quinoa with mushrooms & spinach

This was tasty and easy. And I had it all on hand which made it even better.

Quinoa with mushrooms & spinach

1 cup quinoa
2 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp thyme

Put all in rice cooker. Mix and cook.

1 Tb olive oil
1/2 chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic

Saute onions until desired softness. About 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan.

1 Tb olive oil
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
4 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

In same pan heat oil and saute mushrooms for 5 minutes. Add rest of ingredients and cook until the sauce is reduced to desired consistency.

spinach (however much you want to add)

Add spinach and already cooked onions to pan and cook for about a minute. Remove from heat. Add cooked quinoa. Mix and enjoy!
You could top it with goat cheese (any kind of cheese for that matter) and extra balsamic vinegar.

30-Minute Rolls

I wanted an easy recipe that I could use for pulled pork sandwiches for tonight. I found these on Sister Cafe, just tried them! Yummy and only in 30mins!! :) enjoy!

30-Minute Rolls (from Real Mom Kitchen)

submitted by Chelsey

1 1/8 cups plus 2 tsp. warm water

1/3 cup oil

2 Tb yeast

1/4 cup sugar or honey

½ tsp. Salt

1 egg

3 ½ cups flour

Mix 1st 4 ingredients and let rest for 15 minutes. Add salt and eggs – gradually add flour. Shape into dinner rolls, or use in your favorite recipe that calls for dough. After shaped, let rest for 10 minutes. For rolls, Bake 10 minutes @400 degrees ‘till golden brown.

chicken lettuce wraps

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Sauce (to pour over wraps):

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup warm water
2 T soy sauce
2 T ketchup
1 T lemon juice
1/8 tsp sesame oil
1 T dijon mustard
2 cloves finely minced garlic

Chicken stir-fry:

2 T olive oil
2 T sesame oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts finely chopped {I used food processor}
1 8 oz can water chestnuts minced {again, with the food processor}
1 8 oz can bamboo shoots minced {need I repeat myself again...food processor}
1/2 cup mushrooms minced {food processor}
3 cloves garlic, finely minced {you guessed it, food processor}
3 green onions thinly chopped

Stir fry sauce:

2 T soy sauce
2 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

Begin by making the pouring sauce. Mix all ingredients well and set aside for serving.
Prep stir fry sauce by mixing ingredients in small bowl and set aside.
Combine oils and heat over high heat until it glistens, about 1 minute. Add chicken and saute until cooked through, then remove from pan. Take same pan and turn to medium high heat. Add another T of olive oil, wait one minute, and then add garlic, onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Stir fry a few minutes and then add chicken and stir fry sauce.
Serve with lettuce leaves to wrap in. Pour sauce over.

via Just Cook Already

Homemade Graham Crackers

A friend posted this on her blog and i thought it would be good to start to add some gluten free recipes! Recipe from: http://www.whatlifedishesout.com/?p=638

Ingredients

2 Cups Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

1/4 Cup Brown Rice Flour

1/2 Cup packed Brown Sugar

2 tsp Cinnamon (I use half this amount)

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum

7 Tbsp Butter

3 Tbsp Cold Water

3 Tbsp Honey

1 tsp Vanilla

Sugar

Directions:

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and spray the paper lightly with Pam.

Combine flours, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, salt and xanthan gum in a large bowl with a wire whisk.

Using a pastry cutter, cut butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles cornmeal.

Add water, honey and vanilla to flour mixture and using a wooden spoon, stir ingredients until the mixture is well combined and forms a ball.

(You may need to add a bit more water, or more a bit more brown rice flour if your dough is too dry or too sticky.)

Divide dough into two parts, wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

With another lightly sprayed piece of parchment placed atop the dough, use a rolling pin to roll each half into a large rectangle on each cookie sheet. (I don't use parchment on top of the dough. I just rolled it out using a bit of extra rice flour to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Make sure to roll it pretty thin.)

Carefully peel off the top layer of parchment, and using a knife, score the dough into squares.

Remove the rough edges of the dough (you can save the scraps to form more crackers).

Using a serving fork, prick a few rows of holes in each cracker. Then sprinkle lightly all over with sugar.

Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from oven and re-score along your previously cut lines by pressing straight down with a knife. (I think a pizza cutter works best. Make sure to do this while they are still hot.)

Remove crackers to a wire rack to cool.