Cilantro Lime Quinoa

I've made this side dish before with all dried herbs and really liked it. So now that I've been cooking more with essential oils I thought it would be perfect to experiment with. I like it so much better with the oils than with the dried herbs. The taste seems to be more light and refreshing. And with this recipe you don't add the oils until the quinoa is cooled down so you get all of the amazing bennifits from the oils without changing their chemical make up, making this dish extremely healthy. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa (rinsed)

2 cups water

1 teaspoon better than bullion

1 drop cilantro doTERRA essential oil

2 drops lime doTERRA essential oil

1 toothpick dipped into black pepper doTERRA essential oil

1 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

Salt to taste

Directions

Combine quinoa, water and better than bullion into medium sauce pan over high heat until it starts to boil. Then reduce heat to low and let simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and cover for 5 minutes. Uncover and let cool to warm. Then while using a metal spoon, drop oils onto spoon and stir very well to combine oils. Add remaining ingredients, serve and enjoy!

Chicken Murphy

I'm not completely sure why this was called Chicken Murphy. But it was good. I changed many things from the original recipe. I love how it turned out, it needed more flavor. Not only did I love the taste of this chicken but it was another quick meal. It didn't take long to put together and it's healthy and delicious, what more could you ask for?

Chicken Murphy

Ingredients

4 teaspoons garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, undrained

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch chunks

1 large red sweet pepper, cut into 1/4 inch slices

1/2 large sweet onion, peeled and diced

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

Cooked quinoa

Directions

In a large skillet over medium-high heat cook garlic, onion, and chicken. Stir occasionally until chicken is no longer pink in the center. Stir in tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook for another three minutes. Add sweet pepper and parsley; cook for an additional 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Serve over cooked quinoa and enjoy!

Teriyaki Sauce

My favorite teriyaki sauce is one that has pineapple juice added to it. Of course it also has the corn syrup and other things in it too. So I've been looking for a recipe that could help start me in the right direction for a yummy teriyaki sauce that has pineapple in it. I never would have thought that my search would lead me to ehow.com, but it did and that is where I found a recipe. I did of course make changes to it. :] I loved how it turned out! I can't wait to use it as a marinade this summer at BBQ's.

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup braggs liquid aminos

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1/2 cup organic brown sugar

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 20oz can of pineapple tidbits in natural syrup

1/4 cup cold water

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

In a sauce pan simmer braggs, garlic, organic brown sugar, rice vinegar and ginger for 5 minutes. Then add the juice from the pineapples, reserve pineapples for later. Boil for 5 more minutes. In a cup mix together cold water and cornstarch. Add to the sauce and boil for another minutes until sauce thickens. Add pineapples to sauce and enjoy!

Teriyaki Sauce with Chicken and Peppers

Ingredients

1 recipe teriyaki sauce

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, filleted

2 sweet peppers (orange, red, or yellow), sliced

2 cups cooked rice, or quinoa

Directions

Place filleted chicken breasts in a 9X13 inch cooking pan. Pour teriyaki sauce over chicken and place in the fridge for 20 minutes to marinate. Preheat oven to 425*F. Add peppers to chicken and sauce. Stir to coat. Cover cooking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve on cooked rice or quinoa and enjoy!

Quick and Easy Chicken

I love this chicken! The first time I made it, it had a spicy after taste. My husband, who loves spicy food, loved it! I thought it was good, but I didn't dare give it to my kids. They don't do that well with spicy food. The version I am sharing with you today is the one that I gave to my kids. It is sweet and savory without the extra kick. If you would like to try the extra kick at the end, just add 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground black pepper to the sauce. I know that sounds like it wouldn't really add any kick because it's just pepper, but trust me it really does. However you decide to make it, just make it, you'll love it!

Quick and Easy Chicken

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasted, cubed

1 large yellow sweet pepper, cut into bite sized pieces

1 large red sweet pepper, but into bite sized pieces

1/2 heaping cup ketchup (gluten free)

7 tablespoons bragg's liquid aminos

1/2 cup honey

6 tablespoons lemon juice

Dash of ground black pepper

1/3 cup cold water

3 teaspoons cornstarch

2 cups cooked rice or quinoa

Directions

Saute onion, chicken, and peppers in butter until peppers are tender crisp and chicken is almost cooked through. In a separate bowl combine, ketchup, braggs, honey, lemon juice, and pepper; mix well until honey dissolves. Pour over chicken and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes. In a cup mix cold water with cornstarch until completely dissolved. Add to chicken mixture. Bring back to a boil and stir occasionally. Boil uncovered for 10 minutes until sauce slightly thickens. Pour over cooked rice or quinoa, and enjoy!!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

When I saw this recipe, I knew that I needed to try it and use my new found enchilada sauce. It turned out so delicious! It really is a great Mexican dish. If your family doesn't like Mexican food you'll like this dish. If your family already like Mexican food this will be a great addition to your list of favorites.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Ingredients

1 12oz pkg. whole wheat or quinoa macaroni shells

3 large green or red sweet peppers, chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 16oz. can fat free refried beans

3 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning mix found here

10 oz homemade read enchilada sauce found here (you'll need to double the recipe)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups tortilla chips, crushed

avocado dip (optional)

sour cream (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Rinse; drain and set aside. In a skillet cook sweet peppers, onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt over medium heat for 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in chicken, beans, taco seasoning, and enchilada sauce. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Stir in noodles to coat. Transfer to a 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese and chips. Bake 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Serve with avocado dip and/or sour cream. Enjoy!

Squash Quinoa Stew

Here is another recipe that you can use your winter squash for. I really liked this stew, I say stew because it was very thick like a stew is supposed to be. It didn't have a lot of broth like a soup has. I love the quinoa in it, so it is very filling. It has a very nice, almost sweet flavor to it. I used some left over butternut squash that I had already cooked. So I pureed it into the broth, which is why it is more like a stew than a soup. If you want to, you can follow the original recipe and use chunks of butternut squash. Add it at the same point you would the other squash, just not pureed with broth before hand. Then add more cooking time before you add the rest of the veggies. I personally liked it better more thick and it cooked much more quickly this way. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Squash Quinoa Stew

Ingredients

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

3 1/2 cups water

3 1/2 teaspoons 'better than bullion'

2/3 cup apricot nectar

1 lb. cooked and smashed butternut squash

3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 small yellow squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 teaspoon salt, then to taste

Directions

In a small bowl mix water and better than bullion until dissolved to make a broth. Then pour into blender or food processor and add butternut squash. Puree until smooth.

In saucepan cook chicken and onion over medium heat until chicken is cooked completely, stirring occasionally. Add broth with squash, apricot nectar, quinoa, and cumin. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Add zucchini and yellow squash. Cover and cook 10 minutes more or until squash and quinoa are tender. Add salt and black pepper to taste. As it cools the quinoa will soak up most of the liquid. Can top with Parmesan cheese, my kids did and loved it. Serve warm and enjoy!

Yeast Free Spelt Bread

I don't like to eat a lot of things with yeast in them. In fact before I made this bread, I can't remember the last time I even had a sandwich or a piece of toast. So you can imagine my excitement to find a bread recipe that didn't call for any yeast! Besides all of that the best part about this bread is that it gets better tasting everyday. It has a nutty flavor from the spelt and it is a little more dense than your normal whole wheat bread. It is packet with nutrition not only from the spelt, but tons of iron from the molasses, and lots of protein from the quinoa. I've used this bread in recipes to come and loved it! I've used it eating sloppy joes, and loved it! If you are gluten intolerant and trying to stay away from yeast or not, this is the bread for you!

Yeast Free Spelt Bread

Ingredients

4 cups spelt flour

1/4 cup quinoa seeds

1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 tablespoon blackstrap molasses

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups rice milk

2 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon gluten free dough enhancer (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan. (This recipe can be double very easily. I only make this much because I don't go through it that fast. I store it in my fridge)

In a large bowl, mix together the spelt flour, quinoa seeds, salt, baking soda, xanthan gum, and dough enhancer. Then add molasses, milk, honey and mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until golden, let cool and enjoy! Remember it gets better each day. :]

Fun Food Find Friday!!

This is a new find for me. It is a granola by Nature's Path called Ancient Grains. The flavor is amazing and the nutrition even better. It has quinoa which I've talked about before how it is a complete protein on it's own. It also had Amaranth, which I didn't know is also a complete protein. Those make this granola very filling. I can have a little in the morning and I'm not hungry for hours! It also has Spelt and Kamut, so a little bit of gluten but great for the gluten intolerant and tons of vitamins and minerals. My kids love it just as much as I do, so I have to hide it from them. :]

I found this one at Costco, but they do carry it at the health food stores.

Sweet and Sour Crock Pot Chicken

I love sweet and sour chicken. So when I came across a slow cooker/crock pot version I just had to try it! The thing I liked about this recipe is that I really didn't have to change that much to it at all. It turned out just like a sweet and sour chicken does, without the breaded chicken of course. It is simply delicious!

Sweet and Sour Crock Pot Chicken

Ingredients

1 20oz can pineapple chunks in juice

1 cup baby-cut carrots, cut in half

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 2 inch pieces

1/2 cup bragg liquid aminos

1/4 cup organic brown evaporated cane juice

1 medium red bell pepper, but into 1 inch pieces

1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup corn starch

1/4 cup water

Cooked quinoa, or rice

Directions

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Place pineapple chunks in small bowl; cover and refrigerate. Place carrots, onion, and garlic in crock pot. Top with chicken. Mix soy sauce, ginger, brown evaporated cane juice and reserved pineapple juice; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low heat for 7 to 9 hours or until juice of chicken is no longer pink. During the last 30 minutes, add pineapple and bell peppers. Increase to high heat setting. Mix cornstarch and water; stir into chicken mixture during last 10 minutes for cooking. Serve on quinoa or rice and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken

How is your garden looking? Mine is getting better and closer each day. It's been a little crazy this year how late everything is. I'm so excited to use the butternut squash I'm growing! One reason is I want to eat this again. I loved, loved this recipe. I only changed a few things and added some things to it too. I love the flavor of garlic and cumin paired with the squash and the under tone of the cinnamon gives it a little surprise that is just delightful. I love cooking in the crock pot/slow cooker. It really can save me on those crazy days.

Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces

1 medium bell pepper, sliced (I also added some orange and red bell peppers)

1 1/4 pounds of boneless skinless chicken tenders

1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, undrained

1/2 cup salsa

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried chopped onions

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup cooked quinoa or rice

Directions

Layer squash, bell pepper and chicken in a 4 to 5 quart low cooker. Mix tomatoes, salsa, cinnamon, cumin, dried onions, and garlic in a bowl; pour over mixture in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or until squash is tender and the juice of the chicken is no longer pink. Remove Chicken and vegetables from slow cooker and serve on cooked quinoa or rice.

Stuffed Green Peppers

I loved this recipe and so did my children. My 6 year old doesn't like green peppers but he ate this and really liked it! I thought today would be a good time to post this recipe because of all of the peppers that should be ready about now in your garden. And if you didn't plant any they are getting cheaper to buy in the grocery store. Just thinking about this recipe makes me want to make these again for dinner tonight. :] With stuffed peppers I've seen them cut both ways. I think that cutting them lengthwise, like I did in this picture, was the easiest way to stuff and cook them. Just be careful when removing the top of the pepper so you don't remove too much of the pepper. If you remove too much then it won't be in a bowl shape and it won't hold the stuffing as well. No matter what way you cut them they are very delicious.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Ingredients

1 cup water

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons better than bullion

3 large green bell peppers, halved and seeded

1 small onion, diced

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 teaspoons butter

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon Chile powder

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Directions

In a medium saucepan combine water, quinoa, garlic powder, and better than bullion. Bring to boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400*F.

In a large saucepan over medium heat cook onion in butter. Then add diced tomatoes, cumin, Chile powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer until thick, stirring occasionally.

In a pot bring 2 inches of water to a boil. Blanch peppers for 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside in a 9x13 inch parchment lined baking dish.

When tomato mixture is thick add Parmesan cheese and cooked quinoa and combine. Spoon combined mixture into each half of the green peppers. Cover with tinfoil and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes or until peppers are al dente. Remove from oven and sprinkle Cheddar cheese on top of each pepper. Return to oven just long enough for cheese to melt, about 5 minutes. Remove and enjoy!

Fun Food Find Friday!!

These MultiGrain chips have to be my favorite! The flavor is amazing! And to top it off they are extremely good for you! They have flax, sunflower and sesame seeds, and quinoa in them to name a few of the not so many ingredients. They are a great substitute for chips in pretty much anything. In my home we love to make nachos with them. I'll post about them some other time, yummy!! They also have sweet potato chips, which are very good too.

I've found these at the Health Food stores, but they are extremely cheaper at Costco.

Crock pot Spaghetti Chicken

I love this recipe. Anything in the crock pot is good because it saves moms time. I got the original recipe from Heather Peterson, a woman my mother works with. I've had to change quite a bit with this recipe, so I also changed the name. I put spaghetti in it because I use the same dry ingredients from my mom's spaghetti from yesterday. It makes a lot but you wouldn't know that with my three Little's. I don't usually have left overs with this one.

Crock Pot Spaghetti Chicken

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons butter (ICBINB spray)

1/2 cup water

1/2 tablespoon dried basil flakes

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

2 tablespoon dried onion flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano flakes

1/2 teaspoon ground garlic

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons honey

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1-2 oz Neufchatel cream cheese

Directions

Put chicken in crock pot. Mix basil, parsley, onion, oregano, garlic, salt, and honey in water until honey is dissolved and pour over chicken (it will be thick). Cover and cook in crock pot for 3 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low (if you cut up your chicken the cook time will be faster). Mix remaining ingredients and add to crock pot and continue cooking for 1 hour on high or 2 hours on low. Just before serving take chicken out and shred. Put chicken back into sauce and stir until covered. Serve over cooked quinoa.

Wisdom Wednesday!!

The other day I had a friend ask me how I cook Quinoa. So today that is what our topic will be on. I'm not an expert on Quinoa (say it like kee-n-wha). I've only been using it for a little while. I was introduced to Quinoa by my very healthy mother-in-law. She was using it as a rice substitute. That is what I mostly do with it too. My family, yes even my children, really like it. It cooks a lot like rice. First and most important you must rinse it and rinse it well. Even if the package says pre rinsed, Still rinse it!! Then you double the amount of liquid to quinoa, boil for 15 minutes uncovered, then remove from heat, cover for 5 minutes, fluff and you're done. I do like to put some "better than bullion" in it or substitute some of the water with chicken stock or broth. It gives it a little more flavor that my kids like. I have ground it and made it into flour. I didn't do it right so it had a very strong flavor. I used it in my cornbread recipe from yesterday. So we just put a lot of honey on the bread and it was fine. I didn't rinse it before I ground it, rinsing is very important! I really think that rinsing would have made it better. I've seen lots of recipes that use Quinoa. My mother-in-law has used it in cookies and other things that I'm excited to try.

So that is what I've done with Quinoa. This is what I know about it.

It is Gluten Free.

It is a low glycemic index food.

It is an alkaline food, which is so good for you especially if you use it instead of white rice which is acidic. Anything alkaline you should add lots of it to your diet!

Quinoa is a whole grain and for me the first reason I use it is because it is a complete protein all on it's own. You don't have to add beans to it! I love that!

Quinoa has all 8 essential amino acids.

It has lots of iron so your brain gets more oxygen.

It has tons of fiber,

and it's low in fat.

You can find Quinoa at the Health Food stores. This picture is of the Quinoa that I buy from Costco. It is so much cheaper there. I haven't looked for it in normal grocery stores so I'm not sure if it is there or not.

Have fun experimenting with Quinoa!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

When I saw the original recipe here, I was so excited! I knew that I could make some healthy changes to it. I love sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, all of those types of chicken. The thing that I didn't realize was that before they put the yummy sauces on the chicken they fry the chicken! Talk about calories besides the fact that I can't have the grease. I hope you like this recipe as much as I did. Yummy!!!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts or tenders

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoons rice milk

1 cup whole wheat pancake mix from here

1 20oz can pineapple chunks

3 tablespoons evaporated cane juice

1/4 cup all natural Bragg liquid aminos

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

2 tablespoons olive oil (ICBINB spray)

1 large green sweet pepper, cut lengthwise into strips*

1/4 medium onion, diced

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved or 1 large Roma tomato diced

Cooked Quiona

Directions

Preheat oven to 375*F. Cut Chicken into 1 in. pieces. In a medium bowl combine egg and milk. In another bowl put pancake mix. Dip pieces of chicken in egg/milk mixture then coat with pancake mix. Place on a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

For sauce, drain pineapple, reserving juice. Add enough water to juice to make 1 3/4 cups. In a bowl combine sugar, braggs, vinegar, cornstarch, and paprika. Add pineapple juice mixture and set aside.

Add oil to wok or 12 in. skillet. Preheat over medium-high heat. Stir-fry green sweet pepper and onion for 2 to 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove vegetables from wok. Stir sauce and add to center of wok. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Add cooked vegetables, pineapple chunks, and tomatoes to wok. Cook and stir about 2 minutes more or until heated through. Add chicken. The chicken will still have some loose flour on it. Just shake it off before adding, do not rub or brush it off. The flour will help absorb some of the sauce. Stir to coat chicken. Serve immediately over cooked quinoa.

*I didn't have a green sweet pepper as you can see from my picture. I just used red, yellow, and orange sweet peppers. You can add peas, cut carrots, and any other veggie you like to eat with sweet and sour chicken just cook them in the oil when you cook the onion and green sweet pepper.