Red Quinoa and Lemon Chick’n Wrap

It’s been a nice, quiet Sunday.  Pat and I went out for brunch at IHOP, and then stopped by Half Price Books.  I also got back on the treadmill for the first time in too long, and it felt good to get moving again.  I walked/ran 2.5 miles.

My snack this afternoon was inspired by Rachel’s post of a cherry/blueberry/banana smoothie.  It looked delicious, so I really wanted to try it.  In my mix (2 servings):

• 1 banana
• 2/3 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup frozen cherries
• 1.5 cups light vanilla soy milk
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 2 packets splenda

It was thicker than most of my smoothies, so I ate it with a spoon.  It was so good!

Dinner was also inspired by Rachel – she posted a recipe for avocado hummus, so I used it in our dinner tonight.  To make the avocado hummus, I mixed the following ingredients.  I tried using the Magic Bullet, but it didn’t work so well, so my hummus was a little chunky.

• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1 avocado
• 2 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1/4 yellow onion
• 2 tsp lime juice

I used the hummus on a Flat Out wrap, along with Laughing Cow garlic & herb cheese, and topped it with Lightlife Smart Tenders in Lemon Pepper.  This was a great combination!

For a side dish I made red quinoa.  I mixed it with:

• 1/2 yellow bell pepper
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• lime juice
• feta cheese

I’m still getting used to the texture of quinoa.  It’s pretty tasteless, so it could have used more feta cheese, but it was good on the side.

Doesn’t it look pretty?  What is your favorite way to prepare quinoa?

Dinner Party

Last night we had friends over for dinner.  It’s always fun to plan meals when cooking for others, and we had stocked up on lots of groceries at Costco the day before.  Our menu:

Appetizer – Homemade Guacamole

I made it the same as last time, but added in some salt and just a hint of chili powder per Pat’s request.  He wanted a little more heat, but I like my guac more onion-y, not spicy.  Served with salsa and chips.

Side Dish – Strawberry, Avocado and Red Onion Salad

I made this one the same as before – I love it!  But of course, I love anything with avocado in it.

Dinner – Soy Burritos

For dinner, I wanted to go with a recipe that would not take long to make.  I wanted to spend time with our guests, and did not want to be stuck in the kitchen all night.  I also wanted a vegetarian meal that even non-vegetarians could like, and this one usually gets high reviews from Pat, so I went with it.  I added in some of the homemade guac and salsa.

Don’t mind the “napkin” – even though we had clean cloth napkins in our hutch, the hubby went with the paper towels 🙂

Dessert – Blueberry-Lemon Coffee Cake (Cooking Light)

I wanted to try something new for dessert.  I made this coffee cake earlier in the day because I knew it might take awhile.  I found this recipe under a list of good summer desserts, and I had just bought a huge package of blueberries at Costco, so this sounded perfect.  Not to mention, it called for lemons.  My husband eats lemons for dessert.  Like, he eats them as though they were oranges!

I started with the batter.  The recipe called for almond paste, but it was $4 for a tiny thing at the store.  So instead I bought almond pie filling for half the price.  I’m not sure if it was a good idea or not, or how the paste would have made a difference, but I think it came out fine with the almond filling!  I also used light vanilla soy milk instead of milk and swapped Smart Balance stick butter for regular butter.  I think I also added a little extra lemon zest!

It was a good thing I found an electric hand mixer in the cupboard… it had never been opened before, so it was probably a wedding gift that got stashed away.  It would have been helpful when I was making the egg souffle!

The topping was the best part – sugar, butter, cinnamon and sliced almonds.  I felt like it could have used more topping, but then I guess it wouldn’t have been such a light recipe, would it?

Into the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, and out came this delicious pan!

It cooled while we ate dinner, and then I threw a few pieces in the microwave before serving them.  They were thick, moist and refreshing.  I don’t bake often, but I think these came out pretty good!

It was a fun night with great company 🙂

What is your favorite thing to make for a dinner party?

Guacamole

As much as I love avocados and guacamole, I had never attempted making it myself until last night.   I was just really in the mood for some homemade guac.   I loosely based my recipe on the one in Joy of Cooking.

I started with the avocado.  I had one large and one small Hass avocado, so that was what I used.

Pat had to help me with mashing it up – my hands were getting tired.

I then added:

• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1 Roma tomato
• 1.5 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp parsley

It was very fresh and very good!  Pat and I actually ended up eating the entire bowl for dinner, with some Tostitos scoops.

Back to Marini’s

Marini’s Empanada House was so much fun the first time, I thought it would be a great place to take my family Saturday night.  It’s something just a little different.  And the people there are so friendly – it feels good to support a family business like this one.

After placing our order, we bought a pitcher of sangria to share.  It was nice and fruity with granny smith apples floating on top.

I started with a Humita empanada – corn, cream sauce, onions, mozzarella, provolone and spices.  It was a little like the center of a pot pie, but with no meat.  I really liked the corn – I liked this one better than the Spinach one I tried last time.

I ordered the Avocado again.  This is definitely my favorite veggie empanada.  Please note that nothing beats the dessert empanadas – not even avocado.

For my dessert empanada I tried the Patty all the Way.  It was chocolate, dulce de leche and warm cream cheese – so amazing.  This was such a good place to bring my family!

After dinner we went to the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony.  We used to live right next to this, so it’s a place we always take out of town visitors.  About 300,000 Mexican free-tailed bats live under this bridge.  And every night they come out at sunset to feed on 5,000 lbs of bugs.  You’d think with that colony right next to you there wouldn’t be a single mosquito in sight.  I wish that was the case.

People gather on and around the bridge just before sunset.  I’m always impressed by the crowd that comes out to watch the bat.  A lot of people bring their dogs.  We took Bailey, but she was much more interested in the other people than the other dogs, or even the bats.

The bats always fly in different directions depending on the night, but they fly together.  Some nights it looks like a steady black stream in the sky as the fly away.  Saturday night was kind of light on the bats, but it was still pretty cool.  Can you see them?

It was so cool, I took a video – they can be kind of hard to see, but look closely!

Mexican Stir-fry

Dinner last night was especially tasty – one of my better experiments.  I started by picking out the veggies I wanted to use (those that would spoil soon), and I knew I wanted avocado, but I didn’t have a set plan.  I chopped up the veggies and sautéed them in 1 tbsp olive oil:

• 1 white onion
• 1/4 red bell pepper
• 1/4 yellow bell pepper

After that I wanted to add some protein.  I was planning on using the chick’n I had in the fridge (note to mom:  that is fake chicken).  But I also was in the mood for some beans.  So I added both.  I rinsed the beans first, and added my protein to the mix.

And added 1/2 a packet of low-sodium taco seasoning.  I love taco seasoning… of any kind.  It adds a lot of flavor to anything you make.

And finally, the avocado.  It was on it’s last leg, but it still tasted pretty good.

Dig in!

So good I even had seconds.  But I’m still not a fan of the texture of chick’n (this was Smart Strips)… it’s just too rubbery.  I need to find a better chicken substitute – or maybe just stick to beans.

In typical Pat fashion, he had to add cheddar cheese and buffalo sauce 🙂

Definitely on my short list for week night dinners – fast and delicious.  I love avocado 🙂

What is your favorite meat substitute?