I bet you guys have realized by now how much I love quinoa!  (If not, you must have missed this previous post on why quinoa is so good for you!)  So I just have to share another recipe because maybe you love quinoa as much as I do.  Anyone?! 

I found this recipe in Fitness magazine and tried it a couple weeks ago and it is delicious... Enjoy!

Corn and Quinoa Salad With Chicken Sausage

Prep: 20 mins Cool: 30 mins Cook: 20 mins

Makes: 4 servings 

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 ounces spicy chicken sausage, cut into chunks
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 large or 2 small zucchini, diced
• 2 1/2 cups corn kernels (about 4 ears)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Put the quinoa and chicken broth in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
2. While quinoa cooks, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer sausage to a plate. Add another tablespoon oil to pan, then add the onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and corn and cook about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender-firm.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, remaining oil, cumin, salt and black pepper. Add quinoa, sausage, corn-zucchini mixture and bell pepper; mix. Chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes or up to two days. When ready to serve, stir in the parsley.

recipe credit

Sweet and Sticky Orange Chicken

I found this recipe while I was searching for a recipe for my monthly Cooking Club meeting.  (If you missed it, check out this post about starting a Cooking Club.)  Our monthly theme was "Sweet and Savory: the best of both worlds".  The recipe is the only one of it's kind in my recipe database and offers a nice break from our usual menu.  Enjoy:

Sweet & Sticky Orange Chicken

What You Need

1 large navel orange

1/4 cup  KRAFT Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

2 Tbsp. lite soy sauce

2 Tbsp.  sugar

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 lb.  boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

1 Tbsp. minced gingerroot

1 clove  garlic, minced

1 large red pepper, cut into bite-size pieces

Make It

GRATE 1 tsp. zest from orange. Use small sharp knife to cut remaining peel and white pith from orange; cut orange into bite-size pieces. Mix zest, dressing, soy sauce, sugar and crushed pepper. COOK chicken in nonstick skillet on high heat 5 to 6 min. or until done, stirring frequently. Add ginger and garlic; cook and stir on medium-high heat 2 min. Add red peppers; cook 2 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring frequently. Transfer to bowl; cover to keep warm. ADD dressing mixture to skillet; cook and stir 1 to 2 min. or until thickened, stirring constantly. Add chicken mixture; cook and stir 2 min. or until heated through. Stir in oranges; spoon onto platter.

Yummy-licious!

I found this blog For the Love of Cooking and I have been loving it!  It is one recipe everyday... it's as simple as that!  One day it will be a main dish, the next a salad, and another a dessert!  I love the variety.  The other aspect that I enjoy about this blog is all the pictures.  I usually decide on what recipe I will make based on the pictures.  I will flip through my recipe books and the ones with pictures always catch my eye.  I know that I have probably skipped over many delicious recipes but what can I say, I'm a visual person.  So the fact that this blog includes pictures with every recipe has me saying, "ohhh, that looks yummy!"  all the time.

And that is exactly what happened a couple weekends ago when I was back in Iowa.  My mom was having family over to her house and she was cooking and baking away and I thought that I would help by making something as well.  I went to my favorite blog and it's like the blog knew exactly what I was looking for because this is what I found:

 

Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

This caught my eye and had me saying, "ohhh, that looks yummy!"  So I made them and they did not disappoint!  I will definitely be making these again : )  Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars:

Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net

Original recipe by My Baking Addiction

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups of graham crackers crumbs
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:

• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup of brown sugar, packed
• 3 tbsp white sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup of flour
• 1 cup of chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling:

• 10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing a little overhang, then spray the paper and dish with cooking spray.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter until mixed thoroughly. Firmly press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Place into the oven and bake for 6 minutes. Remove pan and set aside to cool. DO NOT TURN YOUR OVEN OFF.

While the crust is cooling, prepare the chocolate chip cookie dough. Beat the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, and vanilla together using a mixer until creamy and smooth. Add the flour to the butter mixture until just combined then add the chocolate chips and mix. Set aside.

For the cheesecake filling, place the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla together into a bowl then beat, using a mixer, until creamy and smooth. Carefully spread the cheesecake batter onto the prepared crust.

Using your hand to form clumps, distribute the cookie dough evenly in clumps on the top of the cheesecake batter until you use all of the dough.

Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top (cookie dough) feels dry and firm and the entire pan looks set if given a gentle shake. Move bars to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Lift bars out by the overhang; slice and store in the refrigerator. Serve cold or at room temperature. Enjoy.

Sunday Night Dinner

I really enjoy cooking but because of my daily schedule, I don't get to cook dinner every night of the week.  In fact, Craig and I usually eat leftovers or throw something together quick and end up eating around 8:00pm Monday through Thursday.  So Friday, Saturday and Sunday's are the days that I can spend time in the kitchen cooking and baking (and enjoying a glass of wine, or course!)  And on Friday and Saturday nights we often get together with our friends, so we don't always get to eat a good dinner together then either.  With our crazy schedules in mind, at the beginning of our marriage Craig and I decided to make it a priority to spend Sunday nights together enjoying dinner and relaxing before we start another week.  So Sunday night dinner has been a fun tradition in our family that we hope to continue even as our family grows.

Here is a new recipe that I made for Sunday night dinner this past week.  It was delicious!

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta Salad:

Adapted recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net

Original recipe by Cathy at Wives with Knives

Salad:

• 4 oz farfalle pasta, cooked per instructions
• 2 cups of leftover roasted chicken, diced
• 1/2 cup of low fat feta cheese
• 1 cup of grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup of frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, halved
• 1 cup of kalamata olives, halved
• 1/2 cup red onion, sliced thinly
• 5 basil leaves, chiffonade
• 1/4 cup pine nuts

Vinaigrette:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• Juice of 1 small lemon
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2-3 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Prepare the vinaigrette first. Combine all of the ingredients together and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Set aside to allow flavors to mingle.

Cook the pasta in well seasoned water per instructions. Drain and rinse with cool water. Add the chicken, feta cheese, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, onion, basil, and pine nuts to the drained pasta. Toss the salad with the vinaigrette and serve immediately. Enjoy.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe - For the Love of Cooking.net

DIY Protein Bars

A couple years ago I wandered down the "health/sports food" aisle at my local grocery store in search of protein bars.  I was looking for a quick easy protein to eat after my morning workout.  To my surprise, I found candy bars disguised as protein bars!  Most of the selection had peanut butter or caramel or both, covered with chocolate... they looked delicious!  But after reading all the labels and discovering that some of these protein bars were packing 45g of carbs and 18g of sugar, I decided that these "healthy" protein bars aren't quite as healthy as I thought!  So I left the grocery store with the challenge of making my own protein bars that are actually healthy : )  I have been making them for the last 2 years and have shared this recipe with many women who are looking for a carb conscious protein bar.  They are super easy and very tasty!  Enjoy!!

Protein Bars

Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp honey or agave nectar
1 1/2 cup protein powder
1 cup uncooked quick oats
2-4 tbsp water

Directions
Mix together peanut butter and honey/agave nectar and microwave for 30 seconds
Combine protein powder and uncooked oats
Stir together peanut butter mixture with protein powder mixture and add water
Stir until completely combined- may be a little crumbly
Press into pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes to harden
Cut into 12 bars

1 bar = 16g protein, 10g, carb, 10.5g fat   (not bad ,huh?)

Cooking with Quinoa

I was introduced to quinoa by a friend of mine about a year ago and I love it!  Since then I have learned more about this super grain and try to incorporate it into my diet as much as I can. 

Fun Facts about Quinoa:

• Of all the whole grains, quinoa is the most nutritious and is called a "super grain" because its nutritional profile may make it a human survival food.  
• Dr. Duane Johnson, the New Crops Agronomist at CSU has been widely quoted, "If I had to choose one food to survive on, quinoa would be the best." 
• It has a high level of lysine, an amino acid deficient in other grains.  
• It is at least equal to milk in protein quality. 
• Most people who are allergic to other grains are not allergic quinoa because it is a relative to spinach, beets, and chard
• It can help in protecting us from our very radioactive environment
• It was medicinal in the Andes because of it's healing properties and is still staple food in South America

 Here are a few tips to help you to incorporate this super grain into you diet:

• use it in place of rice- in stir fry and in mexican recipes
• use for breakfast, served with fruit or syrup
• use in a pilaf with sauteed onions and peppers
• use in lettuce salads
• use in stuffed peppers, squash, or potatoes

You can find quinoa at the grocery store near the rice and beans.  Here's what to look for:

And finally here is a Coder favorite recipe using quinoa:

Chicken and Quinoa Enchiladas
2 chicken breasts cooked and diced
1 cup of quinoa uncooked
1/2 onion- chopped
1 green chile pepper- chopped
shredded cheddar cheese
green chile enchilada sauce
8 tortillas

Prepare quinoa
In a skillet, combine chicken, onion, and pepper with a little bit of water. 
Add your favorite Mexican seasoning- (I use taco seasoning) and simmer
Add cooked quinoa and stir to combine
Add mixture evenly to 8 tortillas, sprinkle with cheese, roll and place seam down into greased pan

Pour green chile enchilada sauce on top- top with cheddar cheese
Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly
Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream (of course) : )

Enjoy this Delish Dish

Taco Soup

We had this delicious soup at my mom's house for Christmas.  Craig and I loved it so I made some this weekend.  It's super easy and can easily be made in the crockpot- a must for the Coders!

Taco Soup
1 1/2 lb of ground beef or turkey
1 envelope of taco seasoning (I used 2 for a little extra flavor)
1 onion chopped
1 16oz can pinto beans
1 16oz can kidney beans
1 16oz can golden hominy
1 12oz can cream style corn (I just used regular corn and it tastes the same)
1 14oz can diced stewed tomatoes
1 10oz can diced tomatoes with chiles (I modified and used a fresh green chile and another can of tomatoes)
1 envelope ranch style dressing mix

Brown your meat with chopped onion and drain.  Add taco seasoning and following directions on the back of the envelope.  Combine all ingredients into a crockpot, do not drain beans and vegetables.  Cook on low for a several hours until flavors have combined.  Serve with sour cream, grated cheddar, and tortilla chips!