Quinoa Banana Muffins

You Will Need:

1/4 cup white quinoa
1/2 cup water
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 cup of chocolate chips

Method
Preheat oven to 400. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
-Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for `10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave the covered saucepan on the burner for another 15 minutes. Fluff with fork and allow to cool.
-Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
-mix together banana’s, brown sugar, vegetalbe oil, sour cream, and egg until smooth. (I blended the banana’s with a hand blender which made the muffins really smooth!)
-slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet. when it is mixed and smooth add the chocolate chips.
-pour into muffin tins and bake for approximately 25 minutes.

The muffins will be a lot moister than typical banana muffins because of the quinoa so don’t be alarmed. Also, I mixed the chocolate in when the quinoa was still a little warm which turned the muffins chocolaty brown!

Hope you enjoy!

Quinoa!

Recently I've been doing a lot of research into the ancient grain Quinoa. My friend Jay has been trying Quinoa and when he asked me for advice I figured I had no choice but to start cooking with it and learning more about it!

Here's what I've learned:

• Quinoa is an ancient grain from the Mayans. Due to malnutrition Quinoa was a coveted food because of its high level of proteins and adaptability when cooking. It has been said that duing the Mayan Era Quinoa was traded for gold and used as currency!
• Quinoa is considered a "super food" because of its nutritional qualities. It is extremely high in Protein which means that 1 serving of Quinoa is going to keep you full and help eliminate empty calorie snacking!
• Quinoa is one of the most versatile grains! It can be boiled, it can sprout, and can be eaten like rice, or oatmeal, or something inbetween.
  
• There are three types of Quinoa, each of which have their own unique flavours and qualities.
  

White Quinoa

• This is the most common type of quinoa. Sometimes referred to as "Gold Quinoa" this version is light in flavour and works best in dishes that already have a lot of flavour. Gold Quinoa is great for oatmeals, and in baking.

Red Quinoa

• Red Quinoa is the second type of Quinoa. This type has a lot more flavour and is very fragrant. This type of quinoa is very adaptable but works best in a main dish because of its bolder flavour!

Black Quinoa

• Black Quinoa is the darkest type of Quinoa available! This type is incredible flavourful and has strong smokey fragrances. Black Quinoa is best used in a main dish where strong flavours are already present.
  

Quinoa ends up becoming a great budget friendly food! It almost triples in size when cooked (more than rice!) which means that typically a serving of Quinoa (regardless of the kind) ends up costing less than $0.50. My next few blogs will be going through my journey with this super grain as I feel it is something that needs to be shared!

Here is where and how you can find Quinoa!

• Quinoa can be found in the organic section at most grocery stores. It can be hard to find anything other than white quinoa.
• Any natural stores or organic grocery stores will stock all forms of Quinoa. I would recommend trying Whole Foods or Roots Naturals!
  

Soup Strategies

Have you ever heard the saying, "Cheap as Borscht?". Well I've found a product that will make borscht even cheaper!

Today while I was at my local Italian Market I found a new type of broth that I tried. Instead of a carton of diluted broth this product is a small jar of bouillon, similar to bouillon cubes but its all natural, has pieces of chicken and less salt. The product sells for around $8.00 which makes over 31 cups of broth (keep in mind most broths sell for about $4.50 per 2 cups). I loved the taste of this broth and also loved how user friendly it is. The mixture measures 1 tsp per cup of water and can be kept in the fridge until you need it again.

This is the brand that I used:
http://www.superiortouch.com/retail/products/better-than-bouillon

Check it out and let me know if its as budget friendly and tasty and I found it!

Fishy Fishy Fishy Fish

Like fish? Hate the cost? My local grocery store, Sobeys, has a great product out and you should look for it in your local shop. Sobeys has a brand of Canadian flash frozen seafood and fish products. Most of these products are sold at and incredibly reduced price, not because of the quality or expiration date but because of their popularity.

Tonight for supper with my dad, and sister we had salmon, roasted yams, roasted red peppers, brown rice pilaf and sliced cucumbers. The whole meal cost under $10!

The salmon packages come individually at $1/piece. You can cook them thawed or frozen, or steam them in the microwave in the package they come with. For supper we prepared the salmon in a teriyaki-soy marinade with garlic, red peppers, yams and some herbs including oregano. We baked everything in the oven for about 20 minutes and voila, we had an incredible meal.

Look for this at your grocery store! Its a great find!

Dead Banana Day

Do you celebrate dead banana day like me? Every time I grocery shop I tend to buy a bundle of banana's, partly because of the price and partly because of the routine of getting banana's weekly from childhood. Interestingly enough, I don't really like raw banana's.

Given your cupboard is stocked with flour, sugar etc making a loaf of banana bread is cost effective, healthy and super tasty. I've put together a basic recipe. Below I've also added some interesting ingredients to add some spice and additional flavour to the bread!


Ingredients:

3 Bananas
4 oz. Butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1.5 cups Sifted Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda (or Dry Yeast)
2 Eggs
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract (optional)
Additional Flour and Butter for baking dish

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 375°F
1. Using a wooden spoon, work the sugar and butter in a bowl until smooth.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time, and stir until the batter is completely smooth.
3. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then, slowly incorporate the flour into the batter. Stir until smooth, you may want to use your hands to knead the dough so that bumps do not appear.
4. In another bowl, mush bananas completely with a fork. Add vanilla extract if you want and stir.
5. Slowly incorporate the bananas into the dough and stir well until smooth.
6. Butter and flour your baking dish. Pour the batter into the dish and put in the oven for about 55 minutes. The banana bread recipe is cooked when the tip of a knife comes out clean and dry.
7. Let cool off for about ten minutes and then remove from baking dish. You can serve this warm or room temperature.
Voilà!

Variations:
For super moist cake try one of these ideas:
* keep some liquid on hand. I usually use milk but orange juice tastes great as well!
* if your batter is still pretty stiff, add in jam. Apricot is ideal because it doesn't change the flavor of the bread but if you want to alter the taste try strawberry jam!

To add some bite:
*Chocolate chips are classic but what about nuts? I really like adding in walnuts, almonds or pecans! Make sure to only add about 1/2 a cup.
*Dried cranberries are a great addition and add some sour bite to the bread with works really well with the sweetness from the bananas
*Citrus zest cooks down, adds colour as well as adds a fresh flavour. Don't worry, you don't get major bites of citrus.

To add something different and creative:
*what about Peanut Butter? Melt about 1/2-1 cup of peanut butter. The taste is subtle but resembles a good Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich!
*add some other fruit in it. I've added everything from berries to apples. Again, the end result is sublte but it adds tons of moisture to the bread and a natural sweetness!

Home Made Curry!

Curry is delicious but can be daunting to make. Today I created a simple but wonderful curry dish. All together it will serve an army, and the dish itself only cost about $1.00 per serving!

You will need:
1 can of coconut milk
2-3 tbsp of curry
1.5 tsp of cumin
1 tbsp pepper (cracked)
salt to taste
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp garlic powder
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or the equivalent in another cut of chicken
1 white onion diced
1 green pepper diced
1 red pepper diced
1 cup baby carrots

Method
In a bowl whisk together the coconut milk and all of the spices. Taste to see if it is spicy enough. *remember the mixture will taste stronger in the bowl as no vegetables or meat have been added*
Put the coconut milk mixture, vegetables and chicken in a large pot and simmer on medium.
Simmer until chicken is cooked through and the milk has reduced about an inch.

Serve with rice


Notes:
- this recipe was spicy, so if you don't like spicy food as much i would recommed reducing the curry, and cayenne by about 1/4
- cooking chicken in coconut milk makes the meat incredibly tender! It also makes the chicken taste incredible. Although coconut milk is more expensive it is worth it every once in a while.
- curries taste great with many different additions. Why don't you try adding diced potatoes, mushrooms, or fresh tomatoes!

5 Star Pasta!

I was at the grocery store the other day with a mad craving for pasta, but I didn't want plain Jane pasta with tomato sauce. Instead I created an incredible crab pasta bake. The dish served atleast 4 with each portion costing less than $3.

You will need
1.5-2 cups of uncooked pasta shells (or other pasta, not spaghetti though)
1 package of "mock" crab, usually pollock
1 bottle of Alfredo sauce
1 green pepper, cubed
1 red pepper, cubed
1 med white onion, diced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
parmesean cheese

Method
1.Par cook your pasta. You want your pasta to be just before aldente.
2. while the pasta is cooking saute the peppers, onions and garlic in a sauce pan
3. when the vegetables are soft add alfredo sauce to the vegetables,
4. after sauce is heated, add in the crab, mix
5. when the pasta is par cooked put it in the bottom of a glass baking dish, pour sauce over top and stir in
6. add parmesean cheese to the top
7. bake in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. broil the dish for the final 5-10 minutes to brown the cheese.


This dish could easily be substituted with any protein, just make sure if you are using raw meat to cook it through before putting in the oven.

Buying lunch from a grocery store.

Recently my posts have been few and far between. Between work, family situations, new opportunities and oral surgery I haven't had time to blog let alone cook. I had to move into my grandparents for a week last week and therefore had to find some creative lunch options for work that wouldn't impede on my grandparents fridge space. I shopped at sobeys, and superstore and ended up getting lunches for two weeks for under $20. The best thing is, the meals that I got are healthy, although higher in sodium than I like, and well balanced.

Both Sobeys and Superstore have their own brand of "freezer meals". They range from $2.00 to $3.00, which is cheaper than some sandwich fixin's. I ended up trying a few different options. Basil Chicken Pasta, Macaroni, and Tandoori Chicken. For the most part the meals were good, and what I appreciated is how well portioned they were. Although this isn't something I would purchase regulairly I am going to start keeping a few of these in my freezer for every once in a while and for rushed days where I need a put together lunch.

Easy and Delicious French Onion Soup!

Want a delicious dinner that's as easy to cook as it is on your wallet? Try my French Onion Soup!

You will need:
3-4 white onions, cut thinly in rings
2 cartons of low sodium beef broth
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves, crushed
3 stalks of celery
3 tbsp good red wine
2 cloves of garlic, grated or through a garlic press

Method:
1. Start melting about 1/2 a stick of margarine or butter with equal parts of oil in a large soup pot at medium-low
2. While the margarine is melting slice your onions in rings, thinner than typical onion rings. As soon as they are cut put them into the pot. Do the same with the garlic and celery.
3. Your vegetables will look like you have too many, but don't worry, the onions will cook down from about 4 cups to less than 2. Cook your vegetables down for approx 30 minutes until they are caramelized to your liking.
4. When your onions are cooked season with salt and pepper, and add your crushed bay leaves.
5. Turn your stove up to medium-high and add all of your beef broth and wine.
6. Let simmer for about 20 minutes before serving!

This soup is good on its own or with a strong cheese and piece of toast! If you're going to serve your soup with toast I suggest rubbing a little garlic on your toast before putting in your soup. Also, make sure both side of the bread are toasted, that will stop your bread from getting soggy in the soup.

Networking, and finding a food community!

When I started my grocery budgeting networking via the internet was not as popular. Although I was also not that interested. While I was starting the budgeting process what I needed the most was to hear from other people what they did with budgeting, I needed to read recipes, basically I needed a community of support.

In September I started searching for some networking devices. I found tons!
1. Twitter! Tons of chefs and financial advisors have twitter pages that you can follow. Many celebrity chefs will post recipes, pictures and links to videos. Also, most of them reply to your "tweets"
2. Facebook fan pages. Lots of chefs have facebook fan pages. Although these are likely not run by the chef themselves there are usually thousands of people that follow and that respond to eachother.
* my personal favourites for the top two are Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Pasta Channel, CookingwithAmy and Offal_Chris.

3. Look for your favourite chef's website. Most have a community you can be part of to submit recipes, as well as see recipes from other members and the chef's themselves. I've recently joined Paula Deen's community. www.pauladeen.com. She sets up her community accounts similar to a facebook or myspace page, basically you can give as much or as little information about your self for others to see. Once to twice a week Paula and her team post a webisode where they challenge their community members to submit their versions of the recipe. They post the best looking and tasting ones on the website.

4. Finally, search youtube!

Cheesy Pasta for Cheap!

As I mentioned two posts ago I was going to try making Jamie Oliver's Camambert Pasta this week. I tried it last night and I was pleasantly surprised. This is a recipe that could be easily adaptable as well.

The recipe says to take a round (from 4-8oz) of Camambert and bake it with garlic, rosemary, pepper and olive oil (only 1 tsp of oil), for about 25 minutes. When its baked pour onto cooked pasta, preferably rigatoni noodles.

As a budgeter I did not buy real camambert, it was over $10! Instead I got Le Petit St Paulin, which is a french soft cheese made in Quebec. This cheese wasn't as strong as Camambert but it was still good. The only thing that I didn't like about this cheese choice is that it does not melt the same way as a softer cheese like Brie or Camambert. This cheese melted more like mozzarella which made it more awkward when mixing with the cheese... BUT, it was delicious!

This is definitely something to try, and definitely something to cook for a party! Any soft round cheese would work well for this recipe, and the good thing with that is if you don't like stronger cheese you could choose something like a brie and mix in more herbs!

This is a must try!

Not Spending at Work

I am a woman who can be easily persuaded by what those around me are eating, or purchasing. This is something I have worked very hard at over the past year and I think I've finally conquered most of my cravings and spending during the day. Most of this was because it was effecting my budget as well as food choices for when I got home after work.

Here are some tips:
-Pack enough food for the day that will make you full. For me I usually only need a piece of fruit (try bananas, their filling), sandwich and snack for later
-Bring extra tea or coffee for the day, especially if you're close to a Tim's or Starbucks!
-Drink lots of water!
-If you are hungry towards the end of the day pack protein filled foods, like a meatier lunch, or tofu as a snack!
-keep minimal cash on you when at work, and try not to use debit or credit as its really easy then to spend

Apologies for the delay. Heres a good one!

I apologize to everyone for my inconsistent posts recently. I've just returned from a trip home for Christmas and have some great new ideas and budgeting recipes.

Firstly, I received Jamie Oliver's new book " Jamie's Food Revolution". This book is incredible and is highly recommended. The basis of the book is to teach people how to make classics easily and while on a budget. Although some of the ingredients are not as commonly found in Canada or the US they are easily substituted with different foods. I tried two of his recipes for a new years party, Homemade Chicken Chow Mein and Sweet and Sour Pork. These recipes were incredible, budget friendly and super easy to put together. They didn't taste exactly like what you would get from take-away Chinese but I thought they were better. The only suggestions I had for the dishes after making them was that the Chow Mein needed a little more soy, and there were no changes for the Sweet and Sour Pork.

The book focuses on helping people make great gourmet dishes at lower costs. This week I'm going to try Camabert Pasta. It is simply baked Camabert Cheese with garlic and herbs poured on pasta. I'll let you know how it goes!