Garden Slaw

1/2 medium head cabbage, chopped
1 small onion, sliced into rings
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium zucchini, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
(Can also add chopped broccoli, peppers, shredded turnips.  Clean out your veggie drawer.)

Dressing:
1/2 cup vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar.)
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
1/4 cup sugar (or less)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (Leave out or cut back if you don't like the bite.)
dash of pepper

1. Toss the cabbage, onions, celery, carrots, and zucchini together.
2. Heat the dressing ingredients to boiling and stir 1 minute.  (I sometimes do this in the microwave.)
3. Toss dressing over the vegetables.
4. Refrigerate 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Quinoa and Spinach

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large uncooked onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

1.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is tender (about 3-5 minutes).
2. Add quinoa to skillet; stirring frequently, until quinoa starts to turn golden brown (about 2 minutes).
3. Add broth, black pepper and red pepper flakes to skillet; bring to a boil.  cover skillet and reduce heat to low and simmer for 13 minutes; stir in spinach.  Cover skillet and cook until spinach and quinoa are tender and liquid is absorbed (about 3-5 minutes).  Season with salt.

Baked Brown Rice

1 1/2 cups brown rice
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8x8 inch or 9x9 inch baking pan.
2. Place rice in the prepared pan and pour in the liquid.  Stir to equally distribute the rice.
3. Cover tightly with a double layer of aluminum foil.
4. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let it sit for five minutes before removing the aluminum foil.  Fluff with a fork.  Makes about 3 1/2 cups cooked rice.

*This recipe doubles beautifully for a 9x13 inch pan.

Variations:
Before baking, slice one small yellow onion into dices or half moons and caramelize and brown in 1 teaspoon of olive oil until golden and soft (about 10 minutes).  Stir onion into rice and broth mixture before baking.

After removing rice from the oven and letting it sit for five minutes, remove aluminum foil and stir in the zest and juice from 1 lemon, 1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese, and 1/2 an apple, finely diced.

Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf

1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 (20 ounce) package ground turkey
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Topping
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon water

1. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent (about 5 minutes).  Add the garlic and cook for another minute; remove from heat to cool.
4. Stir the turkey, cooked quinoa, onions, tomato paste, hot sauce, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire, egg, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until well combined.  The mixture will be very moist.  Shape into a loaf on a foil lined baking sheet.
5. Combine the brown sugar, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire, and 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl.  Rub the paste over the top of the meatloaf.
6. Bake in the preheated oven about 50 minutes.  A thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees.  Let the meatloaf cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

It Begins

Our family has always had fun together.  We enjoy all the usual celebrations of holidays, special life events, family vacations and camping.  Every get-together involves lots of yummy food.  Now our family has embarked on a new adventure.  We're getting healthy together!  

We have to eat different and cook different.  We also have to please the kids, and the big boys, while satisfying our sweetaholic selves and our lifelong natural food, non-GMO, supplement pushing health coach (head of the family).  We're looking for, and taste testing healthy recipes. This blog will be a collection of healthy tips and foods that have passed the test.