My new favorite: Quinoa

Within in the last few months I have discovered a new superfood... Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).  Although it looks and tastes like a grain, it is actually a relative of green leafy veggies like chard and spinach.  It is LOADED with nutrition, including being a complete protein.  Look it up... you will be amazed at all the health benefits!

There are quite a few yummy recipes out there, but I have experimented with making a few of my own.  My favorite recipe (that seems to go with practically everything) is pretty much always in my refrigerator these days, and is very simple to make.  Try it... you will love it!

Roasted Garlic & Parmesan Quinoa
- 1 cup Quinoa
- 2 cups liquid (I use a combo of whey from my homemade yogurt and water)
- 1 cube chicken buillon (you can omit if you use chicken broth as liquid)
- 4-5 cloves roasted garlic finely chopped (another thing I try to make quite a bit of and keep in the frige)
- 1/4-1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese (according to taste)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- sea salt & freshly grated pepper to taste
- 1 Tbs sour cream (optional)

- Add all ingredients except sour cream to medium sauce pan and bring to boil.  Reduce to a simmer & cover.
- Cook for 15 min or until most of tge liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat and let sit for ~5 minutes.
- (Optional) Stir in sour cream. Serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!


xoxo,
~The Grant Gang

lil' Fuzzette

Micah and I went for our first (and hopefully only) sonogram this morning... and we learned that Fuzzy is really a Fuzzette!  Noah is going to have a little sister.  This picture made me giggle... I can totally see Noah and one of his friends doing this and little Fuzzette standing there trying to figure out what was going on....

I think Micah is still processing the idea, and my brain has already started spinning with ideas for the nursery and clothes to sew (since I have SO much time to sew. ha!)  She looks great, as well.  Healthy and a super active like her big brother.  If her movement during the sonogram is any indication of her energy level later in life, I am IN. TROUBLE.  Still not sure on names... hopefully she won't be Fuzzette for the rest of her life. :-)

xoxo,
~The Grant Gang

My first Stride

I've known about Stroller Strides for a while, but never gave it much thought.... I loathe group work out classes (I am much more of a runner/elliptical/weights type of gal) and the thought of my little energizer bunny sitting in a stroller for an hour makes me laugh a good laugh.  A few random events here and there later, I decided maybe I'd be interested in atleast giving it a shot.  No more than a few days later, I found out that my old chiropractor and current midwife, Dr. Cindy, just became the new owner of the Arlington/Hurst/Mansfield franchise and was hosting a party week of free classes and giveaways to celebrate the transition.  Did you say free?  I was sold :-)

I had my doubts.  How could I possibly get a good workout at the mall?  Would I be annoyed with the overly energized & perky instructor telling us in totally not normal perky voice to "Feel the burn"?  Would Noah scream "Down!!!" the entire time? 

I was SO surprised by our experience!  First of all, the instructor wasn't annoying at all.  In fact, she was the opposite.  Don't get me wrong... she was very encouraging, but she was a normal mom leading a group of other moms in a workout.  We used resistance bands to work our hip abductors, biceps, and triceps (all while singing cute little songs to our kids).  We did several different cardio boost sets (that totally made me sweat), and we did several other squat/push up type exercises to round it out.  The pace was what you wanted it to be... several different "levels" of each exercise were given so you could be right where you needed to be.  And amazingly enough, Noah only said "All doooown" three times, and each time it was at the very beginning and the very end.  The rest of the time he was either laughing (no joke.. he thought it was hilarious watching me sing/perform the Hokey Pokey while doing "maniacs" the entire time) or looking at me with a total look of bewilderment. 

I am really excited to give the class at Veteran's Park a try and see how N is in that environment.  My guess is he will be even happier that we are outside... and watching me sweat even more than I did today :-)

Although I probably won't join a group until after Fuzzy is born (I need to use up my gym membership), I am pretty excited about getting hooked up with the group in Arlington in the fall. 

The party week continues, so if you are even the least bit interested, I would highly encourage you to give a class a shot!  Here is the link to Cindy's blog with all the pertinent info!

xoxo,
~The Grant Gang