Quinoa Stir Fry

This was really good - I liked it a lot..  My love, on the other hand, did not.  The things he does for me :)  Eats things he doesn't like, sits in a house that smells like stinky sesame oil..  He's a righteous dude.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it was linked to this gal's website, which might I add, is pretty awesome.  I've found so many different recipes on her page that I've pinned and am going to try.

Here's what you'll need:

1 tablespoon sesame oil
1-1/2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup bean sprouts (I used about 1-1/2 cup)
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup chopped mushrooms (optional, but I added it)
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (I added two while cooking and then added another 1/2 teaspoon while eating)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Cook the quinoa according to the package directions.  Heat the sesame oil in a large pan or wok then add the quinoa, bean sprouts and mushrooms.  Cook 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown.

Add the spinach, soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce and stir until the leaves have cooked down and everything is well combined, about another 1-2 minutes.

Divide among two bowls/plates and top with sesame seeds.

Very easy.  Very Tasty.

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole

Another Pinterest recipe and it came from this website originally - it's super easy and super delicious.  I couldn't find pre-cooked wild rice so I bought this box of wild rice/long grain rice mix..  That sucked, there was like 20 pieces of wild rice in my dish!

Here's the ingredients:

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely diced

3 stalks celery, finely diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 Tablespoons fresh minced garlic

2 Cups shredded, cooked chicken breast

2 Cups steamed white rice

16 oz prepared wild rice

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

______

Cheese Sauce

4 Tablespoons butter

1/4 Cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 Cups chicken broth

2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese

Top with 1-1/2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese

 Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Heat oil into a medium dutch oven or pot over medium heat.  Saute onion, celery and carrots until softened, about 10 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in chicken, both rices, salt, pepper and garlic salt.  Reduce heat to low.

To prepare cheese sauce melt butter into a medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Whisk in flour, salt and pepper then slowly pour in chicken broth whisking continuously.  Whisk until thick and nearly boiling then stir in cheese until melted.  Pour cheese sauce into rice mixture then transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish. Top with additional cheddar cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.  Serve.

What did I do differently?  

- I actually half'd the cheese sauce recipe and omitted the salt in that

- In the main recipe part omitted the onion, added a few shakes of dried onion flakes and omitted the garlic salt and only added 1 clove of garlic (it could have used 2).  

- Oh, and instead of white rice I used medium grain brown rice.  

- OH, and I didn't add the extra cheese to the top of the dish.  Hey,  I'm trying to be good, guys!

Brent was really excited about this recipe, so much so that he said he'd be willing to eat this a couple times a month!  Impressive!  :)  I was really happy with this meal and I'm stoked to have leftovers

I totally just ordered Taste of Home's Cooking for Two recipe book.  Looking forward to trying some of those out.  (It's on sale, too... And if you Google Taste of Home coupon code you can get one for free shipping on retailmenot.com) That would be great if either one of us were out of town so we could have dinner the next night, too!  Woo!  

"Million Dollar" Spaghetti

Super good recipe I found on Pinterest which then lead me to this gal's site, however, trying to be as "healthy" as I can be with noodles, hamburger and dairy isn't the easiest.

Every dairy item this recipe called for I used light or fat-free versions and the noodles were whole wheat.  I had to try to be good some how!!

Here are the ingredients:

1 lb hamburger, browned and drained (I even go as far as rinsing my cooked burger in hot water)
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
8 oz (fat free) cream cheese
1/4 cup (light) sour cream
1/2 lb (8 oz) fat free cottage cheese
whole stick of butter (I used 4 tbsp of light Promise spread)
8 - 10 oz (whole wheat) spaghetti noodles
bag of (reduced fat) sharp cheddar cheese (I only used about 1/3 cup)

Preheat oven to 350˚F - bring water to a boil and add noodles, cooking until al dente.

While your noodles are boiling, mix your dairy products together really well.  I added a few shakes of dried oregano and a few shakes of dried basil (I never measure...  Probably 1/2 tbsp of each).

Brown your burger and drain it really well.  Add your sauce and mix thoroughly.

Take your 9x13 baking dish and add a few knobs of butter (I spread roughly 2 tbsp of the Promise butter on the bottom w/ a spatula) and cover with half of the noodles.  Cover the noodles and spread the  cheesy sauce evenly over on top of the noodles.  Add the other half of the noodles and put a few more knobs of butter over them (the noodles were hot, so I just spread another 2 tbsp of Promise over the noodles, melting it).  Top it all of with your meat sauce.

Bake for 30 minutes, add the cheese and bake for another 15 minutes, or until melted.

This was super yummy...  But it makes a TON.  We'll half it next time.  Brent's been eating leftovers (what a good guy!) since I have since replaced my lunches with a meal replacement shake.  Looks like we'll be eating this for the next couple of nights!!

Oh.. and pictures??  Just click on that link up top for that gal's page.  :)

Sorry!  Lazy tonight!!

Oatmeal and Flaxseed Pancakes

I was laying in bed this morning thinking that I really wanted breakfast food like pancakes or waffles, but being on the kick I've been on I wanted (and NEEDED) to make it healthy.  I found this recipe on Taste of Home while Googling a recipe.  I hopped up out of bed and told Brent, "You can stay in bed! I'm gonna make you breffiss!!"

It was super easy and the best part is it only makes four pancakes, which is absolutely perfect.

Here's what you'll need:

1/3 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons quick cook rolled oats
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
dash of salt
1 egg, separated
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine first seven ingredients.  In a small bowl, combine the egg yolk, buttermilk, brown sugar, oil and vanilla extract.  Stir into the dry ingredients until just moistened.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg white on medium until stiff peaks form; fold white into batter.

Pour batter by quarter-cup fulls onto hot griddle sprayed lightly with cooking spray; turn when bubbles form on top and cook until second side is golden brown.

Yield:  4 Pancakes

I didn't have buttermilk as I usually don't keep it on hand, so in that case I always use this method.  It's easy, fast, and Brent always has cow's milk on hand as I drink soy milk.

I served it with some egg whites and it.was.awesome.  The texture is nice, the cinnamon is perfect (I actually added a slightly rounded 1/4 teaspoon).  Brent said he'd eat them again, even.  Impressive because the man is serious about his pannercakes.



Nutritional Facts:

Serving:  2 pancakes
Calories:  273
Fat:  13 g
Saturated Fat:  2 g
Cholesterol:  108 mg
Sodium:  357 mg
Carbohydrates:  31 g
Fiber:  5 g
Protein:  10g