Monday, January 10, 2011

Redemption, Reviews, and Recipes.

Happy Monday! I hope your week has kicked off fabulously, and that your weekend was glorious and relaxing. Mine definitely was well needed and well appreciated. Now, back to the grind! I am super excited because my boot camp starts tomorrow. If you are still interested of have questions shoot me an email! It is going to be a fantastic calorie burning sweat fest!!

The fabulous people over at Bob's Red Mill sent me some products to review, and I have been quite excited about trying them.  I received organic whole wheat flour, steel cut oats, quinoa, and whey protein. You may remember the steel cut oats and the whey protein from the breakfast fail. Yikes. Still kinda makes me gag again. Not Bob's fault...definitely my own.
 
And so this weekend it was time for a redemption. Steel cut outs round #2, but this time with a recipe, and a little more knowledge on the situation. I got out my bag of steel cut oats and set it on the counter and turned around to grab some other goods out of the pantry when i heard what sounded like an avalanche of sand...SERIOUSLY??? This is what I turned around to find...somebody in this world wants me to HATE steel cut oats.
 Yep, the WHOLE bag poured on the floor. :(
- I HATE wasting food.
- I am also a weird cooking germ-a-phobe
These two qualities don't make for the best combination. I scraped the top oats off the pile. The ones not touching the floor, and salvaged what I could, then threw the rest away. I felt like Rachel. (I LOVE Friends, btw)
Luckily I saved enough to try out my recipe. I put this combo into the crock pot before I went to bed on Saturday night, and set them on low, so they could cook all night.
And when I woke up on Sunday...VOILA! The different recipes I looked at suggested you add butter, dried fruit, chopped apples, brown sugar, etc. I learned my lesson about too much experimenting last time, so I decided just to try the oats this time. They turned out GREAT! Very creamy, and delicious.
The amount I cooked made 4 servings, so I divided the others up for breakfast this week. I'll let you know how they reheat. Don't judge the ghetto tupperware.
I added some peanut butter, chopped up bananas, and cinnamon. It was very tasty. I think this may be a great way to save some time in the morning if needed. I am excited to see how the re-heating of the oats goes, and I will definitely let you know.
I also wanted to try a recipe that I've had for a while using quinoa. I've never made it before, so I had no idea what to expect! I know with some quinoa you buy you have to wash it first, and do some preparation beforehand, but with the Bob's Red Mill kind I received it was ready to use. The easier the better, right? Here is the recipe I followed. I had everything on hand which was great.

Black Bean Quinoa Salad

Ingredients: 
1 tsp olive oil
3 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp onion powder
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup corn (I used canned, but you could use frozen as well)
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained 
salt and pepper to taste
*(The original recipe also called for cilantro, but I didn't have any. I think it would add some color and make the salad look really pretty!)

Directions: Spray a saucepan well with a non stick spray and combine onion powder with olive oil and minced garlic. Heat through. Add Quinoa, chicken broth, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil and cover. Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for twenty minutes. After 20 minutes add black beans, corn, salt, and pepper. Cover and let simmer for five more minutes. This salad can be served hot or cold.
The verdict. LOVED the quinoa. I loved the nutty flavor and the texture. The recipe was really really good too. So flavorful. It made a ton, and I'll be eating the leftovers this week for sure. Quinoa is awesome because it is a complete protein. It is gluten free, a great source of fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron.

This recipe makes 7 servings (each 1/2 cup) and the stats are...
Awesome protein and fiber content! You really should all try this. It was SO good...almost like a play on spanish beans and rice. I am going to use the Whole wheat flour Bob's Red Mill sent me to make some of my favorite zucchini cookies, and I want to try the whey in one of my shakes. So far we're 2 for 2!



Do you like Quinoa? I can't believe this is the first time I've had it. It's DELISH! Do you believe in the 5-second rule? Or are you a food germ-a-phobe like I am? What food do you love so much that you would eat it off the floor? I think I might salvage a chocolate covered cinnamon bear...man those things are good.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

I LOVE quinoa!! love, love, love it. I have been wanting to try crock pot oatmeal for a while too!! Looks delish!

The Hungry Runner Girl said...

I LOVE THAT FRIEND'S SCENE!!! I just watched that one ha! Your oats look amazing.....come cook for me. I am not a germaphobe, I probably would have picked it up and just not told Billy what happened ha. Girl, I have never tried Quinoa and I need to big time! LOVE YOU!!

Katy said...

I love Red Mill stuff. Two of my really good friends are celiac, and my fiance and I went gluten-free for a while, and Bob's Red Mill saved us!

We eat gluten now, but whenever we do big dinners, I still try to make as many gluten-free menu otions as possible, out of courtesy for them.

Jody @ Raising Fin and Fish said...

Love quinoa.... I should do a post on it! Good idea :)

I am NOT a germ-a-phobe. I would totally eat something off the floor, blow it off and call it good.

Great idea on making a big batch of oatmeal! I frequently have oatmeal for breakfast and that would save me a ton of time. Let me know how reheating goes!!!

Mars said...

Quinoa is so good! I'll have to send you a recipe I have for a Quinoa grapefruit spiniach salad that was super yummy! I'm also a germaphobe, esp with food, but I also hate wasting stuff so I prob would have tried to salvage some too :) I want to try those oats in a crock pot. Any time saver is awesome. I'm interested to see how they reheat!

Amanda@runninghood said...

We eat all kinds of things off the floor. At least my kids do. Shh, don't think I'm a bad mom. We have a HUGE bag of Quinoa and I have a few recipes but have not made it in awhile. Actually, maybe I will try this recipe tonight. Thanks. Off to make it now!

Amanda@runninghood said...

We eat all kinds of things off the floor. At least my kids do. Shh, don't think I'm a bad mom. We have a HUGE bag of Quinoa and I have a few recipes but have not made it in awhile. Actually, maybe I will try this recipe tonight. Thanks. Off to make it now!

Heather said...

Oh dear...I am not a germaphobe at all...probably should be more than I am. :) Glad your oats turned out! Leftovers are great!

Jen said...

I love that episode of Friends but I can't eat stuff off the floor. I'm glad you found a good way to make your oats. They look yummy! My sister in law posted this recipe just the other day. You'll have to check it out. http://andemerymakes4.blogspot.com/
Have fun at boot camp tomorrow!

Unknown said...

I MADE YOUR BANANA bread!!! Thank you so much, everyone LOVED it, it was so moist. You really have great "taste" with your recipes so I'm definitely going to try the quinoa salad, I actually love quinoa so I know I'll love it!
Thanks Megster(does anyone call you that? Everyone calls me that and I've always wanted to call another Megan that)!
Hope your week is going well!

Jenn said...

Ghetto tupperware-ha!!

I LOVE quinoa! I eat it about 3 times a week. I'm a creature of habit and eat the same things a lot because it's just easy. I'm definitely going to try that recipe!

Ummm-yep don't live in a 3rd world country quite yet. I'm not yet forced to eat off the floor. For the sake of a Brach's pumpkin mellowcreme , I might consider it:)

Amanda@runninghood said...

We had Red Quinoa with Tofu and various veggies tonight. my kids acted like I was trying to kill them. Good Grief. ;)

Amanda@runninghood said...

Hey you! So, my kids are 5, 3, 18 months. I just cooked the quinoa in the rice cooker with veg. broth. Then I cook the tofu with soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and olive oil...so yummy! Love it that way and so do two of my kids. Kids are funny...I'm getting pay back from what a crapper I was as a kid when My mom cooked healthy. :)

Unknown said...

so I just pulled up your post and its funny because I am cooking Bob Mills steel cut oats on the stove AS WE SPEAK (or as i read), haha. Perfect! Just gonna add some PB and cinnamon. YUM. Quinoa is a favorite of mine too. Great recipes! Bob would be proud!
LC

Keri said...

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Anonymous said...

I love quinoa, but it doesn't love me. I found out last spring, after making a batch of some awesome quinoa hash (knockoff of of something on menu at Snap Kitchen), that I have a sensitivity or slight allergy to it :-( Swollen lips and mouth for a week. Weird, I don't have any other food allergies that I know of

Lasagna Guy said...

I have to try this recipe.