Quinoa (Pronounced KEEN-wah).

I eat my fair share of junk food and have never met a piece of chocolate that I did not like.  In fact, I find it very hard to resist anything with nuts, peanut butter, caramel sauce, whip cream or chocolate.  That being said, my true love is healthy food.  I am a firm believer in the notion that you are what you eat.  I view food as my body's fuel, but also seek pure enjoyment in the refueling process.

 

One of my favorites is quinoa.  I found it a bit tricky to cook at first, perhaps it was my impatience in waiting for it to soak up the broth.  It has a nutty flavor that I cannot resist.  I found the following recipe in one of my fitness magazines and tried it on the family last night.  I am pleased to announce that the girls actually ate it (and loved it).  I just finished up the leftovers for lunch.  The beauty of the recipe is how simple it is to make.  If you have not given quinoa a try, this is a good place to start!  I doubled the recipe for the family.

 

Ingredients

• 3 5-oz skinless/boneless chicken breast
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 cups uncooked quinoa
• 1/8 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 cloves garlic, crushed
• Dash each sea salt and pepper
• 1 cup fresh spinach

Instructions

1. Lightly coat a large skillet with cooking spray and saute onions over medium heat until translucent. Set aside in a bowl.
2. Saute chicken in olive oil in the same skillet, about 4 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.
3. Pour chicken broth into skillet along with uncooked quinoa, basil, garlic and cooked onions, and stir. Nestle the chicken breasts into the quinoa. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cover. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the quinoa is fluffy and has absorbed all of the liquid.
4. Stir spinach into the mixture until it is wilted. Serve hot.

Source: Oxygen Magazine January 2013

Another Jack-O-Lantern and Double Dog Daring.

Little Sidney is growing up.  She lost her first tooth this week.  The tooth has been pretty wiggly for a couple of months now, but last Sunday she was determined to put it in her tooth fairy pillow.  After 30 minutes of back and forth, she grabbed a tissue and yanked it out.  By the way, I refuse to yank out the girls' teeth for them.  I tried it on Kendall a couple of years ago, and she started to cry.  I swore never again.  The tooth will come out by way of an apple or their little prying hands...not mine. 

 

Kevin was in the hot tub with the girls a few nights back while I was catching up on the latest gossip in US Weekly.  I heard a bunch of commotion, and Kendall came in and asked me to get the camera.  Kevin had double dog dared them to jump out of the hot tub and make snow angels for a quarter.  I am fairly liberal about these daddy pranks, but found myself freaking out a bit. 

Sidney also joined in the craziness.  After getting out of the hot tub, the girls asked Kevin for their dollar.  He replied, "I told you a quarter."  Kendall said, "We did it four times.  You owe us a dollar."  The girls did well in their negotiation, because they each ended up with a dollar.

Like Daughter's, Like Mother.

Kendall received a Rainbow Loom for her birthday.  I initially thought it would be too advanced for her.  I was so wrong!  She is obsessed.  The website has a ton of different patterns and ranks them by level of difficulty.  She has been systematically working through the patterns.  Here is a sampling of her work.

Sidney is even joining in on the fun and has been working on the beginner bracelet.  It is addicting.  Last night, I could not resist getting in on the fun.  Each of the girls picked out a pattern for me to do.  Kendall wanted the Hibiscus bracelet.

Sidney chose this pretty pattern.