This one has quickly become a favorite around our house. It is simple and packed full of nutrition and protein.
Simple Quinoa and Wild Rice Pilaf
~ ½ C wild rice
~ 1 C quinoa
~ 1 vegetable bullion cube
~ 2 T butter or margarine
~ 2 scallions, thinly sliced
~ salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1. Combine the rice with 1 ¼ C water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
2. Add the quinoa, bouillon cube, and 2 C water. Cover and simmer gently until the water is absorbed, 15 minutes.
3. Stir in the butter and scallions. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Smoothies!
I needed to type these up for a friend, so I thougt I would post them. They are from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook--one of my favorite cookbooks.
Sunshine Smoothie
~ 2 ripe bananas, broken into several pieces
~ 1 C pineapple juice
~ ½ C orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
~ 1 C lemon or orange yogurt
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.
Cinnamon Apple or Pear Smoothie
~ 1 ripe banana, broken into several pieces
~ 2 medium soft apples (such as Cortland or Golden Delicious) or ripe pears, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
~ 1 C vanilla yogurt
~ 1 C apple juice or apple cider
~ ¼ t ground cinnamon
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.
Nutty Chocolate-Banana Smoothie
~ 1 large banana, broken into several pieces
~ 1 ½ C chocolate milk (chocolate soy, hemp or almond milk works well too)
~ 1 heaping T peanut butter or cashew butter
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.
Hope you enjoy!
Sunshine Smoothie
~ 2 ripe bananas, broken into several pieces
~ 1 C pineapple juice
~ ½ C orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
~ 1 C lemon or orange yogurt
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.
Cinnamon Apple or Pear Smoothie
~ 1 ripe banana, broken into several pieces
~ 2 medium soft apples (such as Cortland or Golden Delicious) or ripe pears, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
~ 1 C vanilla yogurt
~ 1 C apple juice or apple cider
~ ¼ t ground cinnamon
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.
Nutty Chocolate-Banana Smoothie
~ 1 large banana, broken into several pieces
~ 1 ½ C chocolate milk (chocolate soy, hemp or almond milk works well too)
~ 1 heaping T peanut butter or cashew butter
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.
Hope you enjoy!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Justin's Movie List
so i thought i had better put Justin's movie list here, just in case anyone is interested in helping me reach my goal of 30 DVDs.
The Following are part of the Criterion collection, which he prefers
~Touch of Evil director's cut
~Complete Monetery Pop Festival (3 disc set)--cheapest at criterion.com
~Ikiru
~The Seventh Seal
The following are from Kino films, which he prefers
~The Last Laugh (deluxe edition)
~Avant Garde-20's and 30's
~Avant Garde-28-54
~L' Age d'or
~Peter Tscherkassky compilation--www.index-dvd.at/en/program/008/index.html
~Yellow Submarine
several of these have multiple discs and each disc counts toward the total. the criterion collection can be found at criterion.com and the kino films at kino.com. amazon.com is also an option for the others. if you would rather contribute money, i'm willing to take that as well. i thank all of you in advance for your help and willingness to celebrate justin's birthday and his love of movies.
The Following are part of the Criterion collection, which he prefers
~Touch of Evil director's cut
~Complete Monetery Pop Festival (3 disc set)--cheapest at criterion.com
~Ikiru
~The Seventh Seal
The following are from Kino films, which he prefers
~The Last Laugh (deluxe edition)
~Avant Garde-20's and 30's
~Avant Garde-28-54
~L' Age d'or
~Peter Tscherkassky compilation--www.index-dvd.at/en/program/008/index.html
~Yellow Submarine
several of these have multiple discs and each disc counts toward the total. the criterion collection can be found at criterion.com and the kino films at kino.com. amazon.com is also an option for the others. if you would rather contribute money, i'm willing to take that as well. i thank all of you in advance for your help and willingness to celebrate justin's birthday and his love of movies.
Hearty Seitan Salad
Several people have requested that I share vegetarian friendly recipes with them. Instead of emailing them separately, I've decided to put the recipes up on my blog. So when I find a good recipe or try an old favorite, I will try to remember to post it.
Hearty Seitan Salad
~1 pound seitan--this can be found in the refrigerated section of the health food section or you can omit this if you are unsure about it
~1 T light olive oil
~1 small head dark green lettuce, thinly sliced
~1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut into narrow strips
~2 medium firm ripe tomatoes, diced
~1 medium avocado, sliced
~1/4 C sliced black olives
~2 scallions, sliced, optional
~dressing
1. Cut the seitan into strips, about 1/2 inch by 2 inches. Heat the oil in a wide skillet. Saute, stirring frequently, until golden, then remove from the heat.
2. Combine the lettuce, bell pepper, tomatoes, avocado, olives and optional scallions in a mixing bowl and toss together. Add the seitan strips and enough dressing to moisten the salad, and toss again. Serve at once.
Here is the dressing that we used:
Tangy Tahini Dressing
~1/2 C extra-virgin olive oil
~1/4 C sesame tahini
~2 to 3 T apple cider vinegar
~juice of 1/2 lemon
~2 T natural soy sauce
~1 t dried dill
Combine all ingredients in a tightly lidded bottle and shake thoroughly. Shake well before each use. Keeps up to 2 weeks, refrigerated.
*We put the dressing on each individual portion.
*We also put the whole thing in whole wheat wraps and added fresh cut veggies to round out the meal.
Hearty Seitan Salad
~1 pound seitan--this can be found in the refrigerated section of the health food section or you can omit this if you are unsure about it
~1 T light olive oil
~1 small head dark green lettuce, thinly sliced
~1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut into narrow strips
~2 medium firm ripe tomatoes, diced
~1 medium avocado, sliced
~1/4 C sliced black olives
~2 scallions, sliced, optional
~dressing
1. Cut the seitan into strips, about 1/2 inch by 2 inches. Heat the oil in a wide skillet. Saute, stirring frequently, until golden, then remove from the heat.
2. Combine the lettuce, bell pepper, tomatoes, avocado, olives and optional scallions in a mixing bowl and toss together. Add the seitan strips and enough dressing to moisten the salad, and toss again. Serve at once.
Here is the dressing that we used:
Tangy Tahini Dressing
~1/2 C extra-virgin olive oil
~1/4 C sesame tahini
~2 to 3 T apple cider vinegar
~juice of 1/2 lemon
~2 T natural soy sauce
~1 t dried dill
Combine all ingredients in a tightly lidded bottle and shake thoroughly. Shake well before each use. Keeps up to 2 weeks, refrigerated.
*We put the dressing on each individual portion.
*We also put the whole thing in whole wheat wraps and added fresh cut veggies to round out the meal.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Cooking School
Yesterday for Girl Scouts, Valen and her troop went to the Tops Cooking School in West Seneca. The girls had a great time watching the mirror over the counter and helping make the food.
Valen got to help chop the celery--with a plastic knife--for the chicken noodle soup.
I'm not quite sure how well the celery got chopped with a plastic knife, but she seemed to be having a good time doing it.
They also got to make banana muffins and mini personal pizzas. This is Valen shaping her crust. She was very methodical in saucing her crust and putting on the cheese and pepperoni.
This is Valen enjoying the fruits of her labors. She was especially glad to eat the pepperoni since we don't get them at home.
She had so much fun at the cooking school, that when I told her we were having pizza for dinner, she insisted that we buy mushrooms so that she could make her own pizza again.
Valen got to help chop the celery--with a plastic knife--for the chicken noodle soup.
I'm not quite sure how well the celery got chopped with a plastic knife, but she seemed to be having a good time doing it.
They also got to make banana muffins and mini personal pizzas. This is Valen shaping her crust. She was very methodical in saucing her crust and putting on the cheese and pepperoni.
This is Valen enjoying the fruits of her labors. She was especially glad to eat the pepperoni since we don't get them at home.
She had so much fun at the cooking school, that when I told her we were having pizza for dinner, she insisted that we buy mushrooms so that she could make her own pizza again.
Bicycle Museum
Last Saturday we went to the Bicycle Museum in Orchard Park. It wasn't quite what we expected--not sure what we were expecting--but at first Valen and Riley were very unhappy. Riley wouldn't let me put her down and she was screaming the whole time. After a few minutes we made it to this game and it was like magic:
Valen thought the game was cool--you paid $1 and the guy gave you 3 enlish pennies to play the game because it wouldn't accept anything else.
When Riley saw Valen playing the game, she wanted to play it too, and then she calmed down and let me put her down, and she actually started looking around at things.
At first, Valen was unsure about getting up onto the bike, but once we convinced her it was safe, we couldn't get her down.
Although Riley had calmed down quite a bit by this time, she really did not like the idea of me being up on the bike. She screamed the whole time I was up there. The guy that owns the museum even came back to make sure that everything was OK.
Justin. . .
Valen thought the game was cool--you paid $1 and the guy gave you 3 enlish pennies to play the game because it wouldn't accept anything else.
When Riley saw Valen playing the game, she wanted to play it too, and then she calmed down and let me put her down, and she actually started looking around at things.
At first, Valen was unsure about getting up onto the bike, but once we convinced her it was safe, we couldn't get her down.
Although Riley had calmed down quite a bit by this time, she really did not like the idea of me being up on the bike. She screamed the whole time I was up there. The guy that owns the museum even came back to make sure that everything was OK.
Justin. . .
We had a great time after all was said and done. I think the girls had the most fun in the gift shop area, but all in all it was really neat.
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