There was a lot of cereal around my house when I was a kid. I have fond memories of waking up to a bowl of Special K covered in sugar and bananas. But when I was allowed to pick the cereal, my choice was always the same – granola! Now I know that probably puts me directly into the weird category (if the salad for breakfast thing hadn’t already done it!), but it is true. Even as a little girl, I wasn’t craving Frosted Flakes or Captain Crunch in the morning…I wanted granola.

Of course, it wasn’t the low fat versions that I craved. (And there certainly wasn’t any quinoa to be found!)  I’ve tried to like store bought low fat granola….really.  To this day they just don’t taste right to me.

So, when a reader asked if I could come up with a quinoa granola recipe that tasted great but was low in oil, I was honestly a little hesitant to commit. Memories of trying to stomach low fat granola surfaced and I was already contemplating making just a half recipe so I didn’t get stuck eating a full batch of cardboard.

Fortunately, I got brave and gave it a try. Yesterday I had a whirl wind cooking day, completing four different quinoa recipes. Five if you count the sauce I made. Surprising, this quinoa granola was so delicious, I found myself reaching for it throughout the day.  I love the little clusters, which helped make it ideal for snacking!  This is also one of the best quinoa breakfast recipes for those of you who are short on time in the morning!

The boys gave their thumbs up too and enjoyed it as is as well as as a crunchy topping for yogurt!  SCORE!

Note:  For those of you trying to eliminate oil completely from their diets, you can skip toasting the quinoa in step two.  The texture of the quinoa won’t be quite as crunchy, but it still works.

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Lately I’ve been feeling that the quinoa salad recipes I make for the family on a regular basis have gotten a little…redundant. Not that they aren’t super yummy, but when you eat quinoa as much as we do after a while it can get a little boring. So, I decided to liven things up a bit! This Thai Black Rice & Quinoa Salad is flavor packed and just what I was needing to mix things up. It had the hubby saying “This is really good” (as if he’s surprised…..hmmmphh–foot stomp!) multiple times every time I served it.

I really loved the way the herbs, mango and pepper played against each other to create a slightly hot sweet and spicy dish.  If you want to turn up the heat a bit, you could always drizzle it with more hot sauce.  (We found it perfect as written.)  On the other hand, if you shy away from heat you may want to use less hot sauce and omit the crushed red pepper.

Now be warned – this recipe makes a lot! It’s perfect for those of you who are looking to cook lunches ahead but if you are single and eat lunch out you may want to half the recipe…or else you could find yourself getting bored with it before you have eaten it all!

Recipe adapted from Clean Eating Magazine.

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It’s not often that I tell you that you really have to try a recipe…but you really have to try this one.   It reminds me a bit of something you would get at a restaurant and later find out that it has 800 calories and 30 grams of fat.  In fact, it was so yummy I actually got nervous when calculating the nutritional information.  (Whew, thank goodness it only has 341 calories – 381 if you cook in oil.) It was such a hit at our house that I’ve already got it on next weeks menu.

The inspiration for this recipe came from this recipe which I found on Pinterest.  (Who else is completely obsessed with Pinterest?)

I had originally planned on just making a version of the original with quinoa, but once I got in the kitchen I got creative and changed up the spices quite a bit. I also added corn, which I thought was a great addition. Next time I think I’ll add in a little diced avocado!

This is a fun recipe that you can adjust to your own tastes. Roasted red peppers would be nice in place of the bell pepper. You can use more or less cheese.  For those who don’t want to use sour cream, this would still be delicious without it.  If you don’t have nutritional yeast, you can easily leave it off but I do like the cheesy flavor it gives.

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I have a confession. I haven’t been doing very well in the first month of the year with my plans to get fit and really work the kinks out of my diet.  You’d think running a website like this would keep me on track at all times, wouldn’t you?

Not so much.

So forgive me if I’m feeling a bit virtuous with these super clean quinoa patties!  Not only are they gluten free but they are also suitable for those following eating plans like Eat to Live.  I was able to cook them with almost no oil thanks to my Griddler.  (I actually could have probably skipped the spray but I was worried they would stick and I wouldn’t get a picture.)

Now a lot of times when I’ve tried to do uber-healthy quinoa patties and burgers, I’ve felt like the recipes were a bit of a sacrifice.  That isn’t the case here.  Now I’m not saying these are up to the standard of these egg filled, cheese filled quinoa patties, but I will have to say that they were delicious.

I really didn’t realize how healthy they were until I did the nutritional analysis, which pointed out these good points:

Low in saturated fat
Very low in cholesterol
High in dietary fiber
High in manganese
High in magnesium
High in phosphorus
Very high in vitamin A
High in vitamin C

Since I know I will get emails about this if I don’t put it out there, the sauce on the side is a mixture of an organic tofu mayo (low oil), ketchup and Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce.  You could easily use plain yogurt (Greek or vegan Greek-style would be best) or Mayo in place of the tofu mayo.

Recipe inspired by Clean Eating Magazine

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I don’t know about you but when I’m feeling like there is more to do in a given day than I can possibly get done, I find myself reaching for foods that are….less than ideal.   I could blame the fact that my boys had a fleeing infatuation with bagel chips (and the hubby bought them four bags) and I haven’t been able to find kale at the grocery store to make my beloved kale chips.   But really this is a recurring theme with me.  When things are calm my diet is pretty darn good.  But when things get crazy, I find myself snacking and relying on convenience foods.   This has been going on off an on since the holidays, but I put a stop to it this week.  One thing I know about myself is that if I plan ahead, I always do better.  This quinoa edamame salad is the perfect solution for me.

I fell in love with the mixture of quinoa and edamame with this vegan quinoa salad. The combo is perfect for me right now, because it keeps me full which helps prevent mindless snacking. And, if I do get hungry having quinoa salad in the fridge goes a long way towards keeping the boys bagel chips safe.

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Today’s Quinoa Burger is a protein packed meal that will please herbivores and carnivores alike.  It happens to be my husbands new favorite veggie burger recipe, and I often make a double batch just for him.  With over 30 grams of protein per serving, its an ideal hungry man’s dinner, veggie style!

Now, my apologies to those of you who are gluten free.  This recipe does have vital wheat gluten which gives it a texture that is amazing!  Stick with me because I have a new gluten free quinoa buger/quinoa patty coming up in a few days which I actually like better than this one.  (Hubby would disagree, though he liked the quinoa patties too!)

An interesting note about this recipe is that it is very versatile. I made it a few weeks ago with leftovers from this recipe (I cut the sausage up fine) and it was out of this world! Here I’ve used plain cooked quinoa and it was still fantastic.  We love the flavor from the liquid smoke, but if it’s something you’d rather not use you can leave it of or substitute Worcestershire Sauce sauce in its place.

This recipe was modified from Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites.  I love the book but my one complaint is that it uses things like TVP.  You can read more here about why TVP may not be something you want to eat on a regular basis.  We tried it prior to knowing that it wasn’t so good for you and both of us didn’t like how we felt afterwards.  Luckily, quinoa works just as well in many cases, this recipe being a case in point.

I’ve used my new, amazing, wonderful Griddler (the one that was on my Christmas list ) here, which allows me to cook without oil.  I’ve listed other options below.

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There are few things I enjoy more than really good bread. But lately, I’ve been increasingly aware of all the junk that is in the bread we buy. If you have never taken the time to do so, you really owe it to yourself to read the labels on bread – and not just major brands. Even the bread that comes from the bakery in my grocery store is surprisingly loaded with ingredients that I can’t identify as food or things that I know I shouldn’t eat. How about a little wood in your bread? Many (but obviously not all) breads have it added in the form of cellulose.

Because of this, lately I’ve been trying to make just about all of the bread that we eat, which given how my boys like bread as much as I do is quite a taste. My solution? No fuss recipes that taste great but don’t require a a lot my time. An artisan baker I am not!

This is a recipe that I make several times a week, and because my boys would just as soon call it a meal, I decided to add quinoa to it to bulk up the nutrition. Surprisingly, they announced that it was the best I’d ever made it, even though I didn’t tell them that something was different. I added the uncooked quinoa for a little whole grain type texture, but you can leave it off if you like. Also, I’m constantly playing around with the flours here, so feel free to experiment. I haven’t had it come out bad yet!

My project in the next week or so is to test out a gluten free version of this that doesn’t rely on a purchased flour blend. (Though I do really like the King Arthur GF blend.) I’ll keep you posted as to how that goes. Although I currently eat gluten, one thing I have on the horizon is an experiment to go without it for a few weeks and see how I feel. For some reason, this his me more stressed than going vegan did mostly because of the bread / vital wheat gluten thing. If anyone has any tips I’d love to hear them. Leave a comment here or on Facebook.

Adapted from Vegan Diner: Classic Comfort Food for the Body and Soul

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Anyone who knows me knows that I crave creamy comfort food. In fact, there was a point in my life that if you had asked me my favorite food it would have been a toss up between macaroni and cheese and sour cream. (And the sour cream part would have been only half joking.) I used to put it on everything, to the point that those close to me teased me about it.

For this reason (and my extreme love of cheese), those very same people are in complete shock that I not only attempted going vegan but that I’ve stuck with it.

Strangely, I don’t miss cheese or sour cream a bit, and its recipes like this that are the reason.  Vegan or not, this is a great and healthy quinoa recipe that really fills my need for comfort food.  And even with the cheese and sour cream, Calorie Count still gives the recipe a nutritional grade “A”!  (That actually kind of suprised me!)

One thing I like about this recipe is that you can make the quinoa mixture ahead of time and then it is quick to pull together for lunch or dinner in just a few minutes. You can also bake the tortillas and keep them in a sealed container until you are ready to use them. I really like the tortillas crunched up small (not how they are pictured) – it kind of reminds me of the taco salads my mom used to make with Doritos when I was a kid!

Recipe Inspired by Clean Eating

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Lately, I’ve had a few requests for easy quinoa breakfast recipes.  There is no doubt that quinoa is a great way to start your day, but I must confess that I’m not much for a traditional breakfast. In fact, I’m much more likely to have a salad with balsamic vinegar for breakfast than I am to have cereal or oats.  My other breakfast favorite is a hummus veggie sandwich.  I know it’s weird, but I wake up craving vegetables! (If only my resolve lasted through the day!)

Today’s breakfast recipe, is an exception.  I wake up in the mood for this a few times a month.  Its an easy and very versatile quinoa recipe, so feel free to adjust according to what you have on hand.

If you don’t have quinoa flakes, you can also make this with cooked quinoa.  Just add in a 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa in the last few minutes of cooking.

I’ve always loved peanut butter, but its been years since I’ve had it. My 7 year old has a non-fatal peanut allergy and because of this we’ve kept it out of the house.  Now that he’s older and I’m not a bit worried about him trying to eat it, I keep a jar on the top shelf of the refrigerator

I especially like this breakfast if I have a tough workout planned mid-morning, or if I know I am going to be out and not get a snack before lunch time.  If you are trying to watch your calories, you can always skip the peanut butter, though in my opinion that is what makes this dish so fun.

You’ll notice that there is no maple syrup in this picture, but I did add it to the recipe.  I don’t care for sweets in the morning but I realize that most people do.  Depending on your tastes, you can either use it or leave it off completely.  (I’ve use 1 teaspoon in the nutritional data)  Obviously any sweetener would work!

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January is always a busy time around here and I can’t help but get a little excited by all the activity. Traffic spikes pretty dramatically thanks to everyone trying to start the New Year off with healthy eating. If you are new around here, I’d like to give you a heartfelt welcome. Please take the time to join in the conversation on Facebook as well as to follow me on Twitter. And, if you’ve been around a while I would like to thank you for your continued support.

We’ve made some changes – including rebuilding the website from scratch – over the last few weeks. The result is a faster website, but a few people have been reporting errors in viewing the website such as ads covering content (which means you are viewing a cached version of the site from when we were in the rebuild process) or getting the pop up when they are already on the mailing list or have already clicked the “no thanks” button in the ad. If you are having issues viewing the site, please do report them to me as we are working to correct everything but it can be challenging when we don’t know what is going on. (But be nice – my tolerance for mean people is very low.)

Regarding the pop up, you can go to this page to stop it. You will need to do this for each device that you view the site on. (i.e. your computer, iPad, iPhone…) Depending on your settings, you may need to hit Control – R to refresh your browser. Again, let us know if you are having any issues!

Now, on to today’s recipe! This is an easy to make and very versatile. I actually used the leftovers from this, chopped the turkey up smaller and made without a doubt the best veggie burger I’ve ever put in my mouth. Of course, I was just playing and didn’t write a thing down. SIGH..

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