Quinoa Patties

An easy dish of high protein grain made into delicious patties.

Ingredients:
2 c. quinoa, cooked
5 eggs
1/2 t. salt
1 c. chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 c. ground hulled sunflower seeds, or may substitute whole wheat bread crumbs
1 t. baking powder

Directions:
Soak and rinse quinoa well!   Cook 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water for 40 min.   Cool.
To make patties, mix quinoa and the rest of the ingredients.   Heat skillet and add a little oil.   spoon quinoa mixture onto skillet and press with back of spoon to form patties.   Fry until golden brown and mixture appears set.   Flip over and fry until brown and done.    Delicious served plain or with gravy.

Note:   Patties can be baked in 350 degree oven for 30-45 min. on a greased pan.

Also try forming these into little "meatballs" and serve with spaghetti and sauce, or in a Swedish meatball sauce.

Serves 6 (2 patties per serving)  

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake is my husband's favorite cake in the whole world. Here is my favorite recipe for his favorite cake:



1 1/2 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil (OR apple sauce!!)
3 large eggs
***
1 c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour (or you can use 2 c white...2c wheat is pretty dense...)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
***
3 c finely shredded carrots (about 5-6 medium carrots)

Combine the first 3 ingredients. Beat with electric mixer on low for about a minute. Add all the remaining ingredients except carrots. Beat on low for another minute--until well blended. Stir in carrots. Bake in a greased 9x13 rectangular pan at 350F/180C for about 40-45 minutes. Let cool then frost with your choice of frosting!

I use powdered sugar/butter frosting:

2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c melted butter
1 tsp vanilla (or you can add other flavorings instead: almond, lemon--including the zest, orange--including the zest, etc. The sky's the limit!)
1-2 Tbsp water or milk

Add melted butter and vanilla to powdered sugar and beat on low with an electric beater for a minute or so until it is all mostly combined. Add 1 Tbsp water/milk and mix again. continue to add until you reach desired consistency. More liquid means a runnier frosting--more like a glaze. Less liquid is a thicker frosting--better for cakes. :)



It even looks pretty frosted! :)

Baked Fish

So fast. So easy. So yummy!! This is a traditional Sunday food for us.

A few fish fillets (we prefer Salmon, but I've also done Pollock and Bass using this recipe!)
Olive Oil
Seasoned Salt
Herbs as you like (some combinations: Rosemary and lemon; italian herbs; dill and lemon...)

Spread a sheet of aluminum foil on the counter, spray with a non-stick cooking spray, and place fish in the middle. Pour Olive oil (to taste) over each fillet. Sprinkle with seasoned salt and herbs of choice. Wrap in foil. Bake at 500F/250C (approx) for about 30-45 minutes. (You can also place the wrapped fish on the BBQ! :) It will taste baked and if you're already using the oven, this is a good option.) Unwrap and eat! Serve with oven fries or rice and veggies! :)

Oven Fries

This is SO simple and SO yummy and SO much better than pre-fab french fries!!

8 or so medium potatoes
Olive Oil
Seasoned Salt

Chop the potatoes in whatever shape you wish! I've done them in 'circles', or 'moons', french fry shape, or just large 'wedges'. Sometimes it's fun to use those apple corer/slicer things! Then you have the fry shape and a cool cylinder shape! Place all potatoes in a large bowl. Sprinkle Seasoned salt over to coat, then pour on some olive oil to taste. Toss so all the potatoes are covered with salt and oil. Spread potatoes out on a GREASED (DON'T forget to grease, as these will stick mercilessly!!!!) cookie sheet and bake in a 400F/200C oven for about 40 minutes. You can turn them halfway, but I usually forget to do that, and they still turn out fine!! :) My kids LOVE these! (And so do I!)

Brussel Sprouts and Mushrooms

I should give this a cooler name...like 'Green Fun Guys' or something like that. Would that make it sound more appetizing? :) It was an experiment, and was YUMMY!!!

1 lb brussel sprouts, halved
1 lb white button mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
3-4 Tbsp butter (yes, I don't do low-fat)
Garlic salt, to taste

Melt butter in large sauce pan. Saute onions for 5 minutes (until transparent). Add brussel sprouts and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until all the color has changed (wilted?). Add garlic salt. Serve! It's a great side dish! I served these with mashed potatoes and these italian hamburger 'steaks' that I created, and it was SUPER yummy!! :)

Beef Stew

Oh so yummy...and the perfect Sunday afternoon crock pot delicacy! :)

Beef (Here, you can do what you like. You can have already pre-cut stew beef, you can just chop it yourself, you can throw in a huge hunk of some beef--and since it's in the crockpot, it doesn't matter whether it's tough or not, as it will become fall apart because of the crockpot! :) I personally like to throw in a nice tough bone-in full-o-fat hunk of meat for fantastic flavor! Of course, you shred the meat and throw out the bone/fat just before serving!)
4-5 carrots, sliced
4-5 medium potatoes, with skins, cubed
2-3 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
dash ground cloves
8-10 c Water
1-2 tbsp Beef bouillon
1 tsp oregano
1/4 c fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Throw it all in the crockpot on high for 5-6 hours. Who doesn't like 'fast' food made slowly? :) Serve with some fresh crusty french bread, fresh rolls, or Italian breadsticks! :)

Thanksgiving Candied Sweet Potatoes

One of my favorites. A good way to get kids to eat a LOT of sweet potatoes...unless they're smart and eat only the marshmallows on top. :)

4 x-large sweet potatoes
**peeled, chopped, boiled until soft, and placed in a greased 9x13 glass baking dish,



then make the sauce:

1 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4-6oz orange juice
**Place all together in a sauce pan over med-lo heat until all melted together. Pour over sweet potatoes. Place 1 bag marshmallows (or two if you're in Finland) on top (big or small, it doesn't matter).



Bake at 350F/180C until marshmallows are browned--about 10 minutes. Mmmmm....