Quinoa Sliders

These are amazing. I made them Friday morning to take to the cabin and as soon as I came back Sunday night I made another batch. Approximate cost per slider = 41 Cents and that generously giving all the teaspoon of this and that like sugar and salt a value. Of course you may want to have a bun with it (I recommend the thin buns) and some mayo or other condiment of choice. But this point is these are delicious, cheap and easy to make.

So the recipe I used can be found here: http://eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/love-my-quinoa-burger/ but of course as everyone does I tweaked it a little. Namely, I used much more green onion and I made many more burgers as a result of doing them mini sized (aka Sliders), making my outcome 22 where that recipe says its more like 10.

Also, the first time I made them my quinoa was a little runny so I had to add A LOT more flour. When you're at that point, just add one tablespoon at a time until it's no longer runny, similar to a thick pancake.

Recipe below but first a word on Quinoa. One of the new biggest trends in world foods with all essential amino acids (aka is a "complete protein"). This site also boasts that "Because quinoa is a very good source of manganese as well as a good source of magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus, this "grain" may be especially valuable for persons with migraine headaches, diabetes and atherosclerosis." Other ailments that site boasts quinoa as an aid for include: heart failure, antioxidant protection, breast cancer, childhood asthma, gallstone prevention, ischemic stoke, insulin resistance, obesity and premature death (though the whole time they say these are the benefits of quinoa as a grain and at the very end they admit quinoa is a seed). Hence it's title as a super-food.

While that shit's awesome, what concerns me about quinoa is actually it's effects as an international food product. It's regularly called "the gold of the incas", incas being the pacific ocean side of South America basically. The issue is when the Global North decides that Quinoa is a super food, and decides it's worth a higher price, the people who cultivate it can no longer afford it. We pay for it to be shipped to different hemispheres yet sometimes we neglect to pay the farmer. As a super food, this seed has been a staple in the diets of a whole society before we understood what amino acids even were. When we rip that staple food and source of nutrient out of that society, people die from not having the money to buy the seed they planted and thus not having those nutrients in their diet in a society where nutrients are scarce. It's more complicated then this paragraph obviously and perhaps I'll post a whole entry of the politics of food (or maybe a series of posts).

The best option of you love these burgers /love quinoa /are sold on the benfits of quinoa is to grow it yourself. Google it, it's really not that hard and is a very adaptable plant. I'm currently trying to grow it, I'll let you know how that turns out in the fall.

Next best option, be aware of how you buy it. From who, where it's produced, etc. Fair trade symbols are key. Living in Newfoundland, I haven't yet found fair trade quinoa. However, I bought Bob's Red Mill brand, as depicted. Bob's Red Mill is a co-operative in America, producing all whole grain, gluten free and organic foods (all non-GMO). Most of their products are grown in Canada and America however the quinoa is grown in Ecuador. I've actually just e-mailed them to ask if it is fair trade by stroke of luck. If i find out it isn't, I'll be re-emailing them the benefits of fair trade and also searching harder for fair trade quinoa elsewhere.


I'll repost the recipe below in case the link becomes corrupt or some other non-sense. (Bolded words and pictures are are mine, the rest below is from the link above).

1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan bring the 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat.  Add quinoa and reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook for 18-20 minutes, or until all water is absorbed and the seeds are tender.  Allow to cool for a few minutes. (I first went by the recipe on the bag of Quinoa but this one worked a lot better. Picture depicts cooked quinoa.)

 

OR 2 rounded cups cooked, leftover quinoa
.

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or other variety, if you prefer)
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 medium carrot, finely grated
3 eggs
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 green onions, including white parts (I used a lot more, basically just cut off what needed to be cut off regardless -you do know to keep your green onions in a glass of water on the window sill right?)
1 /2 teaspoon Splenda or sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (I used a teaspoon of minced garlic)
Olive oil for frying
.
In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, green onions, Splenda, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder. (Combine everything but olive oil, if runny continue adding a tablespoon of flour at a time until similar to thick pancakes).

Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat.  Measure 1/4 cup and form into patties about 1/2 inch thick  - mixture will be slightly sticky.  Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side.   Makes approx. 10 burgers. (I made them about a tablespoon and a half each to make sliders and had 22 total as an outcome)

***
A note from a friend of mine:
An important note - the brand you buy seems to be pre-rinsed/soaked which is awesome, but make sure for those who are trying it with a different brand, that if they don't know whether it's been pre-soaked, may need to rinse + soak for a couple of hours for the bitter coating to wash away from the grains. Quinoa is a unique grain in that respect for preparation! But well worth it.

Liquidizing Bar Soap

Easy trick to save bucks. Liquid soap clearly has a lot of water in it, but bar soap can be annoying to use. The solution is simple, get a one litre bottle, with an openning large enough for a bar of soap (or be prepared to chop up a bar of soap), fill it up with water and drop in a bar of soap (chopped or grated for faster results). I stirred mine at least once a day and after 4 days pourred enough out to fill a soap dispenser. Voila!


Next time I think I'll grated the bar of soap so it'll have less chunks.

Sprouting Lentils

Go buy a bag of dry green lentils right now.

It cost me $1.89 and lasts a very long time. They're great protein addition to pasta dishes or stir-frys, great snack by themselves (although I don't like them this way myself), once sprouted awesome addition to a toss salad and are probably the best-cheapest things you can buy for your pantry.

You'll probably find them in the beans section next to the dry split peas. Careful to get green lentils and not red ones if you hope to sprout them. Red lentils are generally split and wont  sprout.


Take a look at the nutritional info right from the bag ~~>
Amazing source of Protein, Iron, and Fibre... what else could you ask for?

So how do you make them edible? They're as hard as rocks in the bag!

I'll briefly talk about 3 ways, spending much more time on the third (sprouting). Any way you choose make sure to rinse them first. Both the first and second way would also work for split lentils (including red lentils).

If you've got no time, cooking right now and didn't really think ahead... boil them. Pretty simple, much like split peas. They wont really get much bigger them the original size. Just throw 'em with your soup or in a pot alone, adding it to your dish afterwards. You'll know they're done when you can bite threw one.

If you've got anywhere from 4 hours to a day, measure out half the amount you want, rinse, and soak them in water. They will double in size, so make sure they have enough water to cover them even at double size. Drain the water, add them to your dish.

The pictures depict the same lentils before and after soaking in water overnight.

Finally, sprouting. This four days but feel free to use some on even the third day if you feel like it. But most importantly, be prepared to use them all between the fourth and the sixth day, they wont keep well beyond that.

I used a medium size mason jar, about a 1/2 cup of dry lentils and a bit of cheesecloth (found at dollerama). I used the mason jar lid without the actual lid, just the screw on sides, to keep the cheesecloth in place.

The first night, just soak them in water, easy peazy. The 2nd day, drain all the water out (why the cheesecloth is useful), fill it back up and swish it around and drain it again. After that first night, you always shake out as much water as possible. For the next four days, repeat this 2-3 times daily. This is so you don't get anything else growing in there.

You'll notice the lentils starting to sprout after the 2nd night (pic to the left) and after the 3rd night you get something like the picture to the right. At any point these are edible after about the 4 hour mark but when you really want to chow down is when you see leaves, after the 4th night. (See first picture at beginning)

Now don't forget to eat them all before 6 nights have passed!

I heard about sprouting from this fine blog here: http://honestfare.com/windowsill-sprouting-through-the-winter/

The Intra-web?

 

This TED talk was given by Eli Pariser, and really it floored me a little. The idea that my facebook news feed is filtering out my Conservative friends because it knows on the political scale I'm to the left is astonishing. Well no wonder I'm baffled and confused by the Majority Harper now holds... I didn't see a single news story in Harper's favor... apparently google is filtering my news intake.

So what is the problem with catering to each interweb user? It does mean I get results that uphold my beliefs, generally something people like. But isn't that kind of like Brazilia for the Internet? Brazilia, the capital of Brazil, is a city built from a blueprint on a barren land, an architect's dream. Might at first seem like a wonderful idea where there are no nuances, no weird twists and turns, no one way streets. In fact, there's a whole road dedicated to the sale of lightbulbs, no shopping around town... all of the lightbulbs are on that street. Weird right? What is really means is no surprises.

Why do we need surprises? Well, it makes us more tolerable people. To grow up in Brazilia means you've never been lost or ended up where you never meant to go. When faced with difficult situations we gain character, the aspect of ourselves which is specific to the experiences we have had. Give everyone the same experiences, no surprises, no chance for growth and you have a self contained population which only has the opportunity to reproduce exactly itself.

More to the point of filtering the internet, without showing us opposing points of view, not only do we lose the chance to challenge our own view points, we lose the option of challenging other's beliefs as well. While we preach to the filtered choir, our cries for democracy will be squashed and silenced without our knowledge for we have rose colored glasses filtering out any challenge, surprise or opposing viewpoint.

T-shirt Shopping Bags

I have been hoarding these four t-shirts for far too long and finally I found use for them! I always figured they'd be pillows but instead they are now shopping bags!! Voila the final result:

 Very simple, especially if you can use a sewing machine or has somebody whose willing to do some quick sewing for you. It's possible to sew by hand but the bag wont be as sturdy for sure.

Step one:
Find t-shirts you're willing to re purpose. These are the prints on my four:

Step two:
Use pinking shears to cut off sleeves (if there are any) and widen the neck as that will be the mouth of your bag. Here's a picture of pinking shears and an example.

Step three: Turn each one inside out and sew the the bottom of the t-shirt together as well as reinforce anywhere you cut stitching, ie, where the neck was cut and if it started as a t-shirt rather then strapless underneath the arms.


 

Voila! You're done! Enjoy!!

Here's another great example of how to re purpose an old t-shirt. A friend of mine made a sentimental t-shirt from her younger years into this bag holder.

Pita Pizza!

The only hard thing about homemade pizza is the crust... the rest is just throwing on toppings. Thus this is a super simple recipe!

Don't worry, it doesn't include a frozen crust either! I'll teach you how to make tortilla shells from scratch later, but that is what we're using for the crust -so go grab some at the store or tackle the recipe here at Om Nom Nomnivore yourselves -though I definitely recommend a partner in the kitchen for that recipe!!


But for now...

You'll need:

• A whole wheat pita for every person (those are generally thicker tortillas)
• Enough salsa to cover each pita
• Bowl of mushrooms, sliced
• Bowl of broccoli, sliced
• Ramekin of Bell Peppers, chopped
• A sprinkle of cheese
• Optional: Lentils that have been soaking for several hours at least

Pretty basic really. Lay out your pitas on what you're cooking them on, perhaps a pizza pan. Cover them in salsa. Add lentils if you've chosen to. Evenly distribute the vegetables. Sprinkle on cheese. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you notice the broccoli burning before that, take it out -they're done!

Wire Words

This is a really simple and cheap craft I started making as gifts for friends and family. I got the idea from Family Chic, a wonderful blog with tons of other ideas. All you need is wire, yarn, a set of piliers and an idea as to what word you'd like to make (which might be the hardest part when making them for others.

A couple quick tips:

1. Choose yarn that's subsantially thick. Fluffy or fuzzy are great but feathery can be a pain.

2. Be consistant with how tight your pulling it. For "Maia Claire" I kept it loose which really the yarn and the size of the word I wanted called for. (Which btw was done with a yarn that changes color, I haven't attempted to do any with multiple yarns.) Whereas you'll see "Peace" below which was smaller with a completely different type of yarn so I kept it pulled super tight.

3. Always cut off too much wire... you never know when you'll have to reshape the wire. For example, when your "a" looks like a "o" (always create the a's with the tail on top like you see in type and not how most of us would print). Obviously cut off the access wire before cover it in yarn at the end.

4. When shaping the wire, realize that there cannot be any closed circles. Understand the yarn has to go around each part of the wire and you wont be cutting it off from the ball to feed it through. Thus, while you can use yarn to shut a circle (like in an "e") you cannot use the wire itself (notice the "a"s in Maia above).

To start and finish use piliers to create a little hook that you can squeeze together once the thread is in place. Below are 2 more completed examples.