Everybody working for the weekend........

Go on sing the song to my post title, you know you want too. It's so true for Jeremiah and I this week. I think our weather channel app is the most used one on both our phones, we are clinging to the high 70's near 80's that is forecast for this weekend. Lets just say we are especially giddy and cannot wait!!!

It's been a pretty low key week for us, but I needed to share some recipes we've made before the list gets too long.

We finally tried Quinoa for the first time, not sure why we haven't had it sooner, but we will definitely be making it a staple in many upcoming recipes.

Here are all the new recipes and some pics of what I remembered to do :)

Quinoa mac and cheese

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, cooked
• salt and pepper to taste
• seasoning salt to taste
• sprinkle of creole seasoning
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (plus loads more for sprinkling)
• bread crumbs for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook quinoa to packaged instructions and let cool slightly. Coat casserole dish with cooking spray. Whisk eggs, milk, and seasonings in a large bowl. Fold in quinoa and cheese. Stir until combined and cheese is melty. Transfer to prepared baking dish and sprinkle with cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until bread crumbs are toasty.

Buffalo chicken quinoa salad

Salad
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces (we used buffalo marinated chicken we already had in our freezer)
• 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles, plus more for garnish
• 4 green onions chopped, save half for garnish
Dressing
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup hot sauce (we always use Franks)
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 
  

Instructions

1. In a fine-mesh strainer, rinse quinoa well and drain. In a medium pot, combine quinoa and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat to low. Cook until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, fluff the quinoa with a fork.
2. While the quinoa is cooking make the buffalo sauce dressing and cook the chicken and broccoli. In a measuring cup or small bowl combine the olive oil, hot sauce, and seasoned salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. Cook the chicken for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Add 1/4 cup or so of the buffalo sauce and cook until the chicken absorbs the sauce.
4. When the quinoa is ready add the chicken and as much of the dressing as desired (I ended up using all of the dressing, but we like things extra saucy) toss well. Add the blue cheese and half of the green onions. Toss again and serve warm with extra blue cheese crumbles and green onions. I also had some ranch on the side, just in case ;)

Greek Yogurt Strawberry Banana Bread
(This one I remembered to get a couple of pics)

Ingredients

1 1⁄2 cup GF Flour

3 tablespoons GF Flour

1 1⁄2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt (optional)

1⁄2 cup Brown Sugar (or 1/4 cup honey)

2 large bananas

2 Eggs

6 ounces Chobani Strawberry Banana Greek Yogurt

1 cup Diced Strawberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Start by combining flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mash bananas with a fork until they are gooey and liquid-like.
3. Add eggs and sugar… mix thoroughly.
4. Add greek yogurt
5. Whisk until everything is well combined and there are no lumps.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.  At this point, fold in the fresh strawberries!
7. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and distribute evenly.
8. Put into the oven and bake for one hour, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Transfer to a cooling rack and (try to) let the bread cool for at least ten minutes before slicing.

Note: Since going GF, every baking experience is a trial of how different brands and ingredients mix. In the picture you can see the brand of GF flour I used. I will NOT be using this again. It got extremely sticky and reacted the same as when I made the cream cheese coffee cake I made last week. I'll be going back to my usual stuff.