Quinoa

You have to try quinoa.  We LOVE it.  It is so good for you and tastes good too! 

In case you’ve never heard of quinoa before….  Quinoa is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that is related to the spinach family.  It has a fluffy, slightly crunchy texture, and subtle flavor when cooked.  Quinoa is soooo good for you.  Here is a just short list of all of its benefits:

• Quinoa is gluten free
• Quinoa is a good source of:
• Fiber
• Protein - Complete proteins, containing all nine essential amino acids.  (Amino acids are building blocks for muscles.)
• Manganese and copper – antioxidants that may help to get rid of cancer and disease-causing substances.
• Lysine – essential for tissue growth and repair
• Magnesium & Riboflavin (see below)
• It is easily digested for best absorption of nutrients
• Acts as a pre-biotic that feeds the good bacteria in your intestines
• For vegans and people who are lactose intolerant, quinoa is a flavorful source of plant derived calcium
• Quinoa is one of the most complete foods in nature because it contains amino acids, enzymes, vitamins and minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. 

Migraine Relief?  

Do you get migraines? Quinoa may help!

Quinoa is a good source of magnesium and riboflavin. Magnesium helps relax blood vessels, preventing the constriction and rebound dilation characteristic of migraines.  Riboflavin (B2) is necessary for proper energy production within cells. Researchers believe riboflavin improves the energy metabolism within brain and muscle cells.  Increased ingestion of both minerals has shown to help reduce the frequency of migraines. 

Directions for Cooking Quinoa

There are so many different ways to use quinoa. You can use quinoa as a side dish in place of rice and cous cous and tastes great with sautéed vegetables.  Quinoa can be used as a breakfast cereal or over a salad.  Use your imagination!

Basic Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup of quinoa

2 cups of water (we like to use chicken stock)

To taste:

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Paprika

Directions

Bring all ingredients to a boil. Stir. Cover and turn down to a low simmer. Quinoa should absorb all liquid and will be ready in about 15 minutes.

Tom likes to boil the quinoa, cover and cook a high flame throughout.  This makes crunchier quinoa.

I like to follow the directions above.  This makes fluffier quinoa. 

We’ll post more recipes incorporating quinoa soon!

Chicken Cutlets

• We love chicken cutlets! 
• It's not really the healthiest meal though.  We discovered a simple recipe to substitute most of the bread crumbs with flaxseed and wheat germ. Try a healthier alternative to breaded chicken cutlets.  These are delicious! 
• Ingredients
• (When you can, also try to use organic ingredients.) 
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup whole DHA milk
• 1/2 cup olive or canola oil, for shallow frying
• Bread Crumb Mixture:
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup flaxseed
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• 
• 
  
• Directions 
• Mix eggs and milk in small bowl
• Mix bread crumb mixture together on sheet of wax paper
• Dip chicken cutlets into egg batter, then bread crumb mixture
• Heat oil in large skillet, fry chicken cutlets until golden brown and cooked through

Enjoy!

Meal Planning

Trying to eat healthy was turning out to be time consuming and expensive. Well at least the way we went about it when we first tried changing our eating habits.


We would go food shopping at Whole Foods and spend a million dollars.  During the week, things always came up and we didn't have the time to decide on, cook, and clean up dinner so we would eat pizza.  And at the end of the week would end up throwing out a lot of the food we bought from Whole Foods because we never cooked and it all went bad.


We needed to find a better way, and planning ahead (about a week) turned out to be the best way to eat healthy with a busy schedule. 


So, we put together a meal planning template in excel (because Melissa is a dork and everything has to be in an excel spreadsheet) and we fill it out every week.  It helps us come up with a food shopping list, talk about our schedules for the following week, and most importantly, really think about what we were going to be eating. 


We tried to make it as simple as possible so we would actually use it.  (We do, you can ask my brother because he teases us about it.)  We encourage you to take a look and try it out! Let us know how it works out for you and your families.


We were unable to attach the file on our blog, but if you would like for us to email it to you, please email us at melicipes@gmail.com. We'll work on seeing if there is a way to do this...

Enriched, Fortified, Refined... what do these food labels mean?

When we began working on eating healthier, we started noticing "enriched" "fortified" and "refined" labeled on food. We did a little research to better understand what was in the foods we were eating.   

Here's what we found out:

"Refined" Foods - refined foods are highly processed foods that have been stripped of their original nutrient content and fiber. (Examples: white flour, white pasta)

"Enriched" Foods - in enriched foods, vitamins and minerals are added to replace the original vitamins and minerals that were lost during the refining process. (Examples: breads, pasta)

"Fortified" Foods - in fortified foods, vitamins and minerals have been added to food in addition to the levels that were originally found before the food was refined.  When foods are fortified, they will have more vitamins and minerals than before they were refined.  (Examples: milk, salt)

Enriched and fortified foods are refined food with added vitamins and minerals. 

**Refined foods lack the good stuff**

During the refining process, nutrients are lost, valuable fibers are removed, and what is left behind is a bland, nutrient deficient, high calorie food.  Food manufactures enrich or fortify their foods to add nutritional value to their (usually high-in-sugar-content) products and labels. 

Keep in mind that these vitamins and minerals added back may be less than what was lost in the refining process.  And your body may not be able to even absorb the benefits of the vitamins and minerals!

We encourage you to look for these labels and think twice about what they mean exactly.  There may be a more "whole" food option. 

Introducing - KUZU

We were getting some questions on Kuzu. So here is our previous post on

Kuzu

Try something new today!

Use kuzu as a thickening agent as opposed to corn starch, arrowroot, or potato starch.

Kuzu is a gigantic root used in Chinese and Japanese medicine.  It can be used in daily meals as preventive medicine and also for curing minor indigestion, colds, aches and pains.
Kuzu does not have any flavor and can be used to thicken soups and stews, sauces and gravies, and pudding, pie fillings and shortcake toppings.

To use kuzu, crush the chunks thoroughly and dissolve in a small amount of cold water.

A 1/2 to 1 TBSP of kuzu will thicken 1 cup of liquid.

Kuzu contains flavonoids - these have a strong medicinal effect on the digestive and circulatory system. Flavonoids are anti-oxidents and inhibit the contraction of smooth muscle tissue, increasing blood flow and relieving cramping in the intestines.

We like to add kuzu in tea, dusted over vegetables and/or fish at dinner, and in our chicken broth.

What ways will you try kuzu?

Bean Salsa

I can be a really picky eater and not very open to trying new things.  And I'm not really into beans. So I am proud of myself for trying this one out. My good friend Kadie made this for my girlfriends and I and we LOVED it.  It’s a perfect party dip and makes a large serving size.

Ingredients
1 chopped onion
1 chopped red peper
1 chopped jalepeno pepper (optional)
1 chopped avocado (optional)
1/2 cup cilantro
1 can corn (drained)
1 can chick peas (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can black-eyed pease (drained)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup italian dressing
1 bag tostitos

Directions

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl and enjoy!

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