Quinoa, Lentil, Squash and Tomato Stuffed Peppers

There are some foods that should be your best friend. Quinoa is my best friend, for sure. We're super tight. We chill at least once a week. My other best friends are a little less healthy...cream cheese, well, any cheese to be exact, chocolate, bread...yeah. So I decided to make a new friend on the playground a few months ago. Her name is Lentil. Confession-I knew Lentil well during my childhood. My mom cooked with lentils all the time, especially a really yummy lentil soup that I have yet to make on my own. Lentils are packed with nutrients and a great, inexpensive addition to your cooking arsenal. I made a great one-pot meal with chicken and lentils a few months ago, and I was inspired to attempt something different today. So I am teaming up Quinoa and Lentil and we're going to have a grand old time.

The product of this blessed union of amazing food are these Quinoa, Lentil, Squash and Tomato Stuffed Peppers. This healthy, whole-foods, natural meal is a winner in terms of nutrition and taste. It is also vegetarian (it could easily be vegan if you omit the cheese) and super simple in terms of preparation. The lentil and quinoa mixture also contains some fresh zucchini and summer squash and chopped tomato, all encased in green bell pepper and topped with crunchy Panko and fresh mozzarella. I would prefer to make these with red bell peppers, but I had green on hand, so that's what we are using today!

These are delicious, extremely healthy and packed with fiber, protein and vitamins and minerals. Hubby ate his with great gusto and remarked about how good they were! We ate ours by just cutting them in half and enjoying the crunchy pepper shell and deliciously seasoned filling. We paired ours with fresh fruit and enjoyed an awesome, easy to prepare meal. Try these out. You might be surprised how much you like them. And your body will thank you so much for not stuffing it with Velveeta cheese instead ;) They are also really budget-friendly and a great way to create a meal that doesn't depend on meat.

Coconut Quinoa Burgers With Grilled Pineapple

Tonight's dinner was pulled off the bench early. I needed a meal to pinch hit for me, and I needed it fast. We were supposed to eat this on Friday, and then I realized my four-year-old niece is spending the night on Friday. She loves fruit and veggies, but I didn't think it would be wise to try to con a munchkin into eating Coconut Quinoa Burgers. Not if I want to remain on her good side, anyway. My husband, on the other hand, can be persuaded into eating all sorts of things with a little wink and a smile. I also discovered I needed more time than anticipated for a few baking projects for the girls at my church tonight, and then a storm rolled through and killed the natural light in my kitchen, just as I was starting dinner. So what you have here are the pictures taken with furious and frantic speed as I threw this meal together. Excuse the less-than-lackluster photography today. Eh. Epic fails are part of daily life. Eat some chocolate and move on.

On a high note, these meatless burgers had me over the moon. I scarfed mine in less than 5 minutes, and hubby enjoyed his a lot too. They were a perfect weeknight meal. Even if you are a meat-eating family, I think you can easily tempt your children with promises of sweet, grilled pineapple. I definitely took this recipe from Brooke at Cheeky Kitchen, who posted a completely veganized/plantie version of this a few weeks ago. I am not a vegan. Oh lawdy, do I love bacon way too much to ever even consider it. Bacon is meat candy. Swoon. Despite my love of saturated fat laden pork products, I am happy to make a lot of my meals meatless and plant-based for a variety of reasons. They are cheaper. They are healthier. They help me to use my weekly bounty of produce from my local food co-op, and they encourage me to experiment and try new things. Let's be honest. If I had a choice, the rest of my life would probably be spent consuming bread and cheese. I could literally live in the cheese case at Whole Foods and be happy forever. Drat. I am experiencing some major A.D.D. today. On to the recipe.

These babies are delicious. They are healthy. They have fabulous flavor and texture. They whip up fast. They make you want to dance and sing and puddle-jump outside of your house in a warm spring rain. Healthy quinoa is mixed with fiber-packed chickpeas and sweet, decadent coconut milk, spices, and panko bread crumbs, and pan-fried in olive oil and coconut oil before being put to bed on some fresh lettuce, ornamented with grilled pineapple, dressed up in a little mayonnaise spread and enveloped in hearty whole wheat. Who doesn't want to eat something described like that? So I took Brooke's vegan meal and turned it into a vegetarian meal that fit what I had available in the house. Hers was flavored with curry, I opted for cumin. I hate curry. Hate it. I lived in a house in college, and some of the people in the house cooked with curry every day. For every meal. Our house smelled like curry all the time. All of my clothes smelled like it. I just can't do curry anymore. So after a few adjustments here and there, and we ate a meal fit for a sometimes health-conscious and amazingly lucky king. Make this. Now. You will love it.

All-Natural DIY Body Wash

My living room is a disaster today-I am talking mountains of down comforter, mounds of tissue, and a nest of pillows. I have been attacked by a combination of cold/allergies/oh-so-fun time of the month issues, and I am down for the count. I did want to put a post up today though, to make up for my lack of posting, and to make myself feel like something more than a runny, sneezy, sweatpant-clad slob. I even showered for the occasion. And on that note, my post today is on homemade, DIY, natural body wash.

We have all seen the commercials...an unrealistically fit and attractive woman with perfectly shaved and glowing skin lathers up in the shower with mountains of foam and cleanses her unusually already clean skin. Who the heck actually looks like that when they shower? I shower when I have peeled myself out of bed or off the couch, and it is generally not an attractive state. But ladies, I have a secret one-up on the commercial girl. And you can too. If you make your own body wash. I am not advocating throwing out whatever you have on hand now. I used up what I had left, and then made my own about two months ago, and I have been loving it. I have about half a bottle of some Softsoap body wash in my shower, which I will use for comparison in this post.

Eating Well (Healthy, Clean and Natural) on a Budget

My husband and I were married about seven months ago, and once the honeymoon period wore off (which was actually pretty quickly, since I got sick right after we came home from our honeymoon), we were smacked in the face by reality. The reality of our budget. And believe me, it is a tight one. I worked as a teacher for five years before I moved and we were married, and I haven't been able to find a full-time position this year. I tutor independently, which helps a bit, but we live off my husband's salary, and it has been a challenge. Our situation is one that has brought us both frustration and unimaginable blessings. I am grateful for the constraints that we have, because we have learned to do more with less, to show gratitude for little luxuries and everyday necessities, and we have learned to communicate well about what we can and can't afford.

Baked Apple Cinnamon Quinoa

I have an obsession with quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH). I learned about it from a friend with some special dietary needs about four years ago, and have been hooked ever since. If you don't eat/use quinoa, I really recommend trying it. Quinoa is a super grain. It cooks quickly, similar to rice, and is gluten-free and PACKED with protein, rich in amino acid, and has great flavor and texture-check out the page at WHFoods for more information. I love to use quinoa in place of rice and pasta, and as a nutritious add-in for a variety of recipes. One of the advantages to using quinoa in your cooking, in addition to the obvious health and nutritive benefits, is that quinoa will take on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. Because of this, quinoa makes a great substitute for oatmeal and is an amazing breakfast food.

I can't sing the praises of quinoa highly enough. It is an amazing food-I call it the super grain. I really encourage you to try it and to make it a staple in your diet. I do have a few pieces of advice for using quinoa.

Slow-Roasted Apple and Onion Pork Chops

This has been a weird week for me. I am all caught up in myself and dealing with it by self-medicating with Netflix and cooking and snuggling with my sweet dog. These sort of gray-ish days have only two cures-long walks with the husband and dog in the evenings, and some healthy comfort food.

As expected, last night was not a spring food night for me. I woke up craving these succulent apple and onion slow-roasted pork chops I made a few weeks ago, and decided to revert back to fall cooking for a night. I am so grateful that I did. To liven these up a little, we ate them with some fresh, crisp green beans and a delicious side of experimental Apple Cinnamon Baked Quinoa (recipe will be posted separately tomorrow). All around, this was a great dinner with minimal prep time and skill involved. A note on the pork chop recipe-this is something I have borrowed from Mel over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe ( a great go-to recipe blog that never fails me!). I have made this several times now, and I just can't get enough of it. So get yourself some beautiful pork chops and make some already!

These chops are soft as butter. You don't even need a knife to cut them. Just let your fork gently break them apart as you struggle not to inhale the whole thing. They taste like apple and brown sugar and sweet onion. I haven never had pork as tender as this. I've had and made many a tough pork chop in my life. This recipe will leave you wanting seconds and thirds. This recipe is no-fail, and incredibly delicious, and made from whole, natural foods.

Creating Your Cleaning Arsenal-You Can Do It!

When I first embarked on my journey of becoming a natural frugalista, I was terrified of the amount of time, effort and money that it would take. Going organic and green is pricey! Political proclivities aside (and mine don't so much line up with most greenies), my transition was based in economics. That's right, the bottom line for me is the wallet. We are a single-income couple, and this adventure had to save us money for it to be worthwhile and feasible. I was also fearful that making my own green cleaning products would make me become a crazy recluse that cooked up potions on my stove while my friends and family secretly whispered that I was going batty. While the whispers and rumors may be flowing, I am happy to report that my experiences have been cheap and not very time consuming. I can whip up most of my things in 5 minutes or less. So rest assured, you can make the transition as well, even if you work full-time, or have kids clinging to your ankles, or are on a tight budget. I still spend less on my cleaning supplies than I did when I was couponing for them, and far less time than when I was dragging my coupon binder out daily to scour the internet/flyers/stores for deals. So today, you get my photo essay of the basic things you need to start, and a price point for all of these items. And the best part? This stuff makes ALL of the following: Laundry detergent, all-purpose spray, toilet cleanser, shower cleanser, soft scrub, floor wash, oven cleaner, microwave cleaner, window/glass cleaner, shampoo and body wash. Amazing, right? Don't believe me? I'll post all of these recipes over the next few weeks.

Are Natural Cleaners Effective?

When I first considered transitioning to natural cleaners, I was skeptical of their ability to truly kill germs and keep my house fresh and sanitary. I was raised in a bleach-loving household (I love you, Mom!) and for a long time, didn't feel my dorm rooms or apartments were clean unless I was reeling from bleach fumes. Research has made for some interesting reading and consideration in convincing me that for most cleaning issues, natural is the way to go. That being said, I do keep a diluted bleach solution around for emergency occasions, but they have been few and far between these last seven months.

I won't spend forever discussing the chemical science to explain how natural cleaners work, but I will pop some links in that you can peruse at your own leisure. Here's the bottom line for me-anything that makes me have a four-day migraine and makes me feel completely nauseous and gives me a killer skin irritation is something I don't want to use often.

Natural Cleaning-Infused Vinegars

In September, I embarked upon an epic bathroom cleaning project. It was one of those, "hey, I'm going to scrub every nook and cranny, wipe up every tiny speck of dust" cleaning rampages that I tend to go on when I am stressed. After a ton of bleach and two hours, I had the worst migraine headache of my life. It lingered for four days. I made a vow then and there to stop using toxic and harsh chemicals in my cleaning. Since then, I have been experimenting with and absolutely adoring a ton of fun, and SUPER inexpensive natural cleaning solutions. My house sparkles, my head doesn't hurt, and our budget is incredibly happy about our frugal, natural choices! Ultimately, my goal is to one day not worry about my child drinking anything under the sink. Vinegar would make the kid sick to their stomach, but no call to poison control needed.

My go-to ingredient for cleaning is vinegar. A gallon of the stuff runs for about $1 at Wal-Mart or Target, and it goes so far. Since September, I have gone through two gallons-and I am an obsessive cleaner. I use it in the tub, toilet, on the floor, in the wash...it is my wonder cleaner. So today, I am going to share one of my vinegar experiments that is sitting in my windowsill as we speak.