Quinoa Turkey Chili

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
3 1/2 cups water, divided
1 lb ground turkey
1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 TB chili powder
1 TB cumin (I used a tad less)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cans black beans, rinsed
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 zucchini, chopped
1 chipoltle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
1 TB adobo sauce
1 bay leaf
1 tsp oregano
s&p
1 cup frozen corn

1. In a large saucepan, bring quinoa and 2 cups water to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and set aside.

2. In a large saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook turkey, onion, red pepper and garlic over medium heat until turkey is cooked.  Stir in chili powder, cumin and cinnamon and cook for 2 minutes.

3. Add beans, tomatoes, zucchini, pepper, adobo sauce, bay leaf, oregano, s&p and remaining water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Stir in corn and quinoa, and heat through.  Discard bay leaf and serve.

Baby Cereal: Millet

Millet is a highly nutritious, easy-to-digest grain not likely to cause an allergy. It's also high in iron. This recipe was created for babies 6 to 8 months old. It will make 1 cup.

 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons millet
1 cup water
Breast milk or formula as needed

Preparation

1. Blend millet 1 to 2 minutes or until it resembles fine flour. (I used my nutrimill)
2. Pour water into pan and stir in millet. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Remove from heat and let cool, stirring a few more times.
4. Add breast milk or formula as needed to achieve a smooth consistency.

Nutrient analysis per 2 tablespoons
22 calories
1 gram protein
Manganese 40%
Magnesium 10%
Vitamin B6 10%

Carmelized Brussel Sprouts

recipe/photo from eatliverun.com

12-14 large brussels sprouts
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
pinch sea salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup roughly chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

Directions:
Slice each brussels sprout very thin until you have a mound of feathery brussels sprout ribbons. Heat the olive oil over medium high in a large skillet and saute the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the brussels sprouts and continue sauteing for another 4-5 minutes, until bright green and tender. Add the sea salt and brown sugar and toss together. Finish by adding the toasted nuts.

***
I got some brussel sprouts in my Bountiful Basket this past weekend, and I had no idea what to do with them.   I found this recipe, and it was SO good!  I left the nuts out and added extra garlic.  My kids loved this too.  Lots more brussel sprouts in our future!

Toasted Millet and Quinoa

Recipe from "The Real Food Daily Cookbook".

3/4 cup millet
1/2 cup quinoa
2 1/2 water
1/2 tsp sea salt

Rinse the millet well and drain.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the millet and stir constantly for about 5 minutes, until the moisture evaporates and the millet is dry and fragrant.  Transfer to a bowl.  Repeat process with quinoa.

Combine water and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Add grains and return to a boil.  Turn down to med-low heat, cover and let cook for 25 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and serve.

***
LOVE these two grains combined like this!  I ate it alongside some sauteed zucchini, so delicious!  You could literally throw this into ANYTHING.  I mixed it into spaghetti tonight for my kids.  You could throw it into soups, rice, pasta, anything!  I like to just eat it alongside freshly cooked veggies.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

From: fortheloveofcooking

• 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• Chocolate chips

Lightly spoon the flours into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine the flours and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well to combine. Combine yogurt and next 3 ingredients (through eggs) in a small bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring until smooth.

Pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto a hot nonstick griddle or skillet. Top each pancake with chocolate chips. Cook 2 minutes or until the tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Carefully turn pancakes over; cook 2 more minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Enjoy.

***

These tasted great, I love the whole wheat flour in them.  The dough was pretty thick, so I added a splash of milk.  This doesn't make very many pancakes, so you will need to double or even triple the recipe if you are feeding more than 3 people. 

Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour and powder until just combined.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

***
I put chocolate chips on the tops of a few of them.  Yum!

Curried Sweet Potato & Rice Stew

Original recipe found here.  I made a few slight changes.

1 T olive oil
1 carrot, finely diced
1 small onion, finely diced
2 sweet potatoes (yellow fleshed), finely diced
2 yams (orange fleshed), finely diced
2 T curry paste (I use red curry paste)
pinch of salt & a good grind of black pepper
water or vegetable stock
2 cups cooked rice (I used a mix of brown and basmati)
1 t maple syrup (optional)

In a large pot, heat olive oil and add in carrots and onion, and saute until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Add in the yam, sweet potato and curry paste and let everything get coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour water or vegetable stock over everything so the liquid level is about 1-3 inches above the vegetables. Use less liquid if you want a stew, more liquid if you want soup. Turn down heat to a simmer, put on the pot lid and let it bubble away for 20 minutes. Stir in cooked rice and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Does it need more liquid? Add it, otherwise it’s done when the vegetables are tender. Finish it off with a small glug of maple syrup, stirring it into the mixture before serving into bowls.

***

This was AMAZING!!  One of the yummiest meals I've ever had.  Will be making this a LOT now!!!  For Miss Roo, I just mashed up her stew, so she didn't realize she was eating bites of veggies.  I will probably serve this to Claire in a few months as well.  The original recipe calls for a lot less rice, but I wanted a really hearty meal, so I doubled it.  Plus, we just love rice around here!

Zucchini Curry Soup

Recipe from Heidi Swanson's "Super Natural Every Day".

1 block extra firm tofu, well-drained
1 TB red Thai curry paste
3 TB extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
3 or 4 zucchini, cut into chunks
1 large carrot, sliced
1-2 potatoes, diced into small cubes
4 cloves chopped garlic
2 cups vegetable broth or water
1 can coconut milk

Combine curry paste and olive oil in a small bowl.  Set aside.

In a small frying pan, crumble tofu with a small drizzle of oil and some salt.  Saute until golden.  Set aside.

In a large soup pot, heat curry mixture for about 1 minute.  Add shallots and a few pinches of salt and saute for a few minutes.  Add vegetables and cook until zucchini is a little tender.  Add garlic, then broth/water and coconut milk.  Bring just to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer for 15 minutes.  Taste and add more curry paste if desired. 

Serve with crumbled tofu on top.

***

This was delicious!  Next time I might leave out the potatoes and add a different vegetable in it's place.  My kids really liked this too.  Next time I will probably also make some basmati rice, brown rice or millet to mix in at the end.

Cabbage, Spinach and Tofu with Peanut Sauce

This recipe is from here, I made a few little changes, like adding peas.

cabbage, spinach and tofu with peanut sauce
1/2 block of extra firm tofu, cut into squares (I prefer to crumble it.  Be sure to drain it well first.)
1/2 head of cabbage, sliced into strips and then cut in half to make shorter strips
1 bunch spinach, cleaned & picked through
1/2 onion, cut into large chunks
2 stalks celery, cut on the diagonal into thick slices
1 cup frozen peas
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced
soy sauce
brown rice
1 t vegetable oil
lime wedges (optional)

for the sauce:
1/4 c peanut butter
1 T honey (or brown sugar if you swing vegan-style)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t fresh ginger, minced
1 t sesame oil
2 T soy sauce
2 T rice wine vinegar
warm water

1. In a blender, mix all the ingredients for the peanut sauce, adding a bit of warm water if the mixture gets too thick. Taste. You may need to add a bit more honey depending on your own tastebuds. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil and add the garlic and ginger when hot. Add the tofu and fry until golden on both sides. Add the onion and celery and when the onion becomes translucent, add the cabbage. Once the cabbage gets slightly wilty, add the spinach and a bit of soy sauce for flavour. Stir until spinach is cooked, then turn off heat.

3. In large bowls, add brown rice and then top with the tofu-vegetable mixture. Drizzle with peanut sauce.

***

This was good.  SO GOOD!  I could eat cabbage all day.  It was so filling and healthy, but we felt awesome after we ate it.  Yum...I want more...

Spiced Mango Rice Bowls

2 TB butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Saute over med-high heat for 1 minute.

Then add:
2 cups basmati rice, rinsed
2 1/2 cups lite coconut milk
1 cup pureed mango
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup craisins

Bring just to a boil, uncovered.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Then reduce the heat even lower and let rice cook for 20 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and add a few Tablespoons of coconut milk if it seems dry.

***
Delicious!  But it wasn't really a good dinner food...it tasted more like dessert!  This would make the perfect Thanksgiving meal side dish!