Creamy quinoa

One day MB and I were both milling around the house, and we started talking about what we were each thinking about making for dinner that night.  We had this crazy idea to actually make dinner together - crazy, I know!

 

We decided quinoa was necessary since she liked it when I made quinoa dishes and let her have leftovers.  We flipped open Betty, and she only really had one quinoa recipe, so we went with it!

 

There were so many vegetables in this dish, I know Tall Dark and Nerdy would have been proud if he had been around to see it (instead of in India).

Look at all those veggies!



This will be a great dish for summertime when I'm wanting something a little lighter, yet still filling and delicious.

 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
• 3 cups water
• chicken bouillon
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or chopped
• 5 cups thinly-sliced, bite-size pieces of assorted raw vegetables - I used carrots, zucchini, squash, bell pepper, asparagus
• grated Romano cheese

Directions:

Combine bouillon and water in saucepan (to make chicken broth), add the quinoa.  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.

Stir in cream cheese and basil.

Melt butter over medium heat in a skillet.  Cook garlic in butter about 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until golden.  Add vegetables.  Cook 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are crisp-tender.

 

Combine quinoa mixture and vegetables.  Sprinkle with Romano cheese. 

First fruit

While TDN has been out of town for business, I have been periodically checking up on the garden.  I love seeing things grow over short and long periods of time, and the plants in the garden are no different.  I can't wait for the tomatoes to be ready!

The strawberries are trying to grow and ripen about halfway through TDN's time away.

Leroy came outside to help me check on things.

Look very closely and you can see the first yellow bloom of the tomato plants.  This one just happens to be on the purple tomato plant, my favorite!

When I checked the garden this week - the last week of his trip - there was a beautifully ripe strawberry.  Yes, just one.  It was the first fruit (or vegetable) I found ready to eat from this summer's garden!  I brought it home for MB to enjoy, and enjoy it she did!

(Not so patiently) awaiting fresh veggies

The last Saturday that Tall Dark and Nerdy and I spent together before he left for his big trip (three weeks of work in India, followed by two weeks trekking in the Annapurnas in Nepal) involved getting our hands a little dirty.  Okay, actually, a lot dirty.

It was mid-April in the San Francisco Bay Area (and he was about to leave for 5 weeks) so it was time to put in the garden!

We planted tomatoes, zucchini, squash, basil, strawberries, artichokes, a blueberry bush, and I forget what else.  There was already kale, chard, and a lemon tree growing.

After we got everything planted, we got the fun job of setting up the new drip system so that everything will be perfectly watered.  

Once we finished, I had a farmer's tan on one side of my body - apparently I didn't turn around enough - and more mud caked under my fingernails than I had seen since moving to California, but the garden looked really good!  I can't wait for the veggies to start coming in - and if it happens while TDN's still on his trip, they're ALL MINE!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

My GIANT zucchini.  This is what's
left AFTER making a double batch
of this recipe!

Tall Dark and Nerdy has a great garden.  It seemed small to me at first (because I was comparing it to my mom's monster garden), but last summer I realized that it may be small, but it sure is mighty!  It produced kale, tomatoes, and zucchini like CRAZY (among other things in reasonable amounts).  I had never eaten kale before last summer, then all of a sudden I had it in nearly every meal it seemed.  Same with zucchini.  A vegetable that I had previously only been able to stomach in Grams's zucchini bread became something I ate regularly and enjoyed.

Yet, I didn't know how to cook it.  All I knew how to do with it was bake - surprise, surprise!  Once I told TDN this, he made sure to give me all the giant zucchini that aren't as yummy to just eat but still do great when baking (just cut out middle part with the seeds)  This chocolate zucchini bread/muffin recipe became my most-used recipe of the summer, and I can't wait to use it again this year!

Ingredients:

Who knew veggies could
look so good?

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 6 Tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 3/4 to 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Grate your zucchini if you haven't already.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour muffin tins or 2 loaf pans.  If using loaf pans, after greasing, use a paper towel to wipe the top 1 inch of the pan (to keep the loaf from getting a funny edge).  Set aside.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a small bowl and set aside.

Just stirred in the zucchini.

Beat oil, sugar, brown sugar, and eggs until combined and slightly fluffy using and electric mixer.

Add vanilla and sour cream.  Mix until combined.

Gently stir in the grated zucchini.

Mmm chocolate AND
chocolate chips.

Stir a spoonful of the flour mixture in with the chocolate chips so they will combine with everything evenly.

Add the rest of the flour mixture to the batter.  Stir until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Divide the batter between pans.

If you want, you can sprinkle a mixture of equal parts brown sugar and white sugar with a little cinnamon on top.  (Do it, it's delicious!)

Ready to bake.  These have the
topping on them also.

For bread, bake for 45-60 minutes.  For muffins, bake around 12 minutes (I can't remember exactly how long they took).  When it's done, a toothpick should come out fairly clean.

Cool slightly on a rack, then remove from pans.


Adapted from Our Best Bites

Broccoli Chicken Foil Packs

Last night, Jas and I made quinoa-stuffed sweet potatoes together (which were delicious, by the way), and TDN was very proud when he heard all the veggies I was eating :) 
That meal - and the fact that most of my meals in the last two weeks have been midwestern cream-of-someone-soup casseroles - inspired me to try something new for lunch today that included vegetables.  I came across a recipe for chicken foil packs.  They didn't sound like they were really going to make a meal I would enjoy that much, but I gave them a try anyway, and I'm glad I did!
These were super simple, delicious, and gave me lots of yummy leftovers for the next couple days!

Ingredients:

• 1 box stuffing mix (chicken flavor)
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• broccoli florets
• shredded cheese
• Ranch dressing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray 4 large sheets of foil with cooking spray.

Combine stuffing mix and water.  Spoon 1/4 of the mixture onto the center of each foil sheet.

Top stuffing with a chicken breast.

Top chicken with broccoli.  I didn't measure the broccoli, I just tried to pile as much on as I could (probably around 1 cup per foil pack)!

Sprinkle roughly 1/4 cup of cheese on top of each.

Drizzle with around 1 Tablespoon ranch dressing.

Bring up sides of foil and fold to seal, leaving room inside for heat circulation.

Place packets in a 9x13" pan or on a cookie sheet and bake 40-50 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken breasts).

Remove packets and let stand for 5 minutes.  Cut slits in foil to let steam out.  Open and enjoy!

My roommate MB and I actually split one foil pack for lunch today and couldn't finish all of it.  This made a really good sized meal, and a filling one!

If you have bacon in your fridge, crumbling a slice of cooked bacon on each pack before cooking would be tasty!  (I don't usually have any on hand since TDN doesn't eat it...weird, I know)

Adapted from Best Life 4 Moms

Blanched vegetables

For those of you who don't know yet, my man eats a lot of vegetables.  And he makes it his goal to drastically increase my vegetable intake - since before him it was pretty much nonexistent.  

This is a BIG bag of broccoli!

Tall Dark and Nerdy now continues his veggie-quest even when he's out of town.  He gets a massive amount of fresh vegetables, more than anyone could possibly eat in a week - in my eyes, at least - shortly before leaving for a work trip.  Then, what he hasn't eaten yet comes home with me.  

When he left last week for South by Southwest there was a MASSIVE (48 ounce) bag of broccoli and a quite large bag of brussel sprouts that came home with me.  On top of that, I had actually bought myself a (much more reasonably sized) bag of broccoli for a recipe I had planned.  I made crock pot broccoli cheese soup and crock pot broccoli beef, and ate broccoli with ranch every afternoon for several days when I wanted a snack, and I still couldn't seem to make it through all that broccoli!

In came Mom to the rescue!  During a phone call I complained to her about the sheer amount of broccoli I was trying to consume and she reminded me of what we always did at home with massive amounts of broccoli:  blanching.  Now, I have blanched broccoli and brussel sprouts in my freezer, ready for whenever I can stand to eat them again!

Ingredients:

• broccoli (or brussel sprouts)
• water
• quart-size freezer bags

Easiest ingredient list ever, right?

So happy TDN opened my eyes to how
delicious these little guys are!

Directions:

Bring water to rapid boil in large pot.  Add broccoli.  Return to boil for 3-4 minutes, stirring a few times.

Remove from heat and strain.

Dump cooked broccoli into COLD water to stop the cooking.

Bag it up and freeze it!

The only thing I did differently for the brussel sprouts was salting the water at the beginning.  Super simple!

My favorite thing about blanching green veggies like these is the beautiful color everything ends up from being boiled and then stopped right at the perfect time.

Crock pot broccoli beef

I have a weakness for good Chinese food, especially General Tso's Chicken and Beef & Broccoli, but I know it's really not good for me.  Living just down the street from my favorite hole-in-the-wall Chinese place is dangerous and I crave their food kind of a lot, but am always holding myself back.  I decided to try making my own when I came across a recipe for beef and broccoli in the crock pot.  It doesn't taste quite like it does at Queen House, but it's pretty good, and definitely less unhealthy!


The first time around it reminded me a little bit of one of TDN's staple pot-roast-over-rice meals, but I added a couple extra drops of sesame oil and it was great!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• fresh broccoli florets
• hot cooked rice

Directions:

Place beef in crock pot.

In a small bowl, combine broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, and garlic.  Pour over beef.

Cook on low 6-8 hours.

In a cup, stir cornstarch and 2 Tablespoons of sauce from the crock pot until smooth.  Add to crock pot.  Stir well to combine.

Add broccoli.  Stir again.

Cover and cook an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour on high (the sauce has to boil for it to thicken).

Serve over rice.

Adapted from My Fridge Food

Crock pot broccoli cheese soup

I am loving my crock pot right now and having fun experimenting with new recipes.  Tonight was my first attempt at a soup, and it was delicious.  Granted, the texture was a little funny (I should have stirred it one more time in the middle), but I got over that quickly once I tasted it!  This was the most filling soup I think I have ever eaten, and I can't wait for the leftovers!

My one regret was that I didn't use a crock pot liner when I thought about it.  The clean-up wasn't too dreadful after letting the gooey-cheesiness soak for awhile.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups milk
• 1 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
• 3 cups fresh chopped broccoli

Directions:

Saute onion and green pepper in butter.

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low 3-4 hours, stirring once or twice.

**You can also use frozen broccoli (10 oz bag, chopped), and then I would reduce the milk to 1 1/2 cups.

Adapted from Food.com

I brought the green bean casserole!

This was all baby sister.  She loves green bean casserole, and it was a way to make sure she would eat vegetables, so I was all for it!

This is a recipe that anyone can make, and it's so quick that it works for anything.  The combination of creamy sauce, crunchy onions, and crisp veggies makes this dish a holiday staple for more than just my family!

Ingredients:

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (6 oz.) container French fried onions
• 2 (9 oz.) packages cut green beans, thawed

Directions:

Mix soup and milk together, then add pepper, beans, and 2/3 cup onions in casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Stir.

Top with remaining onions.

Bake 5 minutes.

My sister really likes the crunchiness of the onions on the top, but you can mix more in with the beans and soup if that's the way you prefer.

Adapted from French's

Quinoa stuffed peppers

This has apparently become my specialty, according to Jas and the girls upstairs.  I think they just really enjoy the meal and want me to keep making it.


Ingredients (today):

• 8 peppers (any color, but it's best if they sort of stand on their own)
• 1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
• 1 cup chopped onion (roughly 1/2 large onion)
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot (1 large carrot will do)
• 2 stalks chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• 3 medium tomatoes (I like to use romas)
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups water
• Shredded cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the tops off the peppers, remove the pulp and seeds.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and add the first half of the peppers.  Boil for 5 minutes, then remove the peppers from the water and set aside.  Repeat for remaining peppers.

Cook quinoa according to package directions.  Add quinoa and water to pot, bring to boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.

Brown the ground turkey in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Remove meat and set aside.

Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pan.  Cook 4-5 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Return the meat to the pan, and add the cooked quinoa, tomatoes, salt, and pepper.  Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes, until heated through.  Remove from the heat.  **Next time I plan to mix in some shredded cheese here so there is a little cheese in every bite.

Place the peppers in a baking dish and fill each with the quinoa mixture.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Set the oven to Broil.  Sprinkle cheese over the stuffed peppers and broil for 2 minutes, until lightly browned.

Adapted from about.com

UPDATE:  I have been informed that these work as perfect pocket snacks for a day on the mountain thanks to my very own Tall Dark and Nerdy.

Pumpkin cookies with maple-caramel frosting

My roommate MB begs me weekly to make these delicious, moist cookies for her again.  They have quickly become a dessert staple for parties and holidays.

Ingredients:
Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (I prefer dark brown sugar)
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Frosting

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (again, I like dark brown)
• Pinch of salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Stir in pumpkin.
In a medium bowl, sift together the baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and flour.  Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

While cookies are cooling, make frosting:
In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cream, and brown sugar over medium heat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Allow to cool slightly, then stir in powdered sugar.
Spread frosting over cooled cookies.

Adapted from letsdishrecipes.com