So, I went to part of my stake women's conference last Saturday. (I only went to part because it started at 7:45 am or something ridiculous like that.) One of the classes I attended was called "Word of Wisdom Cooking".
The class was basically about healthy eating, and I am giving myself a pat on the back for my recent decision to start eating plain yogurt with cranberries and honey or agave as opposed to the really sugary stuff that comes in cups. I tried a "healthy" brand of yogurt once that I hated because it had maple in it, but I've discovered it's not that bad to mix it myself. (Especially when my husband is in charge of doing the dishes, and hence washes my daily yogurt Tupperware that I bring home from work. Yes, I eat breakfast at work.) I am also giving myself a pat on the back for already owning agave and chia seeds. I am drinking a chia fresca right now. :)
Anyway, as a result of the class, I finally bought some quinoa that I'm going to experiment with. The teacher was also really big on green smoothies. I thought I would experiment with those too, but I couldn't will myself to make one after my run. It seems like so much effort. Mix everything up, wash the blender, blah blah. I just ate a banana with peanut butter instead, and I will eat my spinach in a salad at dinner.
Even though I am jumping on the quinoa bandwagon, I'm not becoming a health nut. The lady that taught this class gave us a bunch of links to healthy eating blogs,some of which I thought were clearly over board in part. For example, who has heard this idea that we need to make our bodies more alkaline and hence purify our water with reverse osmosis, remineralize it, then ionize it? Also, I never plan on making my own mayonnaise. Life is far too short for that type of nonsense.
First, don't make me feel guilty for eating sugary yogurt. That's not nice. Second, use an immersion blender. They wash in a snap. Third, what in the world is a chia fresca?
ReplyDeleteI've made mayo -- it's kind of fun. And I like quinoa. But what are chia and agave? You can come cook for me at any time.
ReplyDeleteStacy, I like you! I enjoyed that class too. I LOVE Quinoa and have a few great recipes if you are interested. Also I made green smoothies for breakfast this morning and I'll second the work, plus I didn't have spinach so I decided to try lettuce, it had a funny after taste yet my kids still downed there fair share. I bought spinach at the store today.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll like the quinoa bandwagon. I've got some recipes if you want them. However, I am not sure I can do the green smoothies yet. I made one the other day with cucumber and fed it to my kids and felt like a great Mom. Then I tried it and thought it was pretty gross, and just fed my part to the kids too. I think I'll need some better smoothie combinations if I am to ever enjoy it. I'm with you -- I'll take my spinach in salads and soups and eggs for now...
ReplyDeleteI'm new at this, so I'm not sure that if I comment here, it will alert everyone that commented--sort of like facebook. But, here goes:
ReplyDelete1)Chia fresca is soaked chia seeds, water, lime juice, and little agave. It's what the hard core Tarahumara eat on mega distance runs. I learned about it in the book Born To Run, which everyone should read.
2) Mom, you made mayo? Why???
3) I want good quinoa recipes!
4) I attempted a smoothie today: banana, spinach, plain yogurt, an apple, and some pineapple juice. Not bad! Even Clint ate it.
I need to get some Agave, I've read a lot about it!! Where do you buy yours? A whole food type store?
ReplyDeleteI like quinoa! It's a good rice-type fill in for meals:). I can't remember which recipes I made, but if I do I'll send them to you!
Bleh, I have made green smoothies and didn't hate it, but I prefer regular ones so much more that I choose to just eat my spinach on sandwiches/salads instead. Why ruin a perfectly good smoothie? haha:).
Below is my favorite smoothie "base" recipe. However, I usually use 2 cups frozen strawberries, 1 cup frozen blueberries or 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup greek yogurt [more protein and the sugar from the fruit takes the kick off it], and 1/4 cup orange juice and 1/4 cup water [instead of the recommended 1/2 cup orange juice--too much sugar]). I also usually go without the honey, I can't really taste the difference. Sometimes I sweeten with a little bit vanilla extract, but I bet you could use the agave, too! Also, if I have protein powder laying around I'll sometimes add that!
Okay, sorry, so much on smoothies. Here is the link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/frozen-fruit-smoothies-recipe/index.html