kids does not lend itself to eating well and especially not to blogging. This is what I wanted to post for Cinco de Mayo but since I hurt my back on May 3rd, I never got it together. I made this last weekend and it was so good. I got the idea from Pinterest and had pinned it on my recipe board but knew I could slim it down a bit without taking away from taste and flavor and I PROMISE you won't miss those extra calories with my version! I know I always rant and rave about the recipes I post but this one is a must-try. It really is fabulous, Enjoy!!!

Salad Ingredients:
2 ears Corn (yellow or white)
1 avocado, diced
2 cups tomatoes, halved
1/2  red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
1 English cucumber, quartered
1/2 lime, juiced

Cilantro Vinaigrette Ingredients:

2 T Olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar
1 t. Garlic powder
2 T. Fresh cilantro, minced
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:
Grill the corn. Just leave the corn in the husks and throw it on a hot grill, turning every 10 minutes, four turns. Let cool about 5-10 minutes, then remove the husks and discard. Using a sharp knife remove the kernels from the cobs. Add to a larger bowl then add avocados, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and squeeze the 1/2 lime over the veggies and avocados. Set aside until ready to serve.

To make the dressing whisk the olive oil and vinegar, then add garlic powder, cilantro, salt and pepper. Whisk well and drizzled over the salad, gently toss and top with feta and serve.

My number one way to eat corn!

It's so sweet and delicious doesn't even need salt or butter!

With these yummy ingredients, how could this not be good?!

Such a perfect marriage of flavors!

Look beautiful and tastes even better!

Weight Watcher Friends: This one makes 5 servings and each has 5 points. Not a low point side dish but a super healthy one that you can feel great about eating!!
Source: The Authentic Suburban Gourmet

Zucchini Spaghetti

Like I said last week, posts this month will be few and far between...this swim team schedule definitely impacts the dinner schedule! This recipe is nothing special or new but it sure was good! I decided to make classic spaghetti for my family since I could make it at 2pm and just walk in after swim team and feed the kids quickly. But of course I didn't want the pasta and since spaghetti squash isn't really in season I decided to serve my spaghetti over sauteed zucchini it was super yummy, quick, easy and healthy so I wanted to quickly share it with you this morning. I only took a picture once I made and tasted it :)

Ingredients:
1 zucchini, sliced
Your favorite Spaghetti sauce -here's the link to mine
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:
Using my Misto I sprayed a non-stick skillet with olive oil. I salted and peppered my zucchini and threw it in the skillet for about 3 minutes per side. Then plated it and topped it with Spaghetti meat sauce. For the sauce I use my marinara recipe but I just brown ground beef 1st then add the ingredients for the marinara sauce, I did have a package of fresh mushrooms so I added those to the sauce and let simmer all afternoon, delicious!

Weight Watcher Friends: My meat sauce has 4 points for 1.5 cups and the zucchini has 0 so eat up and enjoy!!

Mexican Chicken Soup - Crock Pot

My kids have started swim team which means for the next month I will leave my house at 4:45 and not get back until 6:15. In order to get the kids bathed and fed I have to be quick so I am planning to use the corck pot a lot (even though I usually hate it-I love it for it's ease of use I just think evverything I make in the crock pot is mushy!) However my girlfriend Catey makes her Chicken Tortilla Soup like this so I wanted to try it! It was great and not mushy at all! I called this Mexican Chicken Soup because I already posted my recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup here.  This is more like a stew, it was great, so thanks Catey!!

I have a great recipe to post for Cinco de Mayo but I hurt my back so haven't made it yet...I hope to feel better tomorrow so I can get it posted for your celebrations!

Ingredients:
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can beans (whatever you like)
1 cup corn
1 cup fresh salsa
32oz chicken stock
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch cilantro

Optional toppings:
Avacado
Lime
Cheese
Tortialla chips

Directions:
I put the chicken in my crock pot still frozen and litterally dumped the rest of the ingredients on top leaving the cilantro in a small bunch on top so I could remove it after cooking. Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 6-8 hours. After it is done cooking, remove the cilantro and toss it then shred the chicken and serve. Could that get any easier??? Nope I don't think so!

This is right before I put the lid on and cooked it all day.

Dished out and ready to eat! I topped mine with fresh cilantro and 2 slices of avacado

Weight Watcher Friends: This makes 6 servings. Each serving is 1.5 cups and has 5 point each. Enjoy!