Sunday, October 26, 2008

Blogger Day #3- Breakfast bars and Quinoa

Did you all have a nice Sunday? Mine was wonderful and VERY lazy. Josh and I slept in and then ran out to get coffee and load my car up with gas for the week. Today was gorgeous down here, it was about 81 degrees and sunny- a very nice change from the pouring rain!! I walked to the gym this afternoon and took body pump. Other than body pump, I pretty much cooked and relaxed the rest of the day! My first recipe today came from Jenn at Eating Bender. Jenn makes great quick recipes. She also posts a lot of interesting health/food related information. I am sure that she will become a famous health writer some day! Any who, I made her fabulous and light Banana Oat Bars. The only changes I made to her recipe were to add some walnuts and I used regular milk and 1 tsp vanilla instead of vanilla almond milk. Great recipe Jenn!

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dry oats
2 tbsp. Promise light
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Cinnamon to taste
2 ripe mashed banana
1 tbsp. light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400*. Mix first seven ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix banana and brown sugar together in a separate bowl. Alternate adding banana mixture and almond milk to dry ingredients. Mix until moist. Spread on a cookie sheet covered with pam (or a cooking mat). Bake for 10 minutes or until the bottom is slightly brown.


After Body Pump tonight, I was ready for dinner! I made up some chicken and an incredible dish from Esi at Dishing Up Delights. Esi's recipes always look like they should be featured in a magazine. She uses a lot of different and fun ingredients. Tonight, I made her Warm Quinoa salad with Roasted Butternut Squash. The only change I made here was to add in some peas. This recipe is incredible! Great job Esi!!

Ingredients:
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 cup water
2 teaspoons fresh sage minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 orange, juiced
Cumin, to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.Mix the squash with a small amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread onto a foil covered baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, turn and bake for an additional 15 minutes until tender.

Set aside to cool.In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup lightly salted water and 1/2 cup quinoa to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 12-15 minutes (or cook according to package).

In a separate saute pan heat a small amount of olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and sage and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the garlic is soft, but not browned. Add the orange juice, cumin, and season with salt and pepper.

Toss the orange juice mixture with the quinoa. Add the butternut squash and toss to combine. Serve warm, garnished with sage leaves if desired.



I also made some Suite Apple Pie Granola tonight. As I've said before, this is truly a staple in my house!
How was your weekend? Tell me alllll about it ;)

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

fantastic recipes you made!! i must try yout granola too. i discovered quinoa through the blogosphere and am grateful to this day :D

Heather said...

yum! that looks good! i haven't tried quinoa yet, but it looks tasty :)

Unknown said...

those are both on my to-make list :) great choices!!

Anonymous said...

Don't you love those days where you can just relax and cook for hours?! Beautiful job!

Trying To Heal said...

wow, that all looks absolute divine!!!! i wish i lived near you so i could steal your foods!!! hehe!

Anonymous said...

delish all around!

i have to try the breakfast bars :) yummy!

i <3 sundays where you can bake away!

Esi said...

I've been cooking and baking all day and now this fabulous surprise! I am so glad you liked the quinoa recipe :)

Danielle said...

This such a great idea. There really are such wonderful recipes in the blogosphere that I've been dying to try... although I think I'd have to devote an entire year of Blogger Days ;). Your Sunday eats look delectable!

Jenn said...

I just got caught up on your last three posts -- dang girl! That was a lot of delicious cooking!!!

Bridget said...

I feel like such a baking/cooking slacker after reading your posts!! Love the chicken and quinoa meal...I really need to get in the kitchen more :)

I was really wanting to make that granola today too!! Unfortunately got home too late, maybe tomorrow night.

Anonymous said...

Ahhh Erica, you're too nice to me :o) I am so happy that you tried my banana oat bars! Those were one of my first "experiments" and I was very nervous about what people would think of them if they ever tried them out. Thank you for the positive review!! I like your addition of walnuts for extra crunch!

Esi's recipe looks great! Such a nice combination of flavors - I am really enjoying this blogger recipe week!!

Thanks again :o)

Unknown said...

those bars look SOOOO heavenly! jenn comes up with some amazing recipes :D
i wanted to ask you if you would be interested in choosing next week's BSI ingredient??

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a really great Sunday, some R&R, cooking...what more could you ask for? Hope your week gets off to an amazing start :)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Lovely Sunday you had!!! And oh my, I love the recipes - you're such an amazing chef!!

Holly said...

Wow, can I come to YOUR house for dinner - and dessert??!! Yum!

I've actually never had quinoa...I know - I need to get out more. :-)

Tim Rosanelli said...

Wow, looks terrific!

Tim Rosanelli
View my blog at
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Maria said...

glad you had a relaxing Sundday!! The food looks tasty. I love the black and white plate too.
And sounds like the rest of your weekend was fun...the treats look fantastic!!
And I am happy you posted your award:)

Our weekend was nice. My dad and stepmom are visiting for a week, too bad I am working today...boo!

Anonymous said...

The quinoa looks so yum! Have you chosen this week's BSI yet?

The Purple Carrot said...

Yum! That looks really good, too ... thanks for the ideas : )