My pantry staple: Quinoa (Quinoa Burrito Bowls)

I am amazed that I have gotten this far into blogging without writing about quinoa. We have it at least once a week, and I have so many  quinoa recipes I have found that I love (many, like this one, come from Pinterest). What makes it perfect for me is that it's filling, yummy, packed with protein and so quick to make. Also, because it's pretty bland you can do SO much with it. We buy it in the bulk foods section of our grocery store since we make it so much, and it's pretty cheap. It took me a while to get down the right cooking method for it, getting it "popped" without making it gummy. I found a method that seems to work best for us, and despite what any recipe recommends, its the way I cook my quinoa base, and then add from there. If you have never made it before, this is a good one to start with. It's basically using quinoa instead of rice, but it fills you up more and is healthier in many ways.

Quinoa Burrito Bowls

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cans black beans rinsed and drained
• 1/2 of yellow onion finely chopped or bunch of green onions chopped (both are yummy)
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped (you'll use it in various place in this recipe)
• 1 lime
• 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne
• salt and pepper

A lot like normal burrito bowls pick what you love for toppings - we use:

• 1 can corn
• 1 bag shredded lettuce
• 1 chopped avocado
• the extra cilantro
• Greek yogurt instead of sour cream
• Mexican blend of cheese
• Pico de gallo

1. Anytime you make quinoa - use this method! Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Combine 1 cup quinoa and 1 and 3/4 cup of water in a pan. Bring to a boil. Cover, knock the heat down to  low. Keep and eye on it. In about 15 minutes it should be close to done. When all the water is gone - it's done. 
2. While the quinoa is cooking, sauté the onions in a skillet with a little oil. After 4 minutes, add the garlic. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes until that is softened. 
3. Add in the black beans, 2 tablespoons of the cilantro, juice half of the lime, salt and pepper, chili powder, cayenne and 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil, then knock it down to lower heat and let it simmer about 15 minutes until most of the liquid is evaporated
4. Toss the quinoa with 2 tablespoons cilantro and the other half of the lime.
5. Build your burrito bowls with a base of the quinoa and then black bean mixture. 

***Makes 4 servings
***On Bryce's dish scale its a 2. Quinoa pot, skillet for black beans, cutting board. Great week night meal.

Different Shrimp Caesar Salad

I've mentioned before that we love salads as meals in my house. This one is fantastic. It's a Caesar Salad without a creamy dressing. So different and so yummy. It's another Real Simple Recipe that we kind of tweaked. Mainly, I made it easier, because I'm not going to go to all the effort to fire up our charcoal grill just to grill a few shrimp for a salad. Plus, some of the ingredients in the original recipe are not easy to find in our grocery stores. If you are looking for a new spin on a salad - this is a must try.

Mexican Caesar Salad with Shrimp

• About a pound of peeled and deveined raw shrimp (I buy it frozen which sometimes comes in smaller packages - 10oz is still plenty for us. If you buy frozen, obviously thaw it before cooking)
• 4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper 
• Salt and Pepper
• About 2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
• 1/4 of a jalapeño pepper minced (I have to use gloves to do this or my fingers burn for days)
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 big head of Romaine Lettuce chopped into bite size pieces (they sell a pack of 3 romaine hearts I like to use here)
• 1 granny smith apple cut into matchsticks
• 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup of pepitas
• 1/2 cup of some sort of mexican cheese, shredded or crumbled (like cojita or queso fresco - if you can't find - a mexican blend will do) 

1. In a big bowl (which you will eventually mix all the salad in ) mix together 3 tablespoons olive oil, vinegar, worcestershire, jalapeño, garlic, and a little salt and pepper. 
2. Heat the oven (or toaster oven) to 350. Spread the pepitas on a baking sheet and toast for about 10 minutes. You'll start to hear them pop when they are getting toasty. Toss them every few minutes so they don't burn.
3. Toss the shrimp in a tablespoon olive oil, cayenne, salt and pepper.
4. Heat a little bit of oil in a skillet, throw in the shrimp and cook until opaque. We constantly stir here. 
5. Add the lettuce, apple, onion to dressing and toss. Add in the shrimp. Then throw the pepitas and cheese on top.

**This would easily make 4 dinner servings if you have the full pound of Shrimp. We don't keep salad leftovers, so it makes a couple of giant salads for us and we toss the leftovers. 

**On Bryce's dish scale (reminder 1-5, 5 being the worst) this is a 2. A little more dishes than he likes. Big bowl, Skillet, bowl you toss the shrimp in, cutting board and knife. 

Lots of favs in one bowl: Kale and tomato Whole-wheat spaghetti

I have a love-hate relationship with whole wheat pastas. Yes I know they are much better for you, and the flavor is fine. It's the texture that bothers me. I like whole wheat penne, but the spaghetti I've struggled with. Until I tried this recipe. My secret? I used THIN whole wheat spaghetti and I think it made all the difference.  It's another Real Simple inspired recipe (can you tell I love Real simple) which I again tweaked. My big problem with a lot of pasta recipes I find online and on Pinterest is that they never call for an entire box of pasta, and guess what -I'm never going to use that other 1/4 of the spaghetti this recipe doesn't want. So I adjust and use the whole box. That gives me plenty of leftovers too. This pasta was simple, and has some of my favorite foods all in one. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

Sautéed Kale and Tomatoes with Whole-Wheat Spaghetti

• One box THIN whole wheat spaghetti
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• One medium red onion thinly sliced
• 2 pints grape tomatoes (I mixed yellow and red and it was yum)
• One Big bunch Kale, stems discarded, chopped into bite sized pieces  (In my grocery store, they sell it in a bag near the bagged lettuce, cleaned and chopped which makes it even easier)
• 4 cloves garlic chopped
• 1/3 cup sliced roasted almonds (I also go the easy way on these and buy them already sliced and roasted, and then break them up a little in my hands)
• 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan or Pecorino (all these recipes these days call for Pecorino and but I went the easy way on this one too)

1. Cook your spaghetti via box instructions.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet. I mean the biggest one you got. This will make it much easier when you start adding the Kale.
3. Add onions, garlic, Salt and pepper to skillet. Cook for about 5 minutes until they start to brown.
4. Add the Kale. You'll have to toss frequently to get it cooked down in the skillet. I had to add in small batches at a time to get it all to fit in. Do this until it's all tender.
5. Add tomatoes. Cook for about 2 minutes until softened.
6. Toss the pasta, the veggie mix, and almonds in a big bowl.
7. Top with a little more cheese before serving.

**Makes 4 good healthy servings.
**This is a 3 on Bryce's dish scale.  Between the pot, the skillet, and the big bowl, it's not the easiest clean up, but not awful either.

I found out, I love Hanger steak

Before last week I had never heard of the cut of meat called Hanger Steak, and I'm so sad I've been missing out all these years. It's a cut of meat that has a ton of flavor and requires little effort. We stopped by a wonderful meat shop we have here in Little Rock called Hillcrest Artisan Meats (or H.A.M, check them out on Facebook here) to pick up some food for a weekend out of town at a cabin. Some friends had a gift card here and we walked in blind and asked for suggestions. The awesome folks behind the counter recommended the Hanger Steak and told us the best way of cooking it was to simple salt and pepper it and throw it on the grill on each side for about 3 minutes (also cut against the grain). That was our plan. But, then we got to the cabin, and didn't have charcoal so we improvised and below is the recipe we ended up with and OMG it was wonderful. So flavorful. We paired it with some roasted zucchini, squash and red onion, a baked potato and pasta salad and it was one of my favorite meals ever. I also should point out, My friend Jessie did most of the cooking for this meal, I just watched, but it was too good not to share. My suggestion is A- if you are here in Little Rock - go to H.A.M. and try any of their meat B- Pick up some Hanger steak if you ever see it, it's a great cut of meat. 

Pan Seared Hanger Steak 

• About a half a pound of Hanger Steak Per person
• Garlic Powder
• Salt
• Pepper

1. Put a little Salt, pepper and garlic powder on each side of the hanger steak
2. Spray some non stick cooking spray/oil on a pan
3. Heat the pan on high heat
4. Throw the steak in and sear it on each side for about 3 minutes (this gets it medium rare, which helps the grainy texture, it should be brown on the outside, but red in the middle)
5. Let it rest a minute before serving
6. Make sure everyone cuts against the grain

Easiest Pasta Ever

This is a recipe I found on Pinterest and I'm so glad I tried. I keep spaghetti in the pantry all the time, so this is something I can throw together any night. Per usual I tweaked it a little bit adding more garlic and parmesan, but it's a traditional Italian pasta dish (Spaghetti aglio, olio, e peperoncino) and you can find variations all over the internet. It's 6 ingredients, easy, and doesn't require a lot of dishes so it makes my husband very happy. Warning, must love garlic. And if you take leftovers to work, I hope your co-workers like the smell of garlic too, because it is fragrant.

Garlicky Spaghetti with Red Pepper Flakes and Parmesan 

• One package spaghetti 
• 5 to 6 garlic gloves depending on the size (3 big ones would work too) minced
• About 2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup of Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• Additional shaved parm to put on top

1. Cook spaghetti
2. Drain spaghetti, put back in pot
3. Toss the spaghetti with olive oil
4. Toss with Red pepper flakes, parmesan, and garlic. I add in a little of each at a time in order to get it mixed throughout better.
5. Top with a little shaved parm and serve.

**Makes about 4 servings, If we only have this and no side salad or anything, we usually only end up with one leftover portion ( in that case it's only 3 servings) 

**On Bryce's Dish scale it's a 1. A pot, a cutting board/knife and a strainer. 

Turkey Italian Sausage Pasta

This is what I call a weekend meal. It's not super difficult, but time consuming. It requires too much work to put together at the end of a work day for me, but for some people it might work. Again it's a recipe I found online and then tweaked to my taste. I found some great turkey italian sausage at the store one day and started googling for ideas on how to cook it and came up with a combo of ideas. Turkey sausage is obviously healthier than normal italian sausage and I find it has just as much flavor. My only issue is that my grocery store only sporadically carries it, so I sometimes substitute chicken italian sausage, and have made it with good old-fashioned regular italian sausage too. I don't use red peppers hardly ever in my cooking because they cause heart-burn issues in my family, but feel free to use that instead of, or along with, the other peppers. 

Turkey Italian Sausage with Peppers and Whole-Wheat Penne

• 1 package Turkey Italian Sausage
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 orange bell pepper, sliced into strips
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced into strips
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 3 garlic gloves minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 4 fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 cup of your favorite pasta sauce - I like the Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil Sauce (I save the rest of the jar to help stretch the leftovers)
• A splash of red wine if you have some open
• Salt and pepper
• 1 package of whole-wheat penne (use whatever pasta you like, but this one is my fav)

1. Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, cook until soft. Add peppers, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, Italian seasoning. Continue cooking on medium until peppers start to soften. Drop the heat to low when they get soft while you finish the other steps.
2. Heat the other tablespoon of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Prick sausage links with a fork so the fat can get out, then put in the pan to get cooking. To me - this is the hardest part of the recipe: getting the sausage cooked all the way, keeping the oil from burning me, and tending to the peppers on the other burner to keep them good. I like to start out with the sausages whole, leaving them on each side until they have a good brown color. Then I cut them in half in the pan, with the spatula - or pull them out for a second and cut in half with a knife. This is my trick to see if they are done in the middle, and if they aren't this helps it cook faster when you put it back in the pan. This takes about 15 to 20 minutes depending on your stove. I like them with a nice crispy brown color.
3. When the sausage is cooked, add the vinegar in that pan to deglaze. Then add the can of tomatoes, the sauce, and the splash of wine if you have it. Bring to a simmer. 
4. Now combine your sausage pan with your veggies pan in whichever pan can hold it all. 
5. Add Basil. 
6. Bring to boil, then knock down to a simmer. 
7. Cover and cook 20 minutes
8. While the sauce is simmering, cook your pasta.
9. To serve - top pasta with the sausage mixture.

*Notes- normally with tomato pastas I love topping with fresh Parmesan or Pecorino - but this has so much flavor I leave it out. It's great with a good crusty bread. 

*This makes 6ish servings. In other words it makes plenty for the hubby and I for dinner, and depending on how hungry we are that night- or if we have a salad, we either have 3 or 4 servings for leftovers.

*On the Bryce dish scale this one is a 5 (reminder the scale is 1-5, 5 being worst). Another reason we don't make it a weekend night meal. I use the normal cutting board and knife, sometimes bowls to throw in the veggies as I chop, two skillets and the pasta pan. It's a whole lotta dishes, but so worth it!

My go to Easy Greek Salad

I love salads. Seriously, I could eat them everyday. And this is one of my favorites. It's so easy, and packed full of healthy veggies that are available pretty much year round. You can totally adjust it to your taste too. My husband and I eat this as a meal, not a side, and it makes plenty. The idea comes from a great Real Simple recipe which you can find here. I've added and taken away a few things, and put my own spin on it. As much as I love salads, I really love chopped salads, so I chop everything up in this, but I still don't find it to be too much work. You could chop less if you were in a hurry. 

Yummy Chopped Greek Salad with Roasted Chickpeas

• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried italian seasoning mix (you can just do oregano too)
• salt and pepper
• 1 head of iceberg lettuce
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 cucumber
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 can chickpeas
• about 4 oz of crumbled feta (i used reduced fat if I'm feeling extra healthy)
• Optional: add pepperoncini and kalmata olives ( I love both of these toppings normally, but prefer this salad without them) 

1. In a large bowl, mix together Olive Oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and Italian Seasoning. Wisk together to make dressing. I've been known to adjust my ratio of vinegar and olive oil depending on my mood. This is my favorite. 
2. Meanwhile, drain chickpeas, toss with a teaspoon of Cavender's on a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 350 for while you finish chopping the ingredients for the salad, 15 to 20 minutes. I stir them around about every 5 minutes to make sure they get an even roast. This makes them a nice crispy addition to the salad. 
3. Chop lettuce and toss into bowl with dressing. I stir it all after I add each ingredient. 
4. Chop bell pepper, onion, and cucumber into smaller than bite size pieces and add to salad.
5. Halve your tomatoes, some of the bigger ones I will quarter to make them more bite size. Add to salad.
6. By this time your chickpeas should have a nice little crispness to them, take them out and let cool for a few minutes.
7. Add the feta and toss the salad to make sure it's all coated. 
8. Add chickpeas and serve up big bowls.

*This makes about 4 dinner size servings. 

*On the Bryce dish scale it's a 2. We have the big bowl, and the cutting board and knife. Plus the cookie sheet, which I try to cover in foil to save a dish. 

The Easy Way of Doing New Year's Black Eyed Peas

Because I live in the south (Arkansas) Black Eyed Peas on New Year's Day is a must. It's a tradition. One my family has done forever. It's supposed to bring you good luck. If you do it the right way it can be a lot of work. This is an easy way to make sure you get your good luck in that I've adjusted through the years. Since keeping up with this blog is one of my New Year's Resolutions, I thought this was a fitting first post. Also, you should know, I'm not a measurer. I kind of eyeball my measurements, so all my recipes are going to have "about" and "around" or "ish" on some of the measurements. You'll also start to likely notice, I love garlic.


Black-eyed Pea Soup

• 3 cans black eyed peas
• One package of chopped ham (again I do it the Easy Way, they have this in section with the Hot Dogs etc.)
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 14oz can Beef Broth
• 1 1/4 cup water
• About 2 teaspoons Cavender's Greek Seasoning
• One medium Yellow Onion chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• A smidge of Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a decent sized pot. Add onion and sauté until softened. Then add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. 

2. I like to add the ham in here, to kind of crisp it up a little, and let some of the fattiness cook off. I sauté it just enough to warm it. I salt and pepper it here too. 

3. Add everything else: the broth, water, rotel, peas, Cavender's.

4. Bring to a boil, then knock it down to simmer for 15 or 20 minutes. Sometimes I have to add a little more water here. Or maybe a little more salt and pepper depending on your tastes. 

*This makes about 4 servings. My husband and I each had big bowls, and had leftovers for lunch the next day.  

*On Bryce's dish scale (1-5, 5 being worst)  - It's scores a 1. His ideal, not a lot of dishes at all. 

This makes a flavorful soup, with a little bit of spice to help clear out that winter cold, and it's packed with a whole lot of luck.