Autumn quinoa bowl

October 23, 2013January 19, 2016 ~ Lydia ~ Leave a comment

I bought some quinoa seeeeveral weeks ago (maybe more than a month?) in the vain hope that I would find a recipe to cook with it, without even being fully confident on its pronunciation. Anyone who frequents a Whole Foods can likely relate to this feeling. I was fascinated by it. It looked like carbs.. but it was protein. How could his beautiful thing exist?

And then I actually tried it for the first time two weeks ago in a salad at Whole Foods..LOVE at first taste. It was delicious and I absolutely could not get enough! But… I still hadn’t found a recipe that intrigued me enough to try (and was easy enough for me to try).

It’s really no secret that I’m ain’t a cook. But it turns out to eat clean you have to be able to cook clean. So, here we are. Me with two cups of dried quinoa and no idea what to do with it.

Then last week I stumbled across this recipe from Andrea Hood on Instagram, and honestly I can’t remember which account it was (more problems of the Instagram rabbit hole). But I mean it has dried cranberries in it so I was pretty much sold from the start. It’s taken me a week to gather the ingredients and NOW it’s time to actually prepare the meal, and ya’ll… I DID IT! And it was damn tasty.

Here are the ingredients/directions from Andrea’s blog post:

Ingredients:

2 cups organic Quinoa
2 cups organic butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1/2 bunch organic kale
1/4 cup organic raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
1/4 cup pure organic maple syrup
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
sea salt and pepper to taste

Direction:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Peel and cube the butternut squash into small bite sized pieces.
Place butternut squash on lined or greased cookie sheet and cook for 35 minutes, or until you can stick a fork into it with ease.
Cook quinoa on the stovetop according to package directions, and set aside.
While the quinoa is cooking, take a small skillet over medium heat and lightly toast the pepitas to really bring out their flavor. Make sure to move them around often so they don’t catch and burn. Toast them for about 5 minutes until they are just starting to brown and you can smell the “nuttiness” – again, don’t let them burn because that will ruin the flavor.
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, and cranberries. When the quinoa and pepitas are finished, add them to the bowl and stir to evenly coat the quinoa.
While the quinoa is still warm, you want to take the kale and remove the leaves from the stems by tearing off bite sized pieces. Add the bite sized pieces to the bowl and toss to combine.
Lastly, once the butternut squash is cooked, add it to the giant quinoa bowl and lightly toss it to combine.
You can enjoy this dish warm or at room temperature – it’s delicious either way and it makes kick-ass leftovers.

To make the Quinoa, I used my girl Gwenyth Paltrow’s recipe found online at Goop.com. My only issue is how in the hell do people wash quinoa before you cook it? I’m gross and didn’t wash mine first out of pure confusion. It’s so tiny, what magical contraption exists that it won’t fall through (that I can find at Kroger)? And since I don’t know how to do anything, I also had to watch a video on how to peel a Butternut Squash (I also had to Google “Butternut Squash” at the grocery store to get the right stuff…so that’s where we are on that..)

I love this recipe. It’s just so simple. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was the pepitas. I’m prone to starting small fires in the kitchen, so I was so nervous cooking these that I don’t think I cooked them enough. No harm done though, you hardly notice.

The dish also smells kinda funky. Not sure why. But who cares, it tastes delicious especially considering how healthy it is! I had a small bowl post 5 mile jog and filled up supa fast. This recipe also makes A LOT. So when she she says it makes for “kick-ass leftovers”, it makes a ton of kick-ass leftovers.

My only other complaint is that I had to use like SO MANY dishes and pans. Is that normal for cooking something? Perhaps it is. Either way clean up was not that much fun, and I’m glad it made so much so I won’t have to clean it up again anytime in the near future.

All in all, I’m one happy full clean eating camper. Excuse me why I go dive into my leftovers…

Whoop-dee-do let’s get cookin

July 17, 2013April 11, 2017 ~ Lydia ~ 1 Comment

So I have a pretty big goal for myself to establish. I, Lydia, want to get into cooking.

The other day I was at Kroger with my boyfriend to get stuff to make dinner. And by make dinner I mean we bought veggie pasta and an overpriced $9.50 bottle of marinara sauce made locally…at least we branched out a little? Anyhoo, I was dilly daddling contemplating a Burt’s Bees purchase while my boyfriend debated over a parmesan cheese decision. I’m in a “no cheese, please” phase so was mostly disinterested in this 5 minute struggle over store brand vs. the “expensive” one, but for whatever reason I had this strong urge to find some fresh parmesan and grate it by hand for ultimate freshness. Who even am I.

And then, I popped over to Are your twenties a joke and totally related to her post on her new found love for cooking. The idea of going to farmers markets and trying a new, fresh and healthy meal sounds just amazing. Add a bottle of red wine to the cooking process and I am totally there.

I don’t expect that I’ll turn away from my fruit protein shakes Monday – Friday any time soon, but I think I could make Sunday or Saturday nights a cooking night where I try to make something fun. It might just be that a new whole foods market opened just a few streets away and all the yogis I’m stalking on Instagram with all their healthiness is getting to my head, but as part of my new healthy lifestyle, I’d like to work some cooking into the mix. Now, someone get me a cute Anthropologie apron and this kitchen. Stat.

And well, at the very least, I know some friends, mothers and boyfriends who will likely enjoy this revelation (that, or I’ll accidentally poison them, who knows).

Inspiration: Gwyneth Paltrow

April 18, 2013April 10, 2017 ~ Sarah ~ 3 Comments

I can’t say I’ve given much thought to Gwyneth Paltrow in the past aside from the occasional movie, red carpet dress or snicker at her daughter’s name (Apple). But all that started to change when I read about her new cookbook, It’s All Good, on one of my favorite blogs, A Piece of Toast. Celebrating all the reasons they love Gwyneth is a fond pastime for their blog, and I have to say, I’m starting to get it. I love that she’s family-focused, seemingly very genuine and follows her heart in pursuing a variety of interests instead of pigeonholing herself or letting others do so.

True, her cookbooks have come with some criticism. The Huffington Post likened the cookbook to flipping through a J. Crew catalogue (um, why is that ever a bad thing?). Others have made fun of some recipes’ obvious or simple nature. But you know, that’s exactly why I like it. Pouring through the pages as the type of cook who has youtube-d “how to cut broccoli” and “how to cut eggplant” in the past couple months alone, I find the way she describes the book, organizes the recipes and details them quite helpful. Does she have a “recipe” for how to hard boil an egg? Yes. But I’ve seriously had some bad egg boiling experiences in the past so I welcome the break down! She also has a great section about stocking your pantry, which taught me a lot about different types of food and their uses / combinations.

Gwyneth (after this many nights reading her book we’re on a first name basis) is…

Inspiring me to learn more about food, nutrition and cooking.
Inspiring me to continue living a healthy life starting with what food I put inside me.
Inspiring me to look for more opportunities to love on people through food and hospitality.

Starting from scratch

April 6, 2013April 11, 2017 ~ Sarah ~ Leave a comment

fresh vegetables - quinoa salad cooking quinoa quinoa salad recipe

My on-again, off-again relationship with my kitchen has been going steady for years, but my new gluten, dairy, and heck, everything free diet has forced me to spend much more quality time with my pots and pans as of late.

I mean, I’ve always like the idea of cooking. But it just takes so long, ingredients can get a little pricey when you’re just cooking for one and it seems like an awful lot of effort to start from scratch after fighting traffic home from a long day at work. I knew if this month-long commitment for a healthier me was going to be successful, I was going to need a plan.

For the first week or so, I spent an afternoon making a huge bowl of white rice and grilling chicken kebabs with different seasonings so I could easily grab a perfectly-portioned meal whenever I was hungry or frantically trying to get out the door for work. Some vegetables helped liven up the rice every day, and I treated myself to the most adorable sectioned container to pack everything in. Luckily, my three years of work at an Asian restaurant also prepared me to not only eat, but enjoy rice for meals on end.

But nobody can eat rice 24/7, so this week I’m venturing into all the possibilities of quinoa. My experience with this grain can be summed up by the embarrassing fact I was walking around pronouncing it “Kwin-oh-uh” for far too long than I care to admit…My mind was blown to learn this is the exact same food as that grain everyone pronounces “Keen-whah”. Who knew?! Well, probably you did, but there you go.

I cooked this quinoa substituting half the water with chicken stock, then added basil, cucumbers, grape halves and a little olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Quinoa cooks just like rice, and I can’t stress enough to make sure you don’t add too much liquid. My first batch of quinoa came out a ~~little~~ lot on the wet side, which is not nearly as appetizing as the dryer, store-bought quinoa I’ve had before. I’d also advise drizzling the olive oil on top just before serving/eating, rather then mixing it in advance. Not only does this keep the salad from getting too moist, but it looks nice on the plate, too!

Giving myself a break bisquits

February 19, 2013April 11, 2017 ~ Sarah ~ Leave a comment

baking photography mixing bowl baking biscuits strawberry biscuits - side

This weekend I was determined to rest.

Like all good intentions, this idea started out so well, with a slow morning spent sleeping in then getting creative in the kitchen…but after celebrating two friends’ engagement, making a couple drives across the Dallas metroplex and one unhappy head/stomach later, it was clear that I had not exactly been the image of peace and stillness I’d envisioned all week leading up to that point.

Since I was not one of those lucky enough to have this President’s Day off and wishing it was still the weekend isn’t making my weekend any magically longer, I’ve been thinking of little ways I can treat myself to some relaxation throughout the week rather than just keep putting all my hopes into the weekend to recharge.

This week I plan to…

Wake up earlier. I know what you’re thinking…didn’t she just say she was needing more time relax not less? The thing is, I’ve found that even though I absolutely love my hibernation, er…sleep, I love my peace of mind more. Waking up with enough time to journal, do some yoga or run, shower and get myself looking how I’d actually prefer people to see me goes so much farther in getting me ready to tackle each day. The holidays completely threw off all the progress I’d been making, but I suppose with the passing of Valentine’s Day I can’t exactly pretend that now still counts as ‘the holidays’ anymore, can I?

Cook real food. Confession. My laziness knows no bounds…I’ve been eating out a LOT this past week or so. Even when I had the good sense to actually be in a grocery store I ended up getting frozen Asian food (never a good idea) and blue box mac and cheese (always a good idea, except when you end up making and eating two boxes in one sitting. But hey, it was Valentine’s Day…). How can I expect my body to feel good (and look good) if I don’t put good things in it? I really enjoyed taking the time to make myself something fun and good this weekend. I think adding time for that into my week is just what I need to force myself to slow down, make the most of my time with food I truly enjoy/can be proud of and oh yeah, take care of myself.

Light candles. This one’s just plain fun. They look pretty, smell pretty and make me feel like life is just a tad more on the luxurious side. Plus I have quite a few that even though I love everything about them, I’ve never actually ever lit. And if there’s one thing Finding Tiffany’s is all about it’s that life is not for hoarding and hoping, it’s for actually experiencing and enjoying. Now this goal, I can accomplish.

Update – Last week’s goals to read more and be nicer to myself have been going so well, I’ve decided to continue them…I will finish that book…one day…

{Vanilla Biscuit Recipe: Gluten-free Bisquick, Vanilla, a tiny bit of sugar, milk, eggs and butter. Plus fresh fruit and whip cream. I wish I could tell you measurements, but I had way less than the recipe called for so I had to eyeball it. Basically my rule of thumb for pretty much everything is to start with the recipe on the back of the box, then add way more vanilla than it calls for. Voila.}

Appointments, Dylan, Knots and Cooking.

January 21, 2013April 10, 2017 ~ Lydia ~ Leave a comment

This is a week of appointments. Well, of two. Westley and I both have check ups with the vet/doctor.. Finally. They are both long over due but are such a pain to schedule. Why are these offices even open during the day? A vet and doctors office open from 4-10 PM would suit me just fine.

I started reading Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan about a century and a half ago. I think it’s actually been about two months, but the holidays and work put me to sleep before my head even hit the pillow to start reading. Consequently, I’m only about a fourth of the way through. I never understand what it is I do after yoga or running during the week. Where do those 5 hours go before bed? Well, this week they are going to you, Bob.

Master the top knot bun. That’s right. That is on my goal list this week. I’m not even embarrassed by how shallow that might be because I want to figure out how to do one that bad. It just looks so simple.. and yet so complicated. Wish me luck.

I happen to hate cooking. I also happen to be making a larger effort to eat better, as seen in my New Years Resolution. I am quickly learning that these two sentiments don’t go hand in hand. To eat well, you need to actually cook something. For dinner, I will often just have a bowl of cereal if I do a late yoga class or a bowl of pasta after I run. Nothing that takes over 10 minutes. For this week I have spinach and grilled chicken coming my way. I am allowing myself to have pasta with the chicken, but am generally trying to cut down this week. Baby steps, babes, baby steps.