Woman in Real Life

By now most of us are aware that quinoa is a superfood. It is one of the plant world's few complete proteins, providing all of the essential amino acids that your body requires. It's versatile too - it can be used in place of grains like rice or millet, in spite of the fact that quinoa is actually a seed, a pseudo-cereal that is eaten and cooked like a grain.

But how often do you use quinoa in your daily life and in how many ways? I tend to have it only about once or twice a month and I usually use it as a base for a stir-fry or as a simple side dish. Enter The Vegetarian's Complete Quinoa Cookbook. With this book, we can now use our favourite power food in 130 recipes that take us right through from breakfast to dinner and beyond to dessert (yes, quinoa desserts!).

I am finally joining my (crazy fit) buddy Laura for her menu planning challenge.

I always think about planning my meals for the week, but I rarely do it...at least not in any really successful way. But it's a new year and a perfect time to re-examine my priorities.

Oddly enough, you can be a vegetarian and eat no vegetables at all. While that isn’t the case for me, I sometimes get lazy (especially at lunch) and don’t eat as many fruits and veggies as I should.

So, today I am participating in the Peas & Crayons What I Ate Wednesday party. This month, Jenn is focusing on serving an extra cup of vegetables every day. That’s a plan I can get behind.

Today, I am sharing a look at just a few of the foods I ate this past weekend. It’s not all veggies. You know I like a sweet treat!

On Saturday, I decided to use up the red chard we got in one of our organic produce deliveries. I often let leafy greens rot without using them, just because I don’t feel like washing them. I was glad I made the effort, because they were actually quite tasty, cooked with a little bit of minced garlic and olive oil.

I also made a veggie chili, from a recipe in How it All Vegan, one of my favourite cookbooks. We served it on some basmati rice.


On Sunday, I finally made some cookies that I had wanted to make for a long time. They are chef Michael Smith’s peanut butter and jelly cookies.

I am glad I got around to making them, because they are quite delicious. I love jam in a cookie or muffin.


My son prefers chocolate over jam, so I put some Nutella in a few for him. I still think jam is a better option, though.


My husband bought a new barbecue on the weekend, and we were anxious to try it out. So, on Sunday, he braved the cold weather to produce a nice, barbecued meal of sweet potatoes, asparagus, potatoes, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini and tofu. I’m glad I didn’t have to stand on the deck in the cold! I sure enjoyed the end result though.

What are you eating this week? Could your diet use an infusion of veggies?