Zesty Quinoa Salad

Guest blogger day!  My friend Rita made this delicious quinoa salad and sent me the recipe and photos for the blog.  Thanks Rita!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 limes, juiced (microwave 20 sec to get extra juicy before cutting)
• 2 TBS ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 c halved cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (I use low sodium)
• 5 green onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in saucepan.  Reduce to medium low and cover.  Simmer until quinoa is tender and water has absorbed, 10-15 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Whisk olive oil, lime juice, cumin, salt and red pepper flakes together.  

Combine quinoa, black beans, tomatoes, and green onions together in a bowl.  Pour dressing mixture over and toss to coat.  Stir in cilantro, season with salt and pepper if desired.

For best taste chill in refrigerator for a few hours or overnight to let flavors marry.  Great with tacos! Very filling as a side dish as well.  Enjoy!

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Easy Zucchini Casserole

Again with an abundance of zucchini I was hard pressed to find a use for it all!  Thus my zucchini casserole was born.

Ingredients:

• 1 large zucchini, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 4 TBS milk
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 TBS breadcrumb, plus extra for topping
• Salt, pepper, seasonings to taste

Preheat oven to 375.  Chop zucchini up as small as you want and place in large bowl.
In a large measuring cup or small bowl mix together the egg, egg white, milk, sour cream, 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar, and 4 TBS breadcrumbs. 

Pour mixture over zucchini and mix until zucchini is coated.

  Pour mixture into 9x9 square baking dish. 

 Top with breadcrumbs and remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese.
 Bake for 45 minutes.

Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins

Easy, healthy, delicious!  Great for breakfast or snack.

Ingredients:

• 4 over ripe bananas mashed up
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (or reg whole wheat)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 TBS brown sugar
• 1/4 cup whipped peanut butter (Jif Whips){I assume reg peanut butter would work too}
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix everything together in a large bowl and let sit while you prepare muffin tins.

Distribute between muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes.  

That's it!  Makes 24 muffins.

(I made some with no chocolate chips.)

Sweet & Sour Chicken with Coconut Rice

This is a go-to meal for many of the women in my family, even for company.  I always always have these ingredients on hand for a quick dinner idea.  It's super easy and delicious, so you'll see why!

Ingredients:

• 6-8 Boneless Chicken tenderloins or 4-6 boneless breasts
• 12 oz. Thousand Island dressing (I use fat free)
• 12 oz. Apricot Preserves (sometimes I use apricot pineapple)
• 1 pkt. dry Onion Soup Mix
• 1 cup Jasmine or Basmati Rice
• Light Coconut Milk (14.5 oz can)
• a little extra water to round out your 2nd cup of liquid for rice

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with non-stick spray.  Mix together the thousand island, apricot preserves, and onion soup mix.  

Place chicken on the bottom of dish.

Pour mixture over chicken.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or so, or until chicken is cooked through.

While that cooks make your rice the same way you normally would, 1 cup rice, 2 cups liquid, using the coconut milk instead of all water.   

Serve chicken and sauce over the rice.  It's delicious!!

Thumbprint Cookies

I've just been craving some sort of shortbread cookie lately, so this is what I came up with... the fruit makes it healthy!  Or we can tell ourselves that.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• various all-fruit jams/preserves, any flavors you like

For glaze:

• 2 tsp milk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cream together the butter and sugar, add in the egg yolks and vanilla.  Add the flour and salt to the batter and mix til combined.  Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 350.  Roll the dough in 1 inch balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheets.  Lightly press down with your thumb in center of cookie to form a small well.  Fill that with 1/2 tsp of jam.  

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until slightly firm.  

Make icing by mixing the 2 ingredients until smooth.  Drizzle over cookies after they cool.

Recipe from: www.2sisters2cities.com

Coconut Zucchini Bread

A different and scrumptious combo!  This bread is very moist and great for breakfast or anytime of day.

Ingredients: 

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3 cups shredded zucchini (squeeze the water out between paper towels after shredding)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (or 1/4 cup domino light stevia blend)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (measure out the solid then melt)
• 1 cup light sour cream or plain greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

First shred your zucchini with a cheese grater.  Put between lots of paper towels and press down to soak up all the water.

Preheat oven to 325.  Spray 2 loaf pans with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg.  

In a separate bowl, combine zucchini, sugars, coconut oil, sour cream or yogurt, eggs, vanilla.

Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir to combine.  Stir in the shredded coconut.

Pour batter into loaf pans evenly.  

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or butter knife.