Almond Butter Quinoa Brownies

I am not saying that I have jumped on the quinoa bandwagon, but I got a free "Eating Well" magazine in the mail this past week and was just flipping through it and left it open on the kitchen island.  Next thing you know I have a request to make these lovelies.  Okay, I was game.  These are actually pretty good.  And I had all of the ingredients on-hand, including a hand-crank grinder that I haven't used in forever*.  Pretty handy little tool, really.  Mental note to use this more often.  

Ingredients:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used salted because that is what I had.  Paula Deen says that's okay.)

3/4 cup smooth or crunchy natural almond butter

2 large eggs

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

3/4 cup quinoa flour (I used my hand-crank grinder to make this)

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil allowing it to slightly overhang on opposite ends so you have "handles" to lift the blondies out of the pan.  Coat the foil with cooking spray. Seriously. These things are a little sticky when you cut them and pull them off of the foil.

2.  Beat butter and almond butter in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until creamy.  Beat in eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.  Whisk quinoa flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

3.  Mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

4.  Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake about 25 minutes--until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it.  DO NOT OVER BAKE.

5.  Remove from oven and let cool about 45 minutes in the pan.  Lift the blondies out of the pan with the foil  and transfer to a cutting board.  Let cool completely and cut into bars.

6.  Makes 24 blondies.

7.  These should keep up to 5 days in the fridge, in an air-tight container.

*Check out this cool grinder...

SOURCE:  Eating Well Magazine.

Chicken Satay and Thai Peanut Sauce

For this post, you get two recipes in one! The chicken satay recipe came from here. And the most amazing Thai Peanut Sauce recipe came from here.

Thai Chicken Satay:

2 normal to large sized chicken breasts

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 wooden skewers

Directions:

1. Soak the skewers in water while prepping your chicken and sauce. This will help keep the skewers from burning when you place them on the grill. 

2. Cut the chicken into thin slices. 

3. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, add the chicken and massage. The chicken does not need to marinate in the sauce for very long, in fact only a few minutes. Place the chicken on skewers and drop them on the grill at medium heat. Flip the skewer just before you start to see grill marks on the chicken. This makes for the perfect “doneness” without drying it out. 

This marinade also goes great with shrimp! 

For the Thai Peanut Sauce:

One 13.5-ounce can of full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk

2 ounces (approximately ¼ cup) of Thai red or Massaman curry paste

¾ cup unsweetened (natural) creamy peanut butter (Do not use regular peanut butter or anything with added emulsifiers. I get mine fresh ground in the bulk section at Winco.)

½ tablespoon salt

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (Do not use white wine, red wine, balsamic, or anything else — not even rice vinegar)

½ cup water

Instructions:

Put everything into a medium heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a very gentle boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.

Let the mixture simmer for 3-5 minutes over low heat; be careful not to let the mixture scorch at the bottom of the pot.

Take the pot off the heat, let the sauce cool down to room temperature (or slightly warmer), and serve the sauce with satay or fried tofu.

Notes

This peanut sauce keeps in a glass container in the refrigerator for weeks. Refrigerated sauce will thicken up considerably. All you have to do is thin it out with a little bit of water to desired consistency, reheat, and serve. The sauce also freezes beautifully.

 

Lasagna Soup

Have I told you how much I absolutely love Thrive?  I mean, seriously.  It's amazing.  I have saved so much time in the kitchen just by using Thrive foods--they are ready to use right out of the packaging--no more chopping onions, no more greasy meat prep, etc.  And the taste is unmatched!  Not to mention the nutrition bonus of eating freeze dried foods of the highest quality.  You are really missing out if you haven't tried Thrive for yourself.

I love "throw and go" cooking with Thrive foods.  The other day I made some spaghetti sauce using that method; and for me, that means just tossing in what I like and adding enough water along the way to rehydrate the foods to perfection.  This is all without any measuring!!!  Love it.  And my spaghetti meat sauce, which I began making AFTER I started the pasta, was done before the pasta was!

But sometimes I do like to try recipes and measure.  Lasagna Soup intrigued me when I saw it and, lemme tell you, it did NOT disappoint my taste buds.  Several in the family went back up for seconds of this tasty dish.  This one is definitely going to be made many times in our house!  And, bonus, you can also vacuum seal this (layered in the order listed) in a quart mason jar and keep it on the shelf for emergency quick meals (although going directly into the pot was fast to begin with).  Just dump and go.  (Email me at gimmethrive@gmail.com for more info on jar meals!)

Ingredients:

¼ cup Thrive Tomato Powder
1 tsp Thrive Chef's Choice Seasoning
 ¼ cup Thrive Tomato Sauce 
3 TBSP Thrive Mixed Bell Peppers
 1 TBSP Thrive Chicken Bouillon
¼ cup Thrive Freeze Dried Onions
 1 tsp  Garlic powder
¾ cup Thrive Freeze Dried Sausage Crumbles 
¼ tsp Crushed Red Pepper
2 cups Thrive Farfalle (Bowtie) Noodles

1. Dump all the ingredients into a pot or Dutch oven.  Stir in 8 cups of water.
2.  Bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down to medium.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the noodles are al dente.

Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and serve with salad and breadsticks!  Easy peasy!

For more information on how you can save time and money while eating nutritious, convenient food from Thrive, 

email me at gimmethrive@gmail.com.  

You can also visit my website to learn more.

Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

There are days when you just can't think of a recipe to post, so you hit your trusty family cookbook to see if anything strikes your fancy--and if you already have most of the ingredients.  Today was that day.  After a quick trip to the store before work to pick up chives and cherry tomatoes, I was ready to prepare your post for the day.  This is actually a recipe that I taped into my cookbook without even trying it.  I have quite a few of those, from back in pre-Pinterest days, pre-save it to your computer days.  Yes, that long ago.  This one is clipped from a magazine.  I would guess at Better Homes & Gardens.  This is actually quite good and any leftover filling makes a great egg salad sandwich.

Ingredients:

36 large cherry tomatoes 

4 hard-boiled eggs

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 T. Dijon mustard (I used regular because I forgot to get some at the store)

1/2 t. curry powder

2 T. chopped fresh chives

10 whole chives for garnish

1.  Cut a slice off the top of each tomato and use a spoon to remove the meat and seeds.  I actually cut off the bottom end so that the tomatoes would sit level on the platter.

2.  Set the tomatoes upside down on paper towels to drain.

3.  Put the peeled eggs in a bowl along with the mustard and mayo and mash with a fork until fairly smooth.  Add the remaining ingredients, mix well and taste so you can add spices if you need to.  I added a little bit of salt.

4.  About 1 hour before serving, fill each tomato with egg salad, garnish with several 2" chive spears standing up in the middle of the tomato.  Makes a lovely appetizer, don't you think?

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts get a bad wrap, but if cooked right, they are delicious. This is a simply sauteed then slightly steamed recipe to get some good carmelization and still cook them through.

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

1 lb. Brussels Sprouts, washed and cut in half
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
S and P to taste
1/2 C. water

In a large saute pan with a tight fitting lid, heat up olive oil and butter over med/high heat. Add cleaned Brussels sprouts. Flip them so the cut side is down. Sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Saute in olive oil and butter til cut side is golden brown, just a few minutes. Stir the Brussels sprouts around, then add water to the pan and cover with the lid. Continue cooking (add more water if needed) until sprouts are tender crisp, about 10 minutes or so. Remove lid and let excess water evaporate. Remove from pan, add more S and P if needed, serve.

Gluten-free and Dairy-Free Blueberry Muffins

Are you gluten-free?  Do you find that you are sometimes less than thrilled to try new gluten-free recipes because they often don't satisfy?  Maybe it's just me.  I guess I'm jaded now.  Nevertheless, I decided to try this one for breakfast today because, well, I suppose I haven't lost all hope.

I wasn't expecting much.  Actually, I was expecting a slightly sweet blob of cardboard.  But I was really happy with the result.  Happy, as in, I will make these again.  And that's saying a lot....for me, anyway.

Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Blueberry Muffins

2 large eggs, at room temp
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/3 cup palm shortening, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup warm water
1 3/4 cup Pancake Mix (see recipe below)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup fresh blueberries (or reconstituted freeze-dried blueberries--what I used)

Topping
1/3 cup pecan halves
1 Tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut
1 Tbsp. solid coconut oil
1 Tbsp. blanched almond flour
1 Tbsp. honey
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 large date, pit removed
pinch of sea salt

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place an oven-safe dish filled with 2 cups of water on the bottom oven rack.  Place a rack in the middle--this is where the muffins will bake.
2.  Place all the muffin ingredients, except the blueberries, in a blender.  Process for half a minute, scrape down, and process again until smooth.  Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in the blueberries.
3.  In a muffin tin, place 10 paper liners.  Fill each liner 2/3 full.
4.  In a food processor, combine all the topping ingredients.  Pulse them together until like coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle atop each muffin.
5.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Test with a toothpick by inserting into the middle of a muffin; if it comes out clean, it should be ready.  Remove the baked muffins to a wire rack to cool for a bit.

Pancake Mix
3 cups blanched almond flour
1 cup coconut flour
1 Tbsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 tsp. sea salt
Whisk together and store in airtight container in fridge (will last for 6 months).

Source:  Against All Grain by Danielle Walker