Black Bean, Avocado and Quinoa Salad

This is by far my favorite quinoa recipe.  I made it today for lunch and was missing the lemon so it wasn't quite perfect but everyone in my family enjoyed it.

Cook the Quinoa (2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa and cook for 20 minutes)
2 tomatoes chopped
1/2 cucumber chopped
1/4 or less of red onion chopped
handful of cilantro chopped
1 avocado Chopped
1/2 can black beans drained and rinse ( I don't always use the black beans but it definitely more filling)
Lemon juice to taste (I like a lot of lemon juice and you can also use lime if you have that on hand.)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cumin to taste(optional but adds a great flavor)
Can also add a little Olive Oil if it is too dry

For lunch I also added Apple Chicken Sausage and it made for a very hearty lunch.  Enjoy!

The Perfect Roast

I am planning to put pictures on here very soon but I have seemed to misplaced the cord that I use to import my photos.  Once I figure out where it is hiding then pictures will be up.  Sunday night we invited some friends over and I decided to try the Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast.  I had never done a Pot Roast in the oven before but my sister in law just made this roast about a week ago and the picture looked amazing. So I gave it a try.  The first time I read the recipe I thought I read that it would take 2-3 hours to cook but it really said 3-4 hours depending on the size of the roast.  So my perfect roast ended up not being quite perfect but it was all because of poor timing.  The flavor was amazing and definitely my favorite roast that I have had before.  Next time I think I will brown everything and do all the prep work but then cook it in my slow cooker.  But I will let you know how that goes.  As for now give it a try and I don't think you will be dissapointed.
Here is the link to the recipe: The Perfect Pot Roast

Chicken tacos with mango salsa

Before I get to the tacos...tonight some of our friends came over for dessert and brought homemade huckleberry and dark chocolate ice cream. It was VERY yummy!! She even brought over homemade waffle bowls and waffle cones. They smelled wonderful. I took pictures to post later so that you can see for yourself.

This past week I had gotten 3 mangoes from a produce co-op that I do called Bountiful Baskets(look it up in your area, it is really great). So with these beautiful mangoes I knew that I wanted to make mango salsa. So I decided to do chicken tacos with the mango salsa. It so happened to be on Tuesday night somat our house it was Taco Tuesday!

I prepared my chicken in a slow cooker and added 2 chicken breasts, some water(not totally covering the chicken), paprika, minced garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper and lime juice. I cooked it on low for I think 5 hours. The chicken turned out with a great flavor.

Then for the mango salsa I used 2 mangoes, less than a quarter of a red onion, 3 roma tomatoes chopped, handful of chopped cilantro, 1 avocado chopped, little bit of jalapeno chopped and a lot of lime juice. So tasty!!

I served it with corn tortillas(which I just got a recipe for homemade tortillas using spelt flour so i am anxious to try those soon), lettuce, rice and I forgot the cheese but we didn't even notice because they were very yummy! My 5 year old loved the mango salsa!

Quinoa with Spinach

This week for lunch I made a yummy quinoa salad. If you have never cooked with quinoa it really is an incredible grain with a lot of health benefits and it helps change things up. This week i just used what I had and created this salad.


Quinoa( 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa cooked for 20 minutes)
While it was still warm, I added a couple handfuls of fresh spinach,chopped tomatoes, a little bit of red onion, lots of lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. I did everything by taste. And if you add the spinach when the quinoa is still warm it helps it wilt a little. It is also yummy with a little bit of mint and cucumber too. My hubby really enjoyed it!

Welcome

So I have had this idea for a little while and am now finally making it a reality. I have wanted to create a cooking blog, not because I am an amazing cook but because I enjoy cooking and want to remember which recipes are successful and which are total failures. I grew up in a family of 5 boys and am definitely not the chef of the family. My brother Grant is an incredible cook and my brother Gary has recently taken up the art of cooking. I just really enjoy preparing meals for my little family which includes my hubby and my three little boys. I really want them to be healthy and good eaters. Some days I feel like all I do is cook but for me it is worth it. Hopefully i can maybe inspire others or just help me keep my act together. Hope you enjoy and give lots of feedback!