Weekend Things Part 1: Macaroon Quinoa Parfait

On Friday morning we were up early making quinoa yogurt parfaits.  These are easy to make, as the quinoa can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge.  You can use any type of yogurt, and any toppings; use your imagination and see what delicious combos you can come up with! 

Macaroon Quinoa Parfait

(Makes two parfaits)

- 1/2 cup quinoa (rinsed)
- 1/2 cup light coconut milk (canned)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- approx. 1.5 cups vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup toasted coconut (line baking sheet with parchment, bake @ 300 until golden - watch!)
- 1/4 cup cacao nibs (or chopped dark chocolate if you want it sweeter or don't have cacao)

Put the quinoa, coconut milk, water, and salt in a small pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low (or move to another burner that you've heated to low), cover, and cook 15 minutes until the liquid has absorbed.  Cool the quinoa.  Layer the quinoa, followed by vanilla yogurt, a sprinkle of toasted coconut and cacao, then repeat ...

Later on in the day we made a batch of granola, which we would use in Saturday's breakfast.

We also made a bunch of perogies, including our specialty with a mashed potato/beet mixture, dill, and goat cheese.

And something new ... bacon double cheeseburger perogies!

We fried onions and bacon in jalapeno olive oil until the bacon was cooked.  We then added extra lean ground beef, and cooked that until done.  Meanwhile we mashed a few potatoes with both cheddar and grana padano cheeses.  We combined the meat mixture with the potato mixture, and stuffed the perogies.

And then we cooked some of them up for dinner ...

Topped with sour cream, sriracha and parsley:

Between these eats and the Cougar burgers from Rock Creek, our Friday was pretty tasty.

How was your weekend?  What did you do?  Did you do any cooking this weekend?  Have you ever had quinoa for breakfast?

Perogies

A couple of months ago we made a whole bunch of perogies.  There were still some in the freezer that we decided to cook up tonight.  Christopher and I both have some Ukrainian in us, so a love for perogies is in our blood.  

We fried them up and then jazzed them up with bacon, onion, shredded cheese, sour cream and chives.

 

 

I know someone who puts jam on his perogies!?  (Hey Justin!)  I've never tried it, but perhaps it's good.

What do you put on your perogies?

Please tell me you've eaten perogies before!

What is your nationality?  What's your favourite food from your nationality?

Sunday Stuff

1)  This weekend went by quicker than usual.  I had an okay weekend, but one of the best parts was definitely last night, dancing it up with my two best girlfriends.  I have been best buds with these girls since elementary school days, and nothing has changed.

Me, Mel & Shauna

2)  On Friday at lunch I went to Brown's Social House for the first time.  I loved the decor (I am a huge fan of skulls), but the food was just average.  I'd be willing to give it another try because there were a lot of things on the menu that sounded good, and the burgers looked delicious.

 

3)  On Friday evening I met up with some pals at The Freehouse.  I ordered the New Orleans Etoufee, because it won a first place award at the Taste of New Orleans.  Unfortunately it wasn't worthy of an prize in my opinion.  The corn bread was darn good though!  I'm excited to try real New Orleans food this March/April!!!

4)  I was very surprised and touched to read this sweet post that Jennifer posted about me tonight.  Apparently I'm cool like that.  Thanks for the kind words Jennifer!  You are a sweetheart.

5)  My buddy Tricia gave me these bacon mints this past summer, because she saw them and thought of me.  I have absolutely no idea why she would think of me ;-)  This isn't the first time something like this has happened.  You'd think I like bacon or something ...

Anyway, I brought the mints to school for the kids to try.  They were a hit.  Thanks Tricia!

6)  If you didn't click on the first and last link in #5, you made a mistake.  Meat cookies and bacon cinnamon rolls with maple icing are in your best interest.  Yes, I said meat cookies.  Don't judge.

7)  Speaking of bacon ... on Saturday Christopher and I, his lovely sister and her husband made perogies, some of which contained bacon.  It was a fun afternoon.

Vicki

 

 

 

 

 

Christopher made a couple of calzone perogies with the last of the dough.

 

8)  After fun times last night ...

 

It was nice to wake up and enjoy this ...

Notice the bacon ;-)  Ahhhh yeah.

How was your weekend?  Have you ever made perogies?

Vegetarian Meal #8 of 10

Okay ... after reading your comments to yesterday's post, I totally feel boring in the popcorn department! You guys put some crazy, yet interesting things on your popcorn! What I am wondering is, what made you want to try new flavourings for the first time?? Are you really that adventurous!? I am a chicken, and never venture beyond the butter or margarine world. Hence, my boring popcorn last night:

You know how a few weeks ago I woke up to snow ...
Well that is all gone now. It was nearly hot last weekend.
And this morning I woke up to pouring rain! This is Saskatchewan weather for ya!

So when it is pouring rain, and cool, and dark, breakfast can only be one thing ...
OATS!



(1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup oats, homemade pumpkin butter, and pumpkin seeds)

I had a mid-morning glo-bar snack:



Then for lunch I had perogies:



And the terrible two:


(old Cheddar and pears go fabulously together).

I have had more of an appetite than usual today, and by 3:30 I was haaaaaangry!
I had my 2nd LARA Bar:



This one was even more delicious than the last. I am so happy I finally tried these bars.
They are a little on the sweet side, and since I don't have a sweet tooth, I can only eat about 1/2 at a time - but I do love 'em.

Dinner was Vegetarian Meal #8 of 10

Red Tofu and Bean Chili

Ingredients:

- 2 t olive oil
- 3 cups chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 3 cups veggie stock
- 1 can kidney beans, drained
- 1 can black beans, drained
- 1 can chopped tomatoes, drained
- 1 can mushrooms
- 1/2 block extra firm tofu
- Cheddar cheese to sprinkle on before serving

Directions:

• Heat oil, add onion, saute 5 min.
• Add spices, and saute 30 seconds
• Add stock, beans, tomatoes, bring to a boil
• Add tofu and mushrooms
• Simmer about 45 min. or 1 hr.
• Sprinkle shredded cheese on top before serving

I just realized that I didn't eat very many fruits/ veggies today. Guess that means I should have a GM tomorrow morning.

I really try to get my veggies in everyday, but some days (like today) I realize that it just didn't happen. No sweat. I will just have more tomorrow :-)

How do you maintain balance in your diet? Do you strive for a certain # of servings of the different food groups, or just eat what you feel like eating?