QUINOA SKILLET DINNER

QUINOA
A recently rediscovered ancient "grain" native to South America, quinoa was once called "the gold of the Incas," who recognized its value in increasing the stamina of their warriors.

Quinoa Skillet Dinner
Serving Size : 4

This is one of the quickest dinners around. Everything is in the pantry and ready to go! Just add a green salad for a great meal.


1 cup quinoa
15 ounces tomatoes with green chilis
15 ounces canned kidney beans - rinsed and drained
15 ounces hominy, canned - rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon onion powder1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt -- or to taste


Rinse quinoa thoroughly and cook, covered, on low heat for 15 minutes in 2 cups boiling water. Stir in tomatoes and chilis, beans, hominy, herbs and spices and heat thoroughly. Serve.

It was fun to share the history of Quinoa with my family during dinner! If you have time check it out this Whole Foods website for nutrition and benefits:http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=142

History

While relatively new to the United States, quinoa has been cultivated in the Andean mountain regions of Peru, Chile and Bolivia for over 5,000 years, and it has long been a staple food in the diets of the native Indians. The Incas considered it a sacred food and referred to it as the "mother seed."
In their attempts to destroy and control the South American Indians and their culture, the Spanish conquerors destroyed the fields in which quinoa was grown. They made it illegal for the Indians to grow quinoa, with punishment including sentencing the offenders to death. With these harsh measures, the cultivation of quinoa was all but extinguished.
Yet, this super food would not be extinguished forever. In the 1980s, two Americans, discovering the concentrated nutrition potential of quinoa, began cultivating it in Colorado. Since then, quinoa has become more and more available as people realize that it is an exceptionally beneficial and delicious food.

THE GREEN POLKADOT BOX

I know you're in to healthy eating like I am...so check this out. It is also a great way to work on your food storage. Currently they are handling shelf stable items but will continue to grow and should have produce in the future...fingers crossed!

It's a new online club called The Green PolkaDot Box. They've got some new kind of rewards program that gives you extra discounts; and they pay money back when you tell others so you can wipe out your cost for the food you buy. It's NOT MLM, it's really cool: FREE Organics! FREE SHIPPING with orders over $150.00 They will ship any where in the US included Alaska & Hawaii(extra charge for Alaska & Hawaii though)

This is great news since we lost our Tucson Co-Op. I did some price comparisons and was very pleased. They are also willing to add requested products.

Keep in mind if you are surfing their site that only a portion of their products are on the website.

Make sure you register (no financial info required) to participate in the trial order from June 19th - 21st. For more information on this you can check it on their home page.

Also register for Twitter updates .... Here is the link!

http://www.twitter.com/gpdb

To preview the pre-launch site, copy and paste this URL into your address bar:


http://www.greenpolkadotbox.com/invite/eatingwithwisdom/

Would love to have your comments and questions!

Mindi

BANANA QUINOA PUDDING

Still don't have my camera working....guess I need a new battery


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3/4 cup quinoa (rinsed well)
• 2 cups soy milk
• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 Tbs agave or substitute
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tps vanilla extract
• 1/2 Tbs coconut oil or margarine (Earth Balance etc.)

1. Bring water and quinoa to a boil in saucepan over high heat, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. In blender combine milk, banana, sweetener and salt. Blend until smooth. Pour mixture into saucepan with quinoa.
3. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture becomes thick and creamy, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and oil.
4. Pour into serving dish(s) and serve warm.

Onion Pie

I had a friend bring me 50 pounds of sweet onions yesterday. In lieu of going grocery shopping I decided to "make due"! I rounded out dinner with green beans and a fresh salad with cukes and avocado. Let me tell you, it tasted wonderful, even my grand kids ate it all. It is a little heavy on the eggs which I normally try to stay away from, but we had lots of eggs (we have chickens) and LOTS of onions.

(I will try to post some pictures soon. My camera is refusing to charge.)

• Pie pastry (recipe below)
• 3 cups of peeled thinly sliced onions
• 3 tbs nut milk, cream or substitute
• 3 eggs
• olive oil for sauteing
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Heat pan with small amount of oil over medium heat and fry onions until golden
3. Beat eggs with milk and add salt and pepper
4. Spread onions in uncooked pie shell and pour egg mixture over onions
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until set.

Can serve with a dollop of sour cream or substitute if desired.

EASY PIE CRUST

• 1 scant cup whole wheat flour, preferably soft
• 1 tb corn starch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (coconut, olive, avocado, grape - your choice)
• 1/8 cup cold soy milk (or what you have...original recipe was not vegan)

1. Combine flour, corn starch and salt
2. Mix together oil and milk and add to dry ingredients. Stir lightly with fork and round dough into a ball
3. Roll out to fit pie plate
4. Prick bottom of crust with fork
   
   

New Cookbook Out

Just wanted to let you know about this new cookbook that has been released. It is from one of the blogs that I like and I wanted to share! The blog has lots of great recipes, stories and pics. Be sure to check it out and enter to win a cookbook!


Okay,....having some trouble with inserting the link. Try this:

http://www.dietdessertndogs.com/2009/05/01/its-time-for-sweet-freedom-and-worldwide-giveaway/

or just check out her blog at www.dietdessertndogs.com

Spring/Summer planting time is here! Time to prepare your soil, order your seeds and start your plants.

For some great planting information and a schedule for our area use the link below to get to the ASU extension gardening site:
http://ag.arizona.edu/gardening///news/calendar/index.html

Also, please use the familiarize yourself with their site! If you have questions, they probably have the answer:

http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/

Here are some pictures of my winter garden - the tomatoes are doing great - we did have a little bit of damage from the freezes this December, especially to the winter squashes and the birds (sparrows) have made it to my hit list - all my greens are covered with netting now!

Please feel free to post any of your questions and I will get back to you.

Carrot Cookies

I had a some leftover cooked carrots from Sunday dinner that I wanted to use up. What better way than some cookies!

• 1/2 c. coconut oil
• 1/2 c. sucanat
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbl ground flax mixed with 3 Tbl water or 1 egg equivalent
• 1/2 c. cooked mashed carrots
• 1 c. soft whole wheat or spelt flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional
• 1 tsp. grated orange rind

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix oil, sugar and vanilla. Add carrots and flax/egg. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Blend together with oil mixture. Stir in walnuts and orange rind.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until set.

Frost if desired using Agave Frosting or Powdered Sugar, orange juice with some grated rind!

Makes 2 dozen