Yummy Quinoa

Oh how I love quinoa!!! It is perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks! Quinoa is a super health gluten-free grain. It is a great source of protein and is considered a complete protein. It is easy to digest since it does not contain gluten. It is also a good source of fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron. It is prepared similar to how rice is made, but it takes less time to cook. Quinoa is one of my favorite things to make! It tastes great with any combination of vegetables. You can use either water or vegetable broth to make quinoa, but I love using vegetable broth. Here's how I have been preparing it lately:

Serves 2

What You Need

• 1/2  onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/4-1/2 zucchini 
• a few button mushrooms
• handful of frozen corn
• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• salt
• black pepper
• cumin
• coriander
• garlic powder
• ground ginger
• cayenne
• lemon juice
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa

So you definitely don't have to use all of these ingredients, these are just my favorite vegetables and spices to put into a quinoa dish. Feel free to put whatever your favorite vegetables or spices are into this dish instead!

Roughly dice all of the vegetables (or chop them up any way that you prefer).

Heat a little water or oil in a pot at medium heat. Add onion to the pot and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables to the pot and cook for about 3 or 4 more minutes. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth. Now add the spices. I do not really use measuring spoons for the spices, but I would guess that I put in about a 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon for all the spices except I only do one small shake for ginger and cayenne. Feel free to add more or less of each spice or use different spices. Add the lemon juice, about a 1/2 tablespoon. Add the 1 cup of uncooked quinoa. Stir.

Bring to a boil and then turn to low and let simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Enjoy!

Linguine with Tomato Sauce and Beans

For dinner tonight, I made a delicious and very easy pasta dish.

 All you need is:
-8oz package of linguine
-jar of tomato sauce
-15oz can of great northern beans

Just cook the package of linguine as directed on the box. My favorite brand is Ancient Harvest. I don't eat gluten and this brand has a delicious quinoa-corn blend linguine. Meanwhile in another saucepan, heat up half a jar of tomato sauce (my favorite is Newman's Own tomato basil). Drain and rinse the can of great northern beans, and put them into the tomato sauce. Once the pasta, sauce, and beans are done (the sauce should be lightly steaming), pour the sauce and beans into the linguine pot and serve immediately! Simple and delicious! Enjoy!

The Best Sandwich in the World!

This is the sandwich that I eat literally every single day. I have been eating this sandwich for years. When I travel, I pack the ingredients so I can make this sandwich while traveling!

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of gluten-free bread
• Roasted red pepper hummus
• tomato
• baby spinach
• red onion
• a little bit of olive oil

I put hummus on both slices on bread. I then put a few slices of tomato onto one of the slices. I then add several leaves of baby spinach on top of the tomato and then put a big pile of small red onion strips on top of the spinach (I looooove red onion!) My boyfriend likes to add seasonings like basil and oregano to the sandwich and once in a while I will add avocado to it as well. Once you have piled your ingredients onto the slice of bread put the other slice on top (you guys know how to make a sandwich). The secret to this sandwich is that we put it on the stove in a special panini skillet for about a minute on each side. Just sprinkle a little bit of olive oil onto the pan before putting the sandwich down. This sandwich is to die for!!