Crock-pot Quinoa Stew
Posted: May 17, 2012 Filed under: Crock-pot, Thoughts | Tags: Basil, Black Beans, Black pepper, Celery, chili powder, Cumin, Garlic, green pepper, Inspiration, kidney beans, Olive oil, Paprika, Quinoa, Red Pepper, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, Tomato Sauce 4 Comments »FOOD
I love healthy food but I don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen preparing it so when I come across a crock-pot recipe with nutritious ingredients, I get a little excited. :)
*This recipe may look like it has a lot of ingredients but most of its seasonings which makes this dish DELISH!
Quinoa Stew
Ingredients
1-tablespoon olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 handfuls of chopped up celery
2 handfuls of chopped up mushrooms (any kind is fine)
1 red or green pepper (or half of each), diced
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½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1-teaspoon cumin powder
1-teaspoon paprika
1-teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1-tablespoon soy sauce (low sodium)
Black pepper to taste
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½ cup uncooked quinoa
3 cups of water
8 ounce unsalted tomato sauce
1 can (15 ounce) kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can (15 ounce) black beans (drained and rinsed)
Directions
- Sauté garlic, celery, mushrooms and pepper in oil for 10 minutes on medium.
- Add spices, herbs and soy sauce to mixture and stir in for a few minutes.
- Combine water, tomato sauce, quinoa and beans in a large crock-pot.
- Add mixture from step number one. Stir.
- Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours.
*If you like it hotter (sounds a little personal) add more chili powder or red pepper flakes.
This recipe has been revised from original.
INSPIRATION
drink up!
Posted: April 5, 2012 Filed under: My own recipe creations, Smoothies and Drinks | Tags: Apple, Banana, Breakfast, Carrots, Celery, Flaxseed, Orange, Pear, Romaine lettuce, Smoothie, Snack, Spinach 2 Comments »Every once in a while, I like to change-up our breakfast smoothie and on April 1st my husband and I decided to drink two smoothies a day. We have one in the morning and then one either between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner. We can already feel the difference in our energy levels.
Per request: Below are the smoothie recipes.
The Green Apple (Breakfast)
Ingredients
One handful of celery
Two handfuls of spinach (you can use frozen)
One apple
One pear
One banana
16 ounces of distilled water
1-tablespoon flaxseed
Directions
Blend thoroughly. We make ours at least the night before so they are cold.
“People who ate lots of white-fleshed fruits and vegetables-mostly apples, pears, bananas, and cauliflower-had a 52 percent lower risk of stroke over a 10 year period than those who ate the least of those foods. Achieving that difference only took eating an apple a day.” -Dutch researchers/Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association
The Orange Bowl (In between meals)
Ingredients
One handful of baby carrots (I use de-thawed frozen)
One handful of Romaine lettuce
One peeled orange
One apple
12 ounces distilled water
Directions
Blend thoroughly. Again, we make them the night before so they are cold.
Picture: graphichive
Why did the orange stop rolling down the hill?
It ran out of juice.
Drink your Veggies!
Posted: March 6, 2012 Filed under: My own recipe creations, Smoothies and Drinks | Tags: Avocado, Carrots, Celery, Cucumber, Flaxseed, juice recipes, Kale, omega 3 fats, red cabbage, Red Pepper, Romaine lettuce, Spinach, Vegetable smoothie, Vegetables Leave a comment »I’ve had some requests for vegetable ONLY smoothies/juice recipes. It always makes me a little nervous to post smoothie recipes because I will seriously drink any combination as long as I know it’s good for me. It doesn’t even matter how it taste. BUT… for your sake, I want them to be nutritious and enjoyable as well. Developing delicious vegetable ONLY smoothie’s is quite a challenge.
I personally like the idea of blending rather than juicing. It’s easy, nothing is wasted and you reap the benefits of ALL the nutrition and fiber.
Drinking green smoothies guarantees you consume the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables. I have several friends that serve green smoothies to their children, which allows them to get all the nutrients they need on a daily basis.
The first recipe is one that I created. You may think it’s a little boring, but below I’ve listed why I chose these ingredients.
Drink it; it’s good 4 u
2 handfuls of spinach (you can use frozen spinach)
1 big handful of chopped cabbage
2 handfuls of red pepper
2 tablespoons of flaxseed
8-12 ounces distilled or filtered water
Optional: ice cubes
Blend, blend, blend!
Spinach: One of the most nutritious foods on earth! You may not have known this but Spinach is a fine source of calcium for those that can’t or don’t want to drink or eat dairy.
Cabbage: A good source of Vitamin C, fiber and an awesome antioxidant.
Red Pepper: Good source of vitamins C, A and the mineral potassium. Inflammation reducer.
Flaxseed: Rich source of Omega-3 fats
*My smoothie/juice gives you a combination of greens, sulfur and color which you should add to your diet on a daily basis.
Jackie V’s recipe
2 handfuls of spinach or kale
1 handful of carrots
1 handful of celery
Ginger
Optional: cucumber
Avocado Cucumber
1 medium avocado
1 large cucumber
¼ cup chopped parsley
3 tbsp lemon juice
Just Green
1 bunch of romaine lettuce
1 medium cucumber
2 cups of water
Of course adding fruit to any smoothie makes it taste better. You can find green smoothies with fruit under my “smoothie” folder listed to the right of my blog. I still drink the “Green Light” for breakfast every morning. A couple of times a week, I’ll drink the vegetable smoothie mentioned above (for lunch) followed by some cut up veggies and hummus.
If you have a good Vegetable ONLY smoothie and would like to share, please leave a comment with the recipe. Thank you!
Drink up! :)
Picture by: www.almightydad.com
