Keen on Quinoa and Finally Forty

I just discovered Quinoa (keen-wah) recently. It is easy to make and very good. It has many health benefits as it is high in protein and other nutrients. It is not a grain; it is a seed. We eat it at least once a week. YAY, my girls will even eat it. Have you had it before? Here's the scoop on it:

I buy it out of the bulk bins at the grocery store. You can also find it boxed in the rice section of the store.

I usually buy about a scoop plus a little more at a time. Before you cook it, rinse it thru a fine strainer. Then add it to your pot of water. If you are using a cup of dry quinoa then put 1 1/2 cups of water in the pot. Toss in some salt. I also add a bouillon cube for flavor. You can add mushrooms, spinach or whatever you like to this too. Bring to a boil, lower heat low and place the lid on and let it absorb the water. It is done when you see a white little rim form around each seed.

This is what it looks like when its cooked.

It makes a great side dish.
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My other favorite side dish: Sweet potato fries. I just cut up sweet potatoes or yams in to fries. Toss with olive oil and then sprinkle with chili powder. Lay out in a single layer on a pan and bake. I have a convection oven so at the end I turn on convection roast to get them a little crispy. They are sooooo good.

Finally, I share this:

My friend Karen is FINALLY FORTY! I flew to Birmingham, Alabama last weekend to attend her birthday party and celebrate. Our other friend Janet surprised us by flying in from Virginia. Trust me when I say SURPRISED! Karen and I were sitting at her kitchen table in our pajamas drinking coffee and eating bagels (and bacon) when the phone rang. It was Janet. She was at the Birmingham airport. We jumped in the car still in our pajamas and drove to get Janet at the airport. These are two of my dearest friends. We met over ten years ago when we lived in the same neighborhood in Birmingham. I'm blessed to have them in my life.

Joy, Karen & Janet

Happy Birthday Karen!

Semi-Homemade Pizza

My Semi-Homemade Veggie Pizza:

This is my Grilled Veggie Pizza. It has zucchini, red bell peppers and mushrooms on it.
I usually just purchase a frozen cheese pizza and dress it up with these toppings and added some more cheese and Italian Seasoning on top before I baked it. This really turns out yummy. You can add any veggie or topping you like to a frozen pizza and they taste so much better.

You Know It's Summer When...

The floor next to your back door looks like this:

Our neighborhood is blessed with lots of little girls. A majority of them happened to be at our house the other day.

You know how summer is. Life is more relaxed. Bedtimes and routines are non-existent at the moment. I'm also finding it hard to come up with ideas for dinner.

Last week I clicked over to Alice at her wonderful food blog to get some inspiration. I found this recipe for Coconut Chicken Tenders.
That sealed the deal. I knew what we were having for dinner that night. Alice was managing two blogs for a while and I got to know her thru her other blog. She has decided to focus on her Food Blog full time and I completely understand. She has great pictures and step-by-step instructions for the recipes. I would love to sit in her kitchen and talk with her and taste the wonderful dishes she prepares. She's lovely. She has a beautiful family and a heart for God. You'll love her. Go get inspired~

Iced Coffee and other News

Coming to you live from Joyintheburbs:

Weather Report:

Here in Texas it is already H.O.T. so drinking hot coffee is not advisable.

I'm getting my coffee fix with this recipe for Easy Iced Coffee on Allrecipes. It is soooooo good. It can be made for so much less $$ then Starb*cks or even McD*nalds Cafe coffees.

A few simple ingredients are all you need:

2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons warm water
6 fluid ounces cold milk

1 tablespoon of your favorite flavored creamer (not in original recipe...I added that)

In a sealable jar, combine instant coffee, sugar and warm water.

Cover the jar and shake until it is foamy.

Pour into a glass full of ice.

Fill the glass with milk and creamer and enjoy this yummy concoction.

Adjust to taste if necessary.

In other news, Leah is sporting a new shorter "do" this summer. I'm loving it on her.

The Agricultural report:

Here are 3 little potatoes I harvested. Aren't they cute. That is all I got from my potato planting experiment. I'm going to plant a lot more this fall and see what happens. But hey, I got one small serving from it.

In Fashion news today we have this:

The model (aka me) is wearing a first attempt to make an article of clothing since Home Economics class over 25 years ago. I realize it is not the most fashionable skirt. But the pattern did not call for a zipper so it suckered me in.

When I started cutting the pattern out I realized it had "godets" (lots of them). Silly me didn't know what a godet was. The dictionary definition is: A triangular piece of fabric usually set into the hem of a garment to add fullness.

My definition: LOTS AND LOTS OF EXTRA UNWANTED FABRIC THAT HAS TO BE CUT OUT AND THEN SEWN INTO SAID SKIRT RENDERING IT VERY HEAVY. Who knew. I learned my lesson. Also learned that I need to keep my drawstring tied nice and tight.

In closing I leave you with this:

One of those little dots on the beach will be me in the near future. I'll be away from the computer on and off for the next few weeks. I'll try and keep up with your blogs as best I can. Don't think I forgot you.

As soon as I'm back I will return to regularly scheduled blogging. :)


That is the news from the home front. Thank you for joining me.


Good night.

♥

Mmmm Mmmm Good

My dinner plate looked so yummy I had to take a picture for you all. Sunday afternoon I put some ribs in the oven and slow-cooked them for a few hours.

I also made a recipe called Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad.
I wanted to share it with you because it was so delicious and perfect for summer.

For the Salad:

4 ears of corn, kernels removed (about 3 cups)
1-1/2 pounds of grape tomatoes halved ( I used regular fresh tomatoes
STRAIGHT OUT OF MY GARDEN)
1 pound of fresh mozzarella, diced
2 medium avocados, diced

For the Dressing:

1 1/2 cups packed fresh cilantro
1/2 cup good -quality extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
freshly ground pepper to taste.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a blender, process until smooth.
Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the dressing.
Let sit at least 15 minutes before serving,
or cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.


I found this recipe in a recent issue of Food Network Magazine.

I have a confession to make. I bought the fresh mozzarella and can you believe I completely forgot to put it in the dish. I couldn't believe I did that. It was good without it so if you want to leave it out you can. Now I have to figure out something to make with all that cheese....

I added a little watermelon on the side and I have to tell you it was just a really good, simple summer meal.

Let me know if you decide to make the salad. I hope you like it!

Happy summer eating


♥

Another Happy Pig Award

Yesterday Betty at Keeper of the Skies posted a recipe for Lumpia. I have never heard of Lumpia, much less made it. I decided to give it a try for our dinner last night.

My little family loved it. Leah helped me roll them. They are full of chopped vegetables. My kids did not even notice the veggies!!! You can probably put any kind of veggie you want in there. Buster won't eat onions so I didn't put those in and I didn't put the spouts in mine. I put green bell pepper and cabbage in along with the other ingredients Betty had listed. Go to Betty's blog. She has step-by-step pictures posted along with the recipe for Lumpia.


So Betty I'm awarding you this Happy Pig Award for your Lumpia Recipe.


I would also like to award the Happy Pig to TracyP for leading us all into temptation during Christmas. Her Christmas Cookie Exchange was lots of fun. I tried a couple of the recipes listed on there. We loved them and my neighbors did too.





Thanks Betty and TracyP.

♥

Christmas Cookie Exchange

TracyP is hosting a Christmas Cookie Recipe exchange at her blog. I'm suppose to post a favorite Christmas cookie recipe. Well, I didn't have much time to make what I really wanted to so I'm not posting my absolute favorite Christmas cookie which is the peanut butter cookie with the Hershey Kiss on top. I had these ingredients on hand so I decided to make this recipe.

Peanut Butter Chip Triangles

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


1/2 cup packed light brown sugar


1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter or margarine


1 2/3 cups (10 oz) Reese's Peanut Butter Chips, divided


1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)


1 egg slightly beaten


1 teaspoon vanilla extract







Heat oven to 350. Stir together flour and brown sugar in medium bowl; cut in cold butter until mixture is crumbly [see Leah working hard to "cut in" the butter]. Stir in 1/2 cup peanut butter chips; press mixture on bottom of 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I mean in a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, egg and vanilla; stir in remaining chips. Spread evenly over baked crust. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into 2 to 2 1/2 inch squares; cut squares diagonally to form triangles.

Enjoy and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Happy Pig

Introducing the "Happy Pig" award!

Cruising around the world (on my keyboard), getting ideas and reading about your lives has become a hobby of mine. I must say a very time-consuming hobby, but I love it.



I also love to cook (and bake sometimes). I wanted to give a shout out for these recipes, but wanted to include something fun for the original bloggers. So I scanned around and found this cute Happy as a Pig picture. I thought she would get the message out that these recipes are good ones to "Pig Out" on .

I'd like to award Allison and Julie the first "Happy Pig" Award.

Allison lives in Germany with her husband who is in the U.S. Military. I love her blog and I'm also lovin' this pumpkin bread. Her Pumpkin Bread recipe is so good and easy to make.


Next, we are off to Hungary to visit Julie to try her Rosemary Bread. This recipe is tucked away in a post she wrote and boy am I glad I found it. If you go to Macaroni Grill. This is the Rosemary Bread recipe. Our family tears through a loaf in no time. We are hooked!

Go check out their blogs and give these yummy recipes a try.

I'll keep cruising the world (via my keyboard) and searching out some good recipes. I'll let you know when I find more. If you want to send this Happy Pig award to someone who posted a recipe and you actually prepared, ate and loved it. Send the Happy Pig to them.
Have fun!
♥