Nutritional Foods – Buen provecho…2022

Oat Bars with Banana and Applesauce

3 mashed bananas

1/3 cup applesauce (or mash a slightly cooked peeled apple in the with the bananas)

3 Tablespoons almond butter

2 cups oats

¼ cup almond milk

½ cup dried cranberries (experiment with other dried fruits, i.e. figs, blueberries, etc.)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

What the heck, add a few sliced almonds to the top before baking?

Go for it…add some coconut, too!

Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Let cool and slice.

Would also make a great dessert if you slightly heated the bars and then served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Nutty Strawberry Banana Breakfast Quinoa

Nutty Strawberry Banana Breakfast Quinoa {Vegan & Gluten-Free}

Source: Ambitious Kitchen and re-blogged from www.learnnutritionwithme.com

As always, words inserted in red are my changes to the recipe.

Serves 2

1 cup of water

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups milk of your choice (to make vegan use coconut or almond milk), or yogurt, divided

1 banana, sliced

1/2 cup strawberries, diced

1/ 4 cup toasted nuts of choice, chopped

2 tablespoons unsweetened toasted coconut

Directions

Place water and rinsed quinoa in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Add cinnamon and vanilla and reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes or until all of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand another 5-10 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork.
Divide into two bowls, adding 3/4 cup of milk. Top each bowl with bananas, strawberries, toasted nuts, and unsweetened coconut. Serve immediately.

Notes

Optional add-ins: honey, agave nectar, peanut or almond butter, berry variety, mango, pineapple, apples, applesauce or toasted nuts
If you’d like you can double the recipe and store the extra quinoa (without milk and toppings) in a container and place in fridge. Take out portions during the week, reheat, and add toppings.
Save yourself some time and make a big batch the night before for dinner and have the rest for breakfast.

Summer Quinoa Salad

When I first met Larry, he introduced me to “quinoa” (pronounced keen wah) which is a grain widely used by the Incas of Peru. It is a much better alternative than rice or couscous. It is easily found in most bulk food stores in Canada, in either red white or black colours or mixed. Most of our friends to whom we have introduced this tend to really enjoy the nutty flavour. It has great nutritional value. For more info on quinoa, here is a link that might interest you – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

Our usual preparation is to treat quinoa much like rice, bringing two cups (or less) of water to a boil with one cup of grain, covering at a low simmer and cooking for 10–15 minutes or until the germ separates from the seed. The cooked germ looks like a tiny curl and should have a slight bite to it (like al dente pasta). As an alternative, one can use a rice cooker to prepare quinoa, treating it just like white rice (for both cooking cycle and water amounts). Often times in place of the water, we use broth or sour orange juice and mix in some nuts and cranberries. We serve this hot as a side dish in place of potatoes.

Apparently, 2013 has been declared International Year of Quinoa by the United Nations. Anyways, having cooked too much quinoa one day I searched for other recipes and came across these variations by Annabelle Waugh for quinoa salad – the one in red is the only one I have tested so far and it was great! Let me know if you try any of the others, please?

Summer quinoa salad recipe with three dressing options

by Annabelle Waugh

For a Middle Eastern salad:

Whisk together equal parts lemon juice and olive oil, then add a clove of garlic, minced, a handful each of chopped fresh mint and parsley and then season to taste with salt and pepper. Sometimes I’ll add some crumbled feta in, too.

For an Asian salad:

Whisk together 4 parts unseasoned rice vinegar and 1 part each of soy sauce, sesame oil and honey. Mix in handful of chopped cilantro and a minced green onion. And hot sauce, naturally.

For an Italian salad:

Whisk together equal parts olive oil, wine vinegar and strained tomato puree (passata). Season with salt, pepper, a little minced garlic and a handful of chopped fresh basil.

Dijon Chicken

This recipe first appeared on Zoomermag.com in March 2012. It is excerpted from the book “Meals That Heal Inflammation” by Julie Daniluk. Tonight, Larry and I are in London where our friend Ellie and Larry prepared it. Scrumptious! According to the article it is fast and healthy! Skinless chicken reduces the fat Turmeric has anti-inflammatory effects….mustard contains selenium which relieves asthma!

1 kg. Chicken thighs skinless

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth

2 cups sliced red onions

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/3 cup coconut milk

2 T honey

Drizzle the oil over the chicken thighs and sprinkle with turmeric and salt. Spritz the thighs (NOT your own…LOL) with water or broth to keep meat moist. Cook in a large cast iron pan over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, turning often until golden on all sides.

Add the onion and continue to stir and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

Spread mustard over the chicken using a brush or spoon. Cook for 15 minutes longer.

Remove from skillet and set aside.

Pour coconut milk and honey into the skillet and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

Arrange the thighs on a platter and pour the sauce over them.

Garnish with herbs such as Italian herb blend, Herbes de Provence and serve over rice.