Pressure Cooker Chicken Flavor Quinoa

Family Overal Rating: 3
(My toddler and I love quinoa and give it a 5.  My older daughter and hubby aren't really rice fans and this is very similiar to rice).

1 1/2 cups Quinoa
2 1/4 cups water
2-3 tsps Chicken Bouillon
(or use chicken broth)

Note: these directions are for the Cuisinart electric pressure cooker.  See your instruction manual if using a different pressure cooker.

1)Put all the ingredients in the  Cuisinart electric pressure cooker and set on high pressure for 2 minutes.

2)Use Natural Pressure Release  for 10 Minutes.

3)Finally use Quick Pressure Release to allow as much steam as possible to escape before opening the lid.  ALWAYS OPEN THE LID AWAY FROM YOU.

I use quinoa as a substitute for rice.  I also use it in meatloaf.

Homemade Pecan Butter

My family overall rating: 5 (with the agave syrup)
I have made this in two ways:

1) Simply blend up some pecans and that's it (this takes a powerful blender), then add agave syrup and salt to taste. This is a thicker butter.

2) Soak 1 handful of pecans (1/2 cup) in 1 Tablespoon olive oil and 1 Tablespoon of Agave Syrup and a little salt to taste.  When softened, they can be blended easily in a simple blender like "The Magic Bullet" I have found that I need to use the flat blades when blending such a small amout.

I try to make only the amount I need to use right then, but if there are leftovers they need to be refrigerated.


Serving Suggestion:

Morning glory says it is best warmed up and served on muffins,
like these Gluten Free Butternut Muffins

Homemade Citrus Olive Oil Dressing

For one Serving Combine:

Juice from 1/2 lemon or lime

Seasoning as desired

(suggestions red pepper flakes, parsley, Thyme, Basil, Garlic powder)

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

 



So Simple Chicken Cabbage Salad

1/2 large head of cabbage washed and diced
1 12 oz can of canned chicken, drained
1-2 cups of leftover cooked spaghetti cut into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces (or any other pre-cooked pasta)
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (juice from one medium lime)
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1-2 Tablespoons of "Mrs Wages Medium Create Salsa mix" or season as desired
Ezekiel 4.9 Almond cereal

Toss together the cabbage, chicken and pasta.  In a separate small bowl combine the lime juice, olive oil and seasonings (or use any other of your favorite salad dressings).  Just before serving, toss the salad with the dressing.  When serving, top with the Ezekiel cereal or other crunchy toppings as desired

Family Critique: My husband rated this a 5 star recipe!  I was really excited.  I loved it too!  Even my oldest daughter loved it but would probably give it, "3 or 4 stars Mom. If you add some nuts it would be a 5."   My toddler wouldn't try it but that is normal for her with a new recipe.  She warms up to things after seeing them on her plate several times.

Be Nutritiously Inspired,

Fruit and Veggie Rolls

Step One:
3 1/2 Cups warm water (try to have it at about 110°F)
1/4 Cup honey
1 Cup olive oil
6 Tablespoons yeast

Place above four ingredients into a very large mixing bowl and allow to sit and rest for 15 minutes to allow the yeast to start working.( If your yeast is bad, then it will not bubble up and you will need to start over.)

Step Two:
In a smaller bowl combine:

2 eggs
2 cups of fruit and/or veggie pulp. (I used pulp left after juicing some potatoes,carrots, grapefruit, and pineapple in my high efficiency juicer).

Then add to yeast mixture.

Step Three
In a third large mixing bowl combine:
5 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour
1/2 Cup yellow split pea flour
3 1/2 Cups Great Northern White Bean flour
1 Tablespoon of salt (optional: I actually just sprinkled a little garlic salt parsley blend on mine as I shaped the rolls)

Step Four
Shape into rolls and place on a cookie sheet.
Allow to rise until double.

Bake at 350 F until golden brown

Simply Scrumptious: Beet Greens . . .Yes, Really!

We have a community garden where we live and my hubby and daughter brought home some yummy veggies a couple of days ago. But they also brought back some beets and beet greens. I don't like beets! But I was determined to find a way to use them. I found this recipe online and--yes really--the greens were really good! Now I just need to figure out how to like the beets. (I served them with some banana squash and some rice balls from the cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld)

Be Nutritiously Inspired,

"Roasted Root Vegetables"

I found a recipe using beets that said "Beets were my sworn enemy until I tried them like this" and since I don't like beets either, I tried them this way and really liked them! Click here for the recipe. (I served it with a Vietnamese style chicken, carrots and cabbage served over thin spaghetti pasta).

Be Nutritiously Inspired,

Fruit and Veggie Poppy Seed Salad

This salad was really good. My daughter loves to help make it since she likes the chopper:) I simply cleaned out the fridge by adding cucumber, carrots, apples and grapes. Then combining them with a little poppy seed dressing and some sliced almonds.

Tooty Fruit Salad

This is another wonderful recipe created by my daughter. Here are her instructions:

1) Slice the strawberries by first slicing in kind-of crescent-shaped pieces.

2)Then take some grapes. Put 'em in the bowl with some strawberries.

3) Then take a whole can of mandarin oranges and pour it in the same bowl with the strawberries and the grapes. (Make sure you get almost all the juice out but leave the mandarin oranges juicy)

4) Then stir it up with a spoon until it is all mixed. Then serve it on the table with breakfast or dessert or anything.

It's very snacky and great to bring on vacation or to the zoo or something._

Easy and Healthy Spanish Rice

This is such an easy one. A friend taught me this one and I have added to it over the last few years. I usually use leftover rice for this recipe.

Simply put some rice in an appropriate sized casserole dish. I used short-grain brown rice cooked the day before in a rice cooker. (I cooked the rice in chicken broth to flavor it and had some leftovers after dinner)

Then blend a can of diced tomatoes and some cooked veggies in a blender (I used 1/4 C broccoli today, carrots and mixed veggies are good too--just watch how much you add start with a little until your family is used to it for example if you add a LOT of broccoli it turns the sauce green and although it tastes great it might not look like it to a little one:). Add whatever spices you like. I used a little garlic and some basil. (leftover or canned spaghetti sauce works too)

Pour the sauce over the rice and mix it in. Then top with cheese and heat through. (during the summer I like using the microwave so the stove doesn't heat things up so much).

Serving suggestions:
Add some salsa and guacamole on top and serve as a warm dip with tortilla chips, or it is great alone or as a side dish. It is also good wrapped in tortillas as a rice burrito with some ranch dressing or sour cream. You can add some canned corn or meat to make it a heartier stand-alone meal. Add chilli powder or crushed red peppers for a spicy rice.

Hot Dogs With Mashed Potatoes and Cheese

I had some leftover mashed potatoes and got a craving for these yummy hot dogs. I've had them since I was a kid and though they may look strange to those who haven't had them, if you like hot dogs you will probably be happily surprised!
-Grill hot dogs (I use a little counter top Foreman grill--can skip this step but they sure taste best this way)
-cut each hot dog lengthwise and top with some mashed potatoes and cheese.
-put in the oven until cheese is melted and potatoes are golden brown. (or just pop in the microwave although they aren't quite as good that way)
Enjoy!!
PS my other favorites with grilled hot dogs are:
cut up and put into chili, mac and cheese or pork and beans.

Tuna Patties

There are so many recipes for Tuna patties online. We made some today which the whole family liked and my dd said I should "put it on your blog Mom!" So here is what I did:

-2 servings of mashed potatoes (I made some from flakes)

- 3 cans of tuna, drained

- 1 egg

- a few shredded baby carrots

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Put some flour on a plate and shape into patties and dip each side of each one in the flour. Heat some olive oil over medium heat and cook the patties for just a few minutes on each side--until golden brown.

I served these on toast with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. My hubby also likes to have a little barbecue sauce on his.

Yummy Fried Rice at Home

I really like this recipe and my husband hardly ever likes rice and he had seconds too :)

1) Scramble 2 eggs (not to0 dry) and remove and set aside.

2) Clean out pan, add 1 T olive oil and whatever vegetables you want to use ( I used frozed baby yellow and green beans and some dehydrated onion) and stir-fry until cooked but still crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.

3) Add 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil and 3-4 cups of already cooked and chilled rice (I used leftover rice cooked in a rice cooker a couple of days before) and stir-fry for a couple of minutes or until it changes color and gets a little darker.

4) Add back in the vegetables and scrambled eggs, some soy sauce to taste (I use a substitute see my post "soy sauce substitute") and heat through. I also added some turkey lunchmeat cut into small pieces with some kitchen shears.

A similiar recipe I consulted:

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/ricefried/r/basicfriedrice.htm