GF Quinoa chicken vegetable soup

I was just messing around one cold Saturday and decided I would try my take on a chicken noodle soup. Some of the noodles I can eat, others I can't. I really miss a good soup on these cold days. I love hearty soups too.

So winged it. Grabbed 2 bags of frozen vegetables- the soup medley. Which have onions, celery, etc. Grabbed 2 boxes of the low sodium chicken broth. I threw in a cup of quinoa. Cook on high/ med heat to get them to start cooking. I also threw in some fresh ground pepper.

At the very end, I added fresh avocado to the mix, all nicely cut up. I had also cooked a chicken in the oven so I threw the chicken in there. OMG it was delicious!

The quinoa definitely plumped up and at the end it was almost like a stew. I did't care b/c it was so filling and tasty! Boyfriend also ate it up! We made it again (b/c again it is just so cold) and it was gone pretty fast. Super easy as it only took about 35 minutes total cook time! Yeah! And made a lot!! Not bad for making it up!

Cheers,
Lauren

Spicy Chicken Quinoa recipe

Here is my easy spicy chicken quinoa recipe. This is my "I got home late, we have no leftovers, I am exhausted, and want something decent and healthy" sort of dinner. We have tweaked this recipe and it has a nice, mature heat.

Ingredients: Yes we are going to use canned food. Don't hold it against me, from start to finish is less than 20 minutes for this meal!
- Can of rotel tomatoes- we are using mild
- quinoa, pre-washed- I do mine in big batches and store in an air tight sealed container
- chicken broth, I prefer reduced sodium
- can of chicken, I am using reduced sodium and organic chicken
- McCormick season in Monterrey Chicken
- salt and pepper

First grab 1 cup of quinoa, add a dash of oil. I just used olive oil. Place in saucepan

Now we need 2 cups of liquid to cook the quinoa properly. Adding water makes quinoa just bland. I decided the best way to give the flavor is to use the liquid from the rotel can. I can get about 1/2 to 2/3 cup from the can. Fill the remaining 2 cups with chicken broth.

Add to quinoa in pan.

give it a nice stir. Now add some pepper and cover with the Monterray Chicken seasoning. I rarely add salt b/c I just don't feel it needs it. I don't measure the seasoning I just sort of sprinkle to give a decent cover but not too much. Probably about 1 to 1.5 tsp. Depends really. You may want to adjust this yourself

Pour the chicken (rinsed to remove the excess salt and can water) and the rotel into a separate pan with a dash of oil. Turn on and cook. I usually cook on low medium so it is ready when my quinoa is ready.

Turn on high until it begins to boil, then turn the heat down to let it simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

you will begin to see the quinoa to absorb the water, you will also see quinoa sort of pop open.

There is still some liquid remaining, make sure towards the end you give it a good stir to prevent burning and sticking to the pan.

Also it helps to "fluff" the quinoa.

Add your tomatoes and chicken to the finished quinoa. Mix up well!

Done! This is a great dish that is high in protein and perfect for the cold days. Mature heat

Now you have my secret recipe. Everyone who has tried it loves it. They have no idea it comes from cans and is done in less than 20 minutes! I guess that is for the win! :)

Cheers,
Lauren

Day 87: Sea Salt cranberry walnut quinoa

I found this sea salt and pepper quinoa mix at TJ Max. I thought I would try it out. I have recently discovered quinoa and wow it is great! Did you know quinoa is a grain that is 75% pure protein? It is really good for you! So I am on a quinoa kick!!

So I followed the instructions to cook. Add water.

Boil

Add the lid. Sit for 20 minutes.

Fluff! Everything turned out wonderful!

But I wanted to add some more nutrition to the mix. I am in the process of cleaning out my pantry for the move (T-minus days and counting!) and I had leftover dried cranberries and some walnuts. I add those to the mix. Here is my dinner (and lunch the following day!)

Omg this was delicious! And really easy to make! I like that! For more of my 90 days of posting click here! 

Ahh! 3 more days left! Yay!

xoxoxo,
Lauren