Quinoa and Black Beans Recipe

Quinoa and Black Beans

1 cup Quinoa (keen-wah)

2 cups chicken broth

1 tsp. Salt and  1/2 tsp. pepper

In a medium sized sauce pan bring chicken broth, salt and pepper to a boil, add quinoa reduce heat to low and let simmer with cover for 15-20 minutes. 

While the quinoa cooks (or you can cook it up ahead of time) Begin the rest of the dish~

1 onion - I like vidalia's or a sweet onion

3 good tsp. (more or less) of minced garlic

2 tbsp. butter

2-4 cups frozen corn

2 (15 oz) cans black beans rinsed and drained

1 can Ro-Tel*

Add the butter to a stir-fry type pan and saute' the onion and garlic. When your house smells really yummy and your kids are saying "what smells so good??" then add in the corn and cover for about 5 minutes corn. Then add in the cooked quinoa, black beans and the Ro-Tel. Simmer together for 10-15 minutes or so until heated through. Serve!

I made this up tonight and it really tasted great. Some of us enjoyed it with a little sour cream dollop on top and a few tortilla chips.  It was a really easy supper to put together, inexpensive and apparently Quinoa is quite the healthy Gluten-free thing to eat now. :-) I found Organic at Costco. 

This was our first taste of Quinoa and we all thought it was great...looking forward to more dishes using this. 

*Ro-Tel is the name brand can of diced tomatoes and chili's/peppers almost all grocery stores carry. It adds a nice "kick". 

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Recipe

This turned out great! I make this in our Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. It fits in the 1.5 qt bowl, although it's bursting at the seams when it's spinning!


Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
1 pint of strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced. Place in bowl with 2 tsp lemon juice and about 1/4 cup sugar. Mash down and allow to sit and get juicy for 2 hours. (I think "macerate" is the proper cooking term.)


Then strain strawberries into a bowl, separating the pieces from the juices. Set aside.


1 - 8oz cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup sugar


Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add in~
2 cups Half & Half
1 cup Whipping Cream 
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Beat until well mixed. Add in strawberry juices.


Pour into Ice cream maker. Start spinning! Let it churn for 30 minutes.
After that add in the strawberry pieces, and crushed up graham or animal crackers. I measured out 2 cups of Tigger and Pooh organic animal crackers from Costco, then I crushed them. Let it churn 5 more minutes or so to mix together.


Then, you know what to do.


Ohh la la. What a tasty treat.

Peanut Butter Granola Recipe

Peanut Butter Granola~

In sauce pan melt together-

2/3 cup peanut butter

2/3 cup honey

2 Tbsp. butter

Remove from heat and add in-

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

6 cups rolled oats

4 Tbsp. water

Spread on 2 baking sheets and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.