Q = Quinoa and Cold Quinoa Salad.

The first thing I learn from Wikipedia is that Quinoa is a species of goosefoot which doesn’t mean much to me. Apparently it is a grain like crop which is grown primarily for its edible seeds. These seeds have only recently started appearing everywhere with lots of recipes for their use, it is  not a true cereal crop but is closely related to beets, spinach and tumbleweeds. Who knew? This food has been around for 4,000 years in the western areas of South America, and we are only just hearing about it? News spreads slowly. The Incas regarded it as a holy crop and considered it staple of their diets. The current spelling was developed by the Spanish from the name kinwa which is actually how it is pronounced. There are many new things appearing in our stores, recently we learned that Chia seeds (sold for Chia Pets) are also very good for us. Why waste it on pets?

This is one of my favourite recipes for Quinoa

Cold Quinoa Salad with Chicken and Feta

Servings: 4

Source
Author: The Nourished Kitchen
Source: WebMD

2 cups cooked quinoa, chilled
1 small head radicchio, chopped
1 cup cooked chicken, cut in bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup cubed feta cheese
1 small red onion, chopped fine
2 Tbs pine nuts
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Olive oil and vinegar dressing, to serve

1. Toss cooked quinoa, chopped radicchio, cooked chicken, cubed feta cheese, chopped red onion, pine nuts and parsley together until all ingredients are well distributed.

2. Dress the salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar

Have a great day

Quinoa, Strike, Sleep to Slim.

Last night we tried the Cold Quinoa Salad which I posted on June 1. The packet of quinoa I bought said cook the whole packet, the recipe said 2 cups, I ended up with probably 4 cups. I will know better next time and there will be a next time, it was very good and we both enjoyed it, the touch of bitterness provided by the radicchio made it delicious. I found lots more recipes for quinoa which I will be trying. I see it can be used as a breakfast food as well as something savoury. Obviously with the addition of some fruit and sweetening. I know it is full of excellent nutritional goodies. I doubt I will change my breakfast because I eat Fibre One which is packed with 14% fibre as opposed to 3% in quinoa. However, I may try it one day just to see what its like.

Today, in Canada, the postal workers have gone on strike. Sorry, but how stupid. A postal service is getting less and less required as more people use the internet or text messaging services, a lot of companies use couriers nowadays and postal services cannot compete efficiently in today’s market – at least not without drastic changes which would include laying off large numbers of employees and the idiots have gone on strike. This could destroy their jobs completely. It’s a well paid job in Canada too, although not one I personally would want to do; the delivery part that is. Can you imagine trudging snowy streets in freezing temperatures or boiling to death in the summer? About the only mail we ever get are bank statements and that is only because I name transactions one thing and they name them another and I guess I am too lazy to make them all match. I suppose I should do so in order to save paper.

I had an email from Real Age this morning who say the health gurus are now saying ‘flick that switch’ in order to lose weight – the theory being you need to get a really good night’s sleep to help lose weight and if your bedroom contains any light at all, you will react to it, that includes clocks with lights or even TVs. This is what they have to say http://tinyurl.com/3u3786l My personal problem is not light in the bedroom, but getting up two or three times a night to visit the bathroom, three cheers for diabetes. Otherwise I sleep like a log.

According to Eating Well, these Truffles should satisfy your cravings but not put weight on (unless you eat too many of course). The theme of their news letter today is about banning foods in order to help lose weight. The article talks about having treats during the day which tend to get increased (just one more scoop) or repeated too frequently. Even these below are going to cause problems in quantity.

Peanut Butter and Pretzel Truffles

From EatingWell: January/February 2010

These peanut butter-pretzel truffles satisfy your craving for something sweet and salty.

20 truffles 

Ingredients

1/2 cup crunchy natural peanut butter

1/4 cup finely chopped salted pretzels

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips, melted (see Tip)

Preparation

1. Combine peanut butter and pretzels in a small bowl. Chill in the freezer until firm, about 15 minutes. Roll the peanut butter mixture into 20 balls (about 1 teaspoon each). Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper and freeze until very firm, about 1 hour. Roll the frozen balls in melted chocolate. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.

Nutrition

Per truffle :64 Calories; 4 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 1 mg Cholesterol; 5 g Carbohydrates; 2 g Protein; 1 g Fiber; 53 mg Sodium; 65 mg Potassium

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

• Tip: To melt chocolate, microwave on Medium for 1 minute. Stir, then continue microwaving on Medium, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted. Or place chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not boiling, water. Stir until melted.

Have a great day