Bulk Cooking with Quinoa Part 3

Part 3 of cooking 3 recipes with 10 cups of cooked quinoa is one of my favorite recipes.  Super simple, delicious and it is great warm or cold.  Hope you like this recipe!

Ingredients:

• Cooked Quinoa (whatever is left after you have made your other recipes, usually about 3 cups)
• Big bundle of Cilantro
• 2 Tomato
• 1 cup Frozen Corn
• 1 Avocado
• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• Half Purple Onion 
• Limes - usually 2
• Garlic Salt - to taste

Directions:

• Put quinoa in a large bowl
• Chop everything! Cilantro, tomato, red bell pepper, and purple onion put in bowl with quinoa.  Avocado I put in right before we are going to eat it, so if you are eating this yummy dish now stick it in, but if you are going to put it in the fridge and eat it later hold off on the avocado till you are ready to eat!  Corn doesn't need to be chopped but it gets added in now too!
  
• Cut limes in half and squeeze juice on quinoa to taste (I like a lot of flavor so I use 2 limes)  I usually zest the outside of the lime too!  Add in any garlic salt, pepper, cumin, red pepper flakes, or really any other seasonings you want.  I usually just stick to a little bit of garlic salt and call it a day.
• Mix everything together and chill in fridge till you are ready to eat.
  
  Here is the final result, without the avocado because it was way to early in the morning to add it in.  I usually serve this with chips and salsa.  
  
  
  Alright so there you have 3 meals with 10 cups of cooked quinoa!  Hope you enjoyed, more bulk cooking ideas to come soon!  Happy cooking!

Bulk Cooking with Quinoa Part 2

Part 2 in my bulk cooking with quinoa is super simple, taco meat for tacos or nachos.  Just like yesterday's recipe I make this in bulk then I know I've got at least a months worth (meaning my kids eat tacos once a week) of meat frozen and ready to go.

I only use organic and homemade ingredients in all my cooking which can add up in price.  One of the reasons I love using quinoa in recipes like this is because it makes my organic meat (which is so expensive!) and makes it go much further, thus saving me money!  I am always excited when I can stretch my food budget with great recipes like the taco meat!

Since I homeschool my kids and we don't eat out having meals that are quick is super important.  I don't have time to spend an hour prepping lunch in the middle of the kids school day and since we do homeschool they don't have to eat a packed lunch (sandwich) every day.  Yippee!  Ben and I do not eat meat so this is a really simple taco meat for the kids - we usually have taco salad the day they eat tacos then we can all enjoy guacamole and salsa!  Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:

• 4 cups of cooked quinoa 
• 1 pound of organic grass fed ground beef
• Whatever you use to season your taco meat.  I use a homemade salsa, I'll add that recipe on another post! (but you could buy a salsa to put in your meat.  Costco has a great organic salsa that I sometimes use)  You can use a taco packet of seasoning or whatever you like it best.  I'm simple with this stuff, you have to cook what you know your kids are going to like!
• You could also add in onions and bell peppers chopped small if you want.  If I ate meat I would totally throw in some yummy peppers and onions too!

Directions:

• Brown ground beaf (wow this is rocket science cooking here! lol - sorry did I mention I like simple cooking!)
  
• After meat has cooked (and onions and peppers if your using them) add in quinoa and spices of your choice.  You might need a little water too, depending on what you are using to season your meat.  If you are just adding in a packet add some water if you use salsa it should be wet enough. 

• Let it cook on low so the flavors really soak up in the quinoa.  Now I'll stick in a random picture of my ever present helper in the kitchen - Lucy.  She never leaves my side while I'm cooking in hopes of getting a treat!  She's so cute, my kitchen isn't complete without her!
  
• And finally let your "meat" mixture cool, then put it in ziplock bags or Pyrex or whatever you use to freeze your foods in.  I freeze mine into small portions that will make 4 tacos so I don't have any leftovers that I find a month later moldy in the fridge (I always have the best intentions to use those leftovers but somehow they get pushed to the back of the fridge never to be found again until they look like a science experiment, I don't know how that happens!)
  

My batch made 6 servings this time - again I'm not one for measuring, so these things turn out a little different all the time.  It will still only last me a month as we will have company or cousins over and I'll need to use 2 of these for one meal.  

Tomorrow I'll post a recipe that Ben and I love to eat made again with the same 10 cups of quinoa.  See you tomorrow!

Bulk Cooking with Quinoa Part 1

Today I'm going to talk with you about one of my favorite things quinoa!  If you haven't cooked with it yet you should and here are just a few of the reasons why:

• Great source of fiber
• It is a cholesterol free and low fat source of protein 
• It's a seed not a grain
• It's a super food!
• Contains all 8 essential amino acids
• Those with gluten or wheat allergies can eat this to their hearts content!
• Great option for vegans or vegetarians instead of rice or beans!

As a mom I love quinoa because it takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with, I can hide it in foods and my kids think they are eating meat instead, and it is so versatile that I can cook a bunch at once and make different meals.  

I'm a big bulk cooker - why make the same mess in your kitchen week after week if you can cook in bulk and make the mess in your kitchen once a month instead!  Do yourselves a favor moms and cook in bulk, life gets simpler with bulk cooking and eating out happens less and less when you have meals prepped in the freezer and all you have to do is thaw and eat!  I spend one day bulk cooking meals for a month.  

Last week I cooked 10 cups of quinoa and made 3 recipes with the cooked quinoa.  Today I will show you my "meat" loaf recipe (I have to put the"" around meat because there is so little meat and so much other good stuff in the recipe)

 "Meat"loaf recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of quinoa
• Head of cauliflower
• 1 pound of organic grass fed beef
• 1 ripe large organic tomato
• 2 small cans of organic tomato paste
• 1 cup of bread crumbs or ground oats or ground cashews (you can use whatever your favorite it in this recipe)
• Seasonings of your choice (since my husband and I don't eat meat this meal is only for our kids so I keep seasonings to a minimum a little garlic salt and pepper and they love it!)

Directions:

• Steam cauliflower then blend in a blender with a tomato (you could use a hand mixer or food processor, even a potato smasher would work.  I have a vita-mixer so it is my go to tool in the kitchen)
  
•  Mix your cauliflower tomato mix into the quinoa.  The tomato added isn't so much for flavor as much as it is for color helps this dish still look like meat - which fools my ever so picky kids into eating it!
• Mix in your ground beef, seasonings, bread crumbs, and tomato paste (the tomato paste helps everything bind together really well)  Mix everything really well, I usually can't mix it enough with a spoon and end up mixing the old fashion way with my hands (yummy)
  
• I cook this meatloaf in muffin tins.  I do this because it is easier to serve and freeze for the kids.  It also helps me know exactly how many weeks worth of meals I have at a time.  The meatloaf also defrosts way faster this way, so I can pull them out in the morning as I am planning meals for the day and by lunch they are done and just needed to be heated for a few minutes in the toaster oven or stove
  

 Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or till it looks done.  The recipe makes (give or take a couple, depending on the size of cauliflower) 24 meatloaf muffins.  Which for my kids will last 6 weeks!

One of my other favorite things about cooking quinoa with meat is that it doesn't shrink!  You know how when you cook a big old meatloaf and it looks great in the pan and then you pull it out after it's cooked and it is half the size!  That doesn't happen when quinoa is in the meat - what you put in the oven is what you pull out!  Success!

I laugh on the inside every time I watch my kids eat this "meat"loaf because I could never get them to eat quinoa or cauliflower and yet they will gobble down this dish.

Tomorrow I'll post the 2nd meal I made from the 10 cups of quinoa I cooked so stay tuned!

Let the blog begin!

After a very long time off from writing and blogging it's time to start again
A little about me - married to my high school sweetheart, Ben for 12 years.

We have 3 amazing kids (2 girls and a boy they are 10, 8, and 6) and are in the very beginning process of adoption (more to come on that I'm sure in the months ahead!)

After saying over and over and over that I would never be a homeschool mom - I am indeed a homeschool mom and I LOVE it (of course!)
 I have also completely overhauled my families life when it comes to our spending and dietary choices.  2 years ago my kids were in public school, I was driving through Starbucks at least once a day and when my cup ran out I'd switch to Dr. Pepper (not joking)

We hit fast food restaurants like my son hits his sisters with light sabers, and that room in the house that has a stove and fridge was hardly used.
Now our life looks pretty different - my rule is don't eat it if you don't make it from scratch - WOW I've learned a lot through this process and failed miserably a few times too! (homemade cheese its not so good, in case your wondering) I make all of our cleaning products, I love repurposing things, and antique shopping too.

I have chickens in our little suburb home, a lab, a yorkie and a tortoise named Spike (I'll happily admit the hamsters just died and I faked I was sad to my kids but on the inside I was singing hallelujah).

We only eat local and organic food, juice, have a huge garden in my super small yard and I continue to threaten to rip the grass out of both the front and backyard to make space for gardening - but I have not convinced Ben this is a good idea . . . YET!  

So my prayer in this blog is simply to share with you things I've learned a long the way.  From cooking, to cleaning products, to homeschooling - I've learned a lot and am still learning every day. What fun is life if you aren't learning something new and I hope that that this can be a place you can learn something - a great recipes or tip, laugh along with me at my failures and short comings, and if nothing else you can read my blog to make yourself feel more normal.
It's my life, weird as it is, I love it and I hope you enjoy some of it too!  Thanks for reading!
jen