Quina Salad

As I open my fridge I noticed how much leftovers we had from recent bbq's, restaraunts and dinners. Now,  to be completely honest, I rarely ever eat left overs. So, instead of waiting for all that perfectly good food go to waste I wanted to make something out of it in a way that I knew it would be eatin before it was too late!

Quinoa Salad:

Ingrediants:
1 package of  seasoned quinoa ( or regular and just add your own spices)

1 Half of green bell pepper diced
1 corn on the cobe (that was left over), about half cup
3 T Pice De Gillo
3/4 cup shredded pork ribs (that were also left over)

Cook the quinoa according to packaged directions. Once it's all fluffed up, add remaining ingrediants and wait until everything is heated through. Serve immediately or can be served chilled as well.

  

note: You can definately substitute the shredded pork ribs for any other meat or protein like chicken, tofu, shredded beef of black beans.

I L-O-V-E FOOD!

Now who doesn't love food?? If there are really people out there that don't enjoy food, well they may not be going very far in life... What does loving food even mean? Does it mean you enjoy anything and everything that is edible? Or does it mean you actually appreciate and respect what food does for you?

Food is a necessity. We as humans and living creatures on this earth NEED food to survive. Along with the other basic survival needs.

Now you guys are probably thinking, well duh... but you'd be suprised as to how much our cultural eating habits have changed from the crazy caveman years, to the farmland years, to this non-stop busy society.

We no longer think about eating to LIVE, we now live to EAT. We eat when we're stressed, when we're depressed, when we're bored. Sometimes we don't eat all day until we get home from work because our day is always busy, busy, busy!

No one has time to stop and think about what's good and what's bad for them, right? Wrong. Now a-days, they've created these things called iphones, ipods, labtops, and notebooks (if you want to go a little old-school).

My point is it takes two minutes to look up meal plans, or calories of restaraunts. It's all just a little common since here and there. I will write up more tips and ideas as to how a person can ulter their daily eating habits just by planning ahead, but I'll save that for another blog post.

The point of this post is to point out that there is a bunch of us who think they truely LOVE food, when really, we only love EATING food. To love food is to respect it, and appreciating it's natural characteristics and taste. For those who think they fall under the "love eating food only" category, I recommend trying to give food another shot and try  learning how to LOVE FOOD that LOVES YOU BACK!

P.s I'm not trying to tell you guys that it is NEVER ok to enjoy that chocolate chip cookie or double fudge brownie here and there. In fact it's healthy to endulge yourself once in awhile without needing to feel guilty all the time. I just want you guys to understand that food should be more appreciated rather than scuffed down all in one bite and never thought of. Just thinking about what you eat each and every day is a great first step to making a healthier and happier you :)

Whole grain pancakes

One thing about me is that  I am always up for trying something new. Especially if I know its good for me and my body. One thing that I never got a chance to experiment in my kitchen until now, is whole wheat flour. It's so much better for you, fills you up faster, and it's so easy to substitute regular flour with!

I woke up this morning in the cooking mood so I decided to try making some whole wheat pancakes. I used a recipe off of one of my ipod apps called sparks recipes and used it more as a guideline and make it my own using different ingredients I had on hand. Such as quinoa flakes instead of oatmeal, yogurt instead of applesauce, flax seed and water instead of eggs, and cocoanut milk instead of skim or regular. 

Living in a household of all boys, of course they're always wanting A LOT of food and A LOT of GOOD food. So I try to make improvements each and every time I make something to please everyone in the household by making my meals BOTH NUTRITIOUS AND DELICIOUS! 

 Ingrediants:

   11/4 Cup whole wheat flour

   1 Cup quinoa flakes or rolled oats

   1 Cup low fat organic vanilla yogurt (may sub unsweetened applesauce)

   2 T flax seed w/ 3 T water ( may sub two eggs or egg whites)

   4 tsp baking powder

   1 T Brown sugar 

   1/4 salt

   1/2 cup toasted walnuts

   1/2 chocolate chips

Directions:

    Add all dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in a bigger bowl. Leave chocolate chips and walnuts to the side. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients a little bit at a time and mix until everything is combined. Then add walnuts and chocolate chips. 

Put the griddle at low-medium heat. Butter lightly and add a spoonful of pancake mix and cook until sides start to bubble in the batter. And then flip and cook until you're preferred doneness... :) 

note: The batter seemed pretty thick to begin with so you can always add more milk or water until preferred consistency. 

• My family LOVES eating a big amount of food and these pancakes turned out to be nice and thick and sweet from the chocolate chips. Top them with some of Justin's Organic peanut butter (or any really) and it's bank!