Quinoa Salad is Berry-licious!

                                                                                 

I really have no excuse for not posting too regularly except for the fact that I have been enjoying some much needed alone time.  How is this you ask? For one, I am on holidays from work until September.  Two, Hubby has been working during the day, as per usual. Three, the Boy is on a fantastic Me to We adventure in Ecuador building a school, playing games with kids, and having a blast. (He's a keeper!)

Not to brag too much, but I have been sleeping in, watching Netflix, and hanging out in the garden.  Nothing too exciting but seems to be just what I needed.  That being said, many apologies if I haven't kept in touch. I must also admit to spending a good amount of time browsing Pinterest.  I love seeing the ideas and thing people come up with and sometimes it inspires my own thought processes.

I found some salads featuring quinoa and berries.  The dressings didn't seem to appeal to me so I figured honey and lime always go well with berries and boom....there you have it. 

Berry Quinoa Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

4 cups mixed berries 

    - I used a mixture of blueberries, cherries, raspberries, and strawberries

1/2 cup un cooked quinoa

1 cup water

Slivered almonds, toast almonds in a dry pan until slightly golden and allow to cool.

Honey lime dressing

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tbsp honey

3 tbsp oil (use a neutral tasting oil such as canola)

Pinch of salt

Combine the quinoa and water in a pot.  Bring to a boil, slap a lid on it, reduce the temperature to low and set the timer for 15 minutes.  When the timer dings, take it off the heat, fluff it with a fork and set it aside to cool.

Wash and dry the berries, cut up the strawberries, pit and halve the cherries, and put it all to the side.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake it until everything is combined. Give the dressing a taste to see if it needs more honey, or lime, or salt.

Once the quinoa is cooled, combine it with the berries, almonds, and the dressing. Chill until serving time.

This salad was divine....Hubby gave it rave reviews!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Summer Sipping, Blueberries, and Chicken

Summer is flying by and I am still doing my darndest to keep up with the cooking and baking, picture taking and blogging.  Truth be told, I am taking tons of photos but I am failing at the writing the part....I even took my laptop to the back yard to write but there are so many darn distractions in the yard...you know, the garden, butterflies, naps....that sort of thing....

The distraction of the first ripening tomato in the garden!!!

 I am still busy making my own lemon and ginger syrups for tasty summer bevvies (and for some marinades and dressings) but lately  I have tried a new syrup. Blueberry syrup!!! I did some research online for this one and came up with my own concoction that follows the recipe I follow for the lemon syrup. A simple syrup of equal parts sugar and water with the berries tossed in. This one seemed to work for me.

Blueberry syrup

4 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 lemon's worth of lemon juice

Put everything in a pot and let it come to a boil. Cook until the berries are popping. I gave the berries a bit of a mashing with a potato masher just to get all the juice out.

Allow everything to cool in the pot then pass through a strainer.  I stirred and mashed the berries in the strainer a bit more then transferred the mashed berries to a jar for use on toast....instant jam!

Store the berry syrup in the fridge.

I found this one required a bit more than 1/3 cup of syrup per can on club soda. It makes a nice fruity soda with a gorgeous colour.

Another use for this syrup:

BBQ sauce!!!!!

Mix equal parts chili paste and syrup and brush onto meats on the grill. I used this on chicken tonight and it was absolutely divine, a nice sweetness with heat on the back of the tongue!

I used Sambal oelek for this one.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!! (and have a drink!)

Rhubarb Blueberry Crumble

As I was relaxing in my newly fenced in back yard I started checking out the garden and wound up harvesting a small bunch of rhubarb from my garden. Believe it our not, I did have a recipe in the back of my mind. The latest edition of Everyday Food had a crumble recipe in it with a variations chart so you could switch out other fruits for the one used in the original recipe.

As I was chopping up the rhubarb, I only had four cups of the yummy stuff so I turned to my trusty freezer which just happened to have some blueberries nestled away inside. I adapted the recipe somewhat. Since the blueberries were so sweet, I was able to reduce the amount of sugar in the fruit. I also added some oats to the crumble topping because I always use oats in crisps and crumbles...I just do.  As a matter of fact, a few years ago, the Boy took his first foods class in middle school and came home completely appalled.  Absolutely disgusted to tell you the truth.  You see, after years of making apple crisp our way (leave the peels on, oats in the crust, butter....) The Boy had to make apple crisp in foods class the way their book said so he unhappily peeled apples and chopped them (rather then small wedges), used margarine (GASP) in the topping, had no oats to add, nor did they add nearly enough cinnamon... He really was unhappy with the foods teacher that day. (Poor kid, I've wrecked him for 'normal' foods classes....tee hee)

Rhubarb Blueberry Crumble (adapted from Everyday Food, July/August 2012)
Preheat oven to 375F

Fruit filling:

4 cups rhubarb, sliced
2 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch

Mix all 4 of the above ingredients gently in a bowl.

Topping:

6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/4 light brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup rolled oats

Cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the flour salt and oats and continue creaming until it all comes together into a clumpy lumpy texture.

Pour the fruit filling into an 8 inch baking dish.

Scatter the topping over the fruit.

This is a pile, make sure to spread it out evenly over the fruit.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the fruit is bubbly and topping is golden brown.

Allow to cool for about 20 minutes before serving (or allow to cool and heat before serving).

We actually waiting until AFTER dinner to eat this tasty treat....of course we had some frozen vanilla yogurt with it.
Soooo good.  Go make some.  Right now. Do it.
Trust me.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

A Week's Worth of Brekkies

A great way to get going on these cold winter mornings in is a hot bowl of oatmeal! I don't have time every morning to make a pot of good old fashioned oatmeal but I am not a fan of the prepackaged instant oatmeals, they just aren't the same. The oats have been so over rolled there isn't nearly as much fibre left in them as there should be and I can make my own flavours with natural ingredients.  If I want maple flavoured oatmeal, I will just add maple syrup!

My breakfast is happy to see me!

 I generally buy the generic brand of steel cut oats or multigrain oats and cook up a week's worth of oatmeal on Sunday afternoon or evening.  Follow the instructions on the box to cook up the oatmeal and divy the oatmeal out into single serve portions into bowls (with plastic wrap) or containers with lids if you have.  All you have to do in the morning is pop it into the microwave for a minute or two and you are ready for the day! (Or grab it to take to work, use the  microwave in the classroom/staffroom and let the kids watch you enjoy your oatmeal!)

Cook the oatmeal according to package instructions.





Here's where you can adjust the flavours to suit your mood:

• Switch out the water for another liquid such as juice, coconut milk, soy milk, milk....even tea

 
While cooking add to the pot the flavours of your choice:

• 1 chopped apple (keep the peel), handful of raisins, 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• handful of chopped dates (sweetness), shredded coconut,
• pumkin pie spices and smow pureed pumpkin
• chopped pineapple, coconut, and some rum extract (Do you like pina colodas?)
• a handful of chopped dried apricots, some chopped walnuts...
• dried blueberries

The possiblities really are endless, just use your imagination.
Today I felt like apples, dates, and cinnamon!

Lately I have been adding some frozen strawberries and a gulp of maple syrup before popping it into the microwave for 2 minutes.

Being prepared for the week ahead helps keep morning mayhem to a minimum.  Get up, get ready, have breakfast, and go.

One for each day of the week!! This batch has apples, dates, and cinnamon in it but I will most likely add some maple syrup and strawberries in the morning!  This really does save so much time in the mornings.

I'm Going Bananas & Blueberry Muffins

It has been a busy week!  Between baseball practices, work gatherings, family dinners, and head colds this week has flown by and I realized I hadn't posted anything new.  When we got back from our family dinner tonight I felt the need to bake up some banana muffins.  It really had more to do with the extremely over ripe bannas that were sitting on the counter, beckoning me to mash 'em up into an oh so yummy batch of muffins than the need to have something for the teen age bottemless pit to snack on.  This recipe I have had hand written in my recipe binder for longer than I can remember.  I have made so many changes and notations in the book that it has become my own famliy recipe.  I usually turn loaf recipes into muffins to help with portion control...although the bottomless pit sometimes makes that attempt futile!

Banana Bread/Muffins
Printable recipe

Over ripe bananas are sweeter

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 5 bananas over ripe...the more over ripe the better
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda

Possible add ins:

• Chocolate chips, blueberries, nuts, 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a bowl mix together:

• 1 cup ap flour
• 1 cup wh wh flour
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda

Set this flour mixture aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a bowl with a wooden spoon..whatever you have) mix together until well combined:

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 ¼ cups sugar

Add and mix well:

• 2 eggs

Now add and mix well;

• 5 over ripe bananas

Mix well, mashing the bananas up as you go.

Add the flour and mix until just combined.  Remember that with muffins you do not want to over mix the batter or the muffins will be tough.

This will make 2 loaves or about 24 muffins (depending on size of muffins)

Muffins bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Loaves bake for 40 – 45 minutes or until golden brown and the top springs back when pressed with your finger.