Grilled Chicken and Cheesy Quinoa

Grilled Chicken and Cheesy Quinoa

So, things have been pretty boring in the kitchen on my end. I've been doing good,  clean eating wise, but it's been a lot of repeats. I definitely need to work on spicing it up.

The chicken was grilled on a griddle and I started to make my own sauce but I ran out of honey and cleaner ingredients, so I added some store bought bbq sauce to thicken it up. My quinoa, though, is what I wanted to post about. I cooked it like regular, then I turned off the stove and while it was still hot, I put in some shredded cheddar cheese and some gouda slices. It... was... amazing... it was very comforting almost too one tone. I added salt and pepper, and it was perfect. 

Alana's Review 

(Quinoa)

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 4.5

Comments: I used water instead of chicken broth, I'd do that instead. 

One Pot Chicken Quinoa

One Pot Chicken Quinoa

Recipe:http://www.cookincanuck.com/2015/09/one-pot-chicken-quinoa-mushrooms-spinach-recipe/

Whenever I hear of a one pot meal, I'm instantly intrigued. If there's a chance I can cut down the number of dishes I'll have to do, I'll take it! Plus this recipe sounded nice and filling, which is perfect for a hungry gal like me. I'd never tried quinoa before so I figured this sounded like a yummy place to start.

I made the recipe according to the directions but halved everything (I was cooking for one plus two meals, so I only wanted to cook three chicken thighs) except for the spices that went on the chicken, which I doubled because I wanted to make sure I tasted them and seasoned the chicken nicely. Now, if you're going to half this recipe like me, write this next sentence down. ADJUST THE COOKING TIME. I had a silly moment where I thought I could cook the smaller amount of quinoa for the same 15 minutes it says, which then made it end up getting totally burnt and I had to start all over. So please, adjust the cooking times. I did 8 minutes of simmering the quinoa with the lid on. I'd also recommend cooking the chicken almost all the way through beforehand instead of just searing for two minutes, because after the quinoa was perfectly cooked, the chicken was totally raw so I ended up overcooking the quinoa so that I could get cooked chicken. It still tasted ok in the end, although the quinoa had an almost gelatinous texture which wasn't the most pleasing. The chicken did taste delicious though, so there's a win! 

Sarah's Review

Ease: 3/5

Taste: chicken 4/5 quinoa 2/5

Chopped Cajun Chicken with Cheddar Corn Quinoa

Chopped Cajun Chicken with Cheddar Corn Quinoa

Ok, so this was kind of a cheat. Before I had fully committed to clean eating I purchased this meat.  Kroger had a super sale on meat, and there was a huge package of pre-seasoned Cajun Chicken, seriously it was like 4 bucks! I know this had more seasoning and other things I wouldn't have put on it, but I didn't want to keep it frozen forever! So I cooked it ahead of time and tasted it. It was, as I expected, super sodium packed. So to diffuse the situation, I decided to pull all the meat off and chopped it up.

I paired it with some "plain" sides. I cooked quinoa (aka my new favorite thing) in chicken broth and water. I cooked frozen corn, and then mixed the corn, quinoa, and chopped cheddar from a block together, then placed everything on some remaining romaine hearts I had. It may not look pretty, but everything tasted really good together.

I guess the moral of the story is, even though there was part of the meal that was not the best you can take actions to lessen the blow to your diet or program. Again remember, this isn't a hit or miss challenge, this is your life, it's a journey. We're slowing progressing to our goal of a healthier lifestyle and I'm pretty happy with this meal. 

Alana's Review

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 3.5/5

Comments: The side was perfect, the chicken was too salty, next time, I'll do my own seasoning! 

Leftover Veggie Sauté over Quinoa

Leftover Veggie Sauté over Quinoa

So, I had some leftover veggie sauté from last night and my husband was working late so I was just cooking for me tonight (I had planned something else for my toddler). I decided to put this sauté over quinoa. The sauté kind of tasted like a stew and I like to put stews over white rice. Since I'm trying to limit my intake of white rice I decided to cook some quinoa in some chicken broth with ginger, salt, and pepper. I like to infuse my rice with powdered ginger so I just did that with the quinoa and it turned out pretty good!

Alana's Review

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 4/5

Comments: This was very tasty but very hearty, maybe a little too much so.  So I ate an apple after,  but I think a cool and light salad would go nice and would help break up the heaviness. 

Orange Garlic Salad w/ Steak and Croutons // Leftovers & Fruit Salad

Leftovers: Balsamic Chicken & Cheddar Broccoli Quinoa //  Fruit Salad, lunch

I'm posting mine first because it's super boring (but still amazingly delicious) and I don't want to follow the tough act below. =). I set aside some of last night's dinner for lunch today. I ate that with the pictured fruit. It looks like a lot, but I had planned to eat half at lunch, half later. But the raspberries were a little on the wrong side of ripe, so I had to throw those out.

Alana's Review

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 5/5

Comment: Leftovers are the best!

Orange Garlic Salad w/ Steak and Croutons 

There are only two types of salad I like: Caesar salad and dry salad. I've never been a sauce gal, I hate condiments, dressings, and everything of the like. Recently though I've been trying hard to branch out and try new sauces, like the lemon garlic aioli I made with the fish tacos. Well today I made a salad dressing. And not just any dressing, I made a vinaigrette!  (I HATE vinegar with a passion, can't stand the taste). With that in mind, this vinaigrette is lighter on the vinegar so you may need to add more than I did. 

Description: romaine salad with steak bites, croutons, and orange garlic vinaigrette. Recipe: 1/4 cup orange juice (I used fresh squeezed ), 1/4 cup olive oil, 4 tsp white wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp orange zest, 2 tsp dried parsley, 1 tsp garlic powder, pinch of salt and pepper. 

Sarah's Review

Ease: 4/5

Taste: 5/5

I thought the vinaigrette came out fantastic,  it had a light orange taste with a hint of garlic and a nice bite from the vinegar.  And you can never go wrong with steak, mine was a ribeye from my boyfriend's uncle's cattle farm, can't get fresher than that!

Balsamic Chicken with Cheddar Broccoli Quinoa

Balsamic Chicken with Cheddar Broccoli Quinoa, dinner

I had saved some balsamic chicken from the other night and froze it. I ended up using it sooner than I expected. I let it thaw in the fridge then shredded it and threw it in a skillet with chicken stock and vegetable stock. I threw in a splash of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of pepper and salt. I tasted it after it had cooked and it was a little too "zesty" for me, so I put in about a tbsp of honey and that made it perfect. The Cheddar Broccoli Quinoa was exactly that, quinoa (cooked with the two stocks mentioned above), cheddar, and broccoli.

Alana's Review

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 5/5

Comment: AMAZING. I had never tried quinoa before and I am always very skeptical of new foods, but this was such a great surprise. Even my husband commented that it was good. We were not healthy eaters (previously) so this was definitely a win. No suggested changes!