Lentils in a Wooden Bowl

Pre-birthday Quesadillas

In 3 weeks, I will be completely done with my course work for my final semester of my undergraduate degree!! Can I just take a minute to say: WOOHOOO!! It has only taken me 2 extra years! Jeez!

That said, things have been pretty hectic. Go figure! I have a big chunk of school work I'm slowly picking away at... Slowly but surely! We're getting there! :)

Anyway, spring time is officially here in GA. It's so nice out! Staying in and doing school work is rough. Just check out these gorgeous flowers.

So lovely! 

As I'm sure you can imagine, little cooking has been happening--at least for me. My wonderful husband has taken my stress and busyness in stride by doing a bunch of the house stuff I usually do (cooking and cleaning and laundry--oh my!). He has, though, cooked up some pretty excellent stuff lately. Last night in particular he made me one of my all time favorite meals: quesadillas! 

The recipe is not an original. You can find it here, courtesy of The Tolerant Vegan. We make a couple [simple] changes, though. We substitute black beans (one can, drained and rinsed), use Follow Your Heart cheeses, and add in extra cilantro (you can never have enough!!). Then, we put it on gluten-free tortillas and cook 'em up on the griddle. 

Look at that magic! YUM!

They are so great. If you don't care for vegan cheese or cream cheese, just try this recipe out! Everyone loves this one. :)

Well, I gotta whole lot to do this weekend (plus, tomorrow's my birthday!) so I'll catch you later.

Let Me Tell You ‘Bout My Best Friend…

There are a lot of really great foods that came into my life two years ago when I gave up gluten and animal products. And I do mean a lot. One of my favorites, though, is absolutely, hands down QUINOA.

Quinoa is incredibly good for you. It's high in protein (it's actually a complete protein!), fiber, and low in fat. It also happens to very easy to make and super versatile. No kidding, I seriously eat it about four times a week.

But how to cook it?

When it is cooked plain, it's less than delightful, but if you know what you're doing, it quickly becomes a staple food item! 

Here are my two favorite ways to prepare it:

1) This is so easy, it's hardly a recipe: 

1/2 cup quinoa (uncooked)

1 cup water (or vegetable broth)

1/2 tsp vegetable bouillon (omit if using broth)

~ 1/2  tbs oil (your choice!)

~ 1/4 onion, chopped (or more or less to taste) :) 

a few mushrooms (optional)

In a small/medium sized pot (with lid), heat oil over medium heat. Add in onion and mushroom (if you're using any) and sauté for a a few minutes. Then, add in the uncooked quinoa and stir it all together. Continue sautéing for a couple more minutes. Add in the water and bring to boil. Add in the bouillon. Stir. Turn to low, cover, and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, until the water has absorbed. (You want a tiny amount of water dotted around the bottom of the pan, ideally.) Leave the lid on for about five more minutes, then serve! This is a great, simple way to make quinoa for most meals. It's a great addition to a meal full of veggies of any kind, cooked any way. 

(Serves about 2)

2) This is another non-recipe that is entirely customizable to your own preferences. Personally, I am obsessed with Mexican food, which is how this particular way of cooking quinoa came to be.

1/2 cup quinoa (uncooked)
~ 1 tsp of your favorite salsa seasoning packet
1 cup water

Add all ingredients into pot and bring to boil. Then lower heat to simmer and cover with a lid, for about 15 minutes, until water has absorbed. Then, remove from heat and keep covered for about 5 minutes before adding to your favorite Mexican dish.

This is really great for tacos, enchiladas, nachos, and burritos! Use with black beans, onion, and lettuce. Viola! A fancy meal!

These are some of my favorite tacos! They have the Mexican quinoa, seasoned black beans, caramelized onions, lettuce, and some taco seasoning. Seriously, quinoa is so easy and scrumptious! You are sure to love it!

Happy quinoa cooking!

How I ended 2012

My 2012 definitely ended with a bang... or perhaps I should say it ended with a chop. Or maybe a slice. If you have heard from me in the past three days, you likely know what I'm talking about; if not, here's the story.

First of all, I have to just lay the foundation by expressing how much I love to cook. Which is a lot. So I was very excited when my mom surprised with a brand-spanking new fancy schmancy knife. One of those super-sharp, will-cut-anything, expensive knives. (You can probably see where this is going...) Then, for my Christmas gift, Drew gave me a CrockPot. I have been wanting one for months and could hardly wait to make some amazing chili in it. 

On Sunday, Drew went to the Falcons game in Atlanta with one of his brothers, so I had the house to myself and figured I would try out my new cookware. It was about 1:00 and my brother was heading over to pick up a movie and drop off a printer. I decided it was the perfect time to whip out my new knife, chop some onions (my very favorite vegetable), and put dinner in the CrockPot to be ready for Drew when he got home from the game. 

So I chopped. As I was attempting to get the middle part of the onion out, I met a little resistance. I pushed through a little harder and came dangerously close to my left hand. I looked down and thought, "Hey, I may have nicked my finger." Then I saw a little blood and realized I had gotten my finger. I ran to the sink to rinse my finger off. That's when I noticed I had nearly taken off half of my finger tip, as well as sliced into my middle finger. 

Luckily, my brother was there within about five minutes after this debacle. We called my mom, who came over and drove us to the Urgent Care center (and we also texted Drew). 

At the Urgent Care place, we thought I would just get glued back together again and only really stuck around so that I could get a tetanus shot. But after two or so hours of waiting, I was told I'd need stitches. Blech. So I got about four shots of numbiness then got my finger sewn back together. It was pretty bad and very painful. 

I'll spare you the bloody pictures, but here is the final product.

I should be getting the stitches out on Sunday--the day before I go back to school! 

Needless to say, I'm taking it pretty easy this week. No real cooking. No chopping at all. Typing without my left index finger (which I now lovingly refer to as my Frankenfinger). 

It seems to be healing nicely, which is good because this semester if going to require me to have my A-game!

Obsession: Roasted Chickpeas

Confession: I have a slightly obsessive personality. And by "slightly", I of course, mean insanely.

This personality flaw fact is especially bad when it comes to food. It's a definite problem. I tend to find a random food that I love. I obsess over it and eat it constantly until the very thought of it makes me nauseous. You can see why that may be a problem, right?

That said, though, I get to know the ins and outs of those foods pretty darn well.

Enter roasted chickpeas.

Wow. They are good. They are absolutely my latest food obsession. I make them a lot.

They are nice and crunchy, a perfect alternative to popcorn or nuts. They are low in fat on their own. High in protein (one can has roughly 20 grams--and that's how much I eat...). High in flavor. And easy to make. Really. Perfect snack food? Absofreakinglutely.

You can find hundreds of recipes online. You can make them sweet, spicy, salty, or a combination of all of those. Try them all.

Here is the one I loosely follow, via This Chick Cooks.

One piece of advice: drain and rinse the chickpeas very well. Then towel dry them. Then lay them flat upon a couple paper towels to get nice and dry.  I typically allow them to dry for about an hour. 

Drying.

Ready to be devoured. And oh, they always are!

What are some things you obsess over?