one pan mexican quinoa

So I'm trying to be a little bit more healthy. Emphasis on "little bit".

I really enjoy food. I don't go overboard, I'm good at knowing when I'm full and when to stop and actually quitting while I'm ahead, and I make sure to stay active. So I pretty much eat whatever I want. I realize this isn't always a good idea, even if I'm not preoccupied with my figure, weight, or ability to exercise, so sometimes I try to find a healthier alternative to something I already enjoy. Especially if I can't tell that there's a huge difference when I make a substitution.

I also have this bag of quinoa that is going to expire if I don't use it all in the next month or two. So, honestly, my desire not to waste food was the larger motivator than my health. But whatever.

So I searched for quinoa recipes. Most were way too healthy for my tastes (if tofu is a main ingredient, I'll pass), but I realized I could just add what I wanted and take out what I didn't. And then I found this recipe that was basically just switching out rice for quinoa. And it was delicious. I made some changes, I added meat (because we're carnivores), and voila. Dinner 30 minutes later.

Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef (of course, there are great substitutions for this. Or you can omit it entirely. It's still really good without)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 c quinoa
• 1 c vegetable broth
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (fire roasted is delicious, but. Use what you have)
• 1 c corn
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• lime juice (1 lime is plenty)
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 1 avocado, diced

1.  (If you're using meat) Brown the beef. Drain and rinse (I've learned that rinsing really gets all of the fat off. Less oily and gross that way). Set aside, and rinse out your pan.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat, and cook the garlic and jalapeno for about a minute, until it starts to smell delicious.
3. Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring it all to a boil, then cover it and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer until the quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Stir in meat, heat through, then add lime, cilantro, and avocado. Eat immediately.

If eating healthy always tastes this delicious, maybe I'll up my healthy food game. Just a little bit. 

white bean chili. or, "When I Was Waiting For A Baby and Bridian was in Europe"

When I was about 38 weeks pregnant, I decided I wanted to make a bunch of freezer meals. I didn't want us to even think about dinner for as long as possible after our baby was born and relatives left and friends stopped bringing food. So I started making a list of meals and ingredients I needed. As a "thank you" from my internship team, I'd received, among other things, a grocery store gift certificate, but I learned at this grocery store that you have to use the entire balance of the gift certificate in one shot- anything you didn't spend was just lost. So I made a long list. The day Berlin was due (because if nothing else, I am absolutely a procrastinator), we went shopping. We spent an hour or so finding everything we needed and then things we wanted and then things we thought maybe we should get just because we did NOT want to waste this gift certificate. Funny, because we made it to the balance, only overshooting by 20 cents. We were incredibly proud. And then when the cashier found out I was due that day, she laughed and said, "Better take another lap around the store!"

Yeah right. Like a Mortensen/Lindstrom was going to come on his due date. Ha.

So Thursday (we went shopping on Monday), when there was still no sign of a baby, I decided I should probably start cooking, since the baby was not going stay indefinitely snuggled inside of me, and I cooked up a storm all day (more on those recipes later). Closer to dinner time, I realized I hadn't really planned for dinner for that night. And I was not about to sacrifice a meal for a time when I didn't want to cook for a time when making one more meal after 10 was not really a big deal.

But I had zero ideas. Zero. Apparently cooking and creativity are inversely related.

Bridian was on her 6-week sabbatical somewhere in Denmark (or London. Who knows), but she'd been texting me when she periodically found internet. Most of our conversations were about life plans, of a little more epic proportion than what to eat for dinner that night, but. I braved the break in conversation topic. She laughed at me, especially at my problem of not being able to think of anything after cooking all day, and suggested this soup that she'd made for me one time and she thought I liked it. So she proceeded to text me the recipe. One. Ingredient. At. A. Time. Instructions weren't really included. I had to clarify a million things a million times. I finally scribbled everything on to a tiny scratch of paper to make sense of it and repeat it back to Bridian. I have lost this little scrap of paper half a million times and I really don't have any idea how I've managed to find it again (which is a huge reason in why I'm blogging this one). When I reminded her of this a couple of days ago, she laughed again. "Yeah, that sounds like something I would do."

Anyway, what resulted was one of my favorite soups of all soups. Which is saying something, because I've had are a lot of really great soups. This one is just... top 3. Super simple, super delicious. I use this one a lot for cold days and for bringing soup to friends who are sick/have just had a baby/both. I also love eating/serving this soup with homemade bread, if you care to know. But really, what soup isn't great with homemade bread?

1. Boil 1-2 chicken breasts (depending on how much chicken you want in your soup. When I double this, I use two and it's plenty). After they're cooked(10-15 minutes), let them cool until you can shred them. Save the broth!
2. Saute half an onion, diced, with a tablespoon of butter (in your soup pot).
3. Then add:

• 2 drained cans of great northern white beans
• 1 small can diced green chilies
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• salt and garlic powder to taste

Simmer for 10-15 minutes. When it's done, add 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1 cup of heavy cream.

I don't even have anything else to say. I've already ranted and raved about it, so- enjoy!