New Quinoa Recipes

We've had a super quiet weekend which has included:   'go to the dump' card tourney, cleaning closets, decorating for Christmas and going to the movie "Wreck It Ralph - 3D" which we all loved.

I also experimented with the amazing quinoa grain.    Quinoa is delicious, nutritious, gluten free and very versatile.  As I blogged about earlier, the health benefits of quinoa are endless.

Here's my 2 new and delicious quinoa recipes:

1.   Quinoa Pizza Bites

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil (or 1 Tbsp. dried)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
Pizza sauce for dipping

Directions
Rinse quinoa and place with 2 cups water in a covered pot. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender.
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together the cooked quinoa with all ingredients (except pizza sauce) in a medium bowl.
Distribute mixture into a lightly sprayed muffin tin, pressing down gently to compact.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, then cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
Serve warm with pizza sauce for dipping.

These are SUPER delicious and were really good the next day - yum!

Quinoa Pizza Bites - on my Grandma's platter

2.  Chickpea Quinoa Crockpot Soup
**inspired by Girl Evolving Blog

Ingredients

2 cups of chickpeas (I used 2 cans)
1 jar roasted sun dried tomatoes
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cumin
4 cups of water
4 cups of broth
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (more or less depending on taste)
Nutritional yeast or mozzarella cheese for garnish

Directions

Combine and cook on high in crockpot for 6 - 8 hours - delicious!

Quinoa Chickpea Crockpot Soup in my Grandma's tea cup
My mom told me she inherited this cup from her friend "Winnie" who was from England

 Hayward, Wisconsin is a beautiful place to be this time of year.  The businesses downtown are completely lit up and the town looks absolutely magical.  The kids and I were so inspired that we came home and decorated early for Christmas.  In sorting through our Christmas boxes, I found a bunch of treasures from my Grandma Johnson AND I found this teacup and saucer that she left me.  The kids and I were so excited.  I'll blog more about my findings on Wednesday as we celebrate her 85th birthday  (I'll be in my hometown Osseo, WI so I'll be able to visit her grave).



Sending Gus and Greta out to play - you can never be too safe during hunting season.
Notice anything different about Miss Greta? 

What's your favorite quinoa recipe?  Have you decorated for Christmas yet?  Visit Hayward and you may be inspired. 

Thanks for reading,

Kristin