Cheesy Quinoa Cakes with Garlic Lemon Aioli

I've been seeing these all over Pinterest these days and I've been avoiding trying them because I imagined that they would be difficult to make. But I was so wrong! It's easy and I loved them. Now I want to experiment with them even more! Different cheeses, different seasonings. I will say, you don't want to make these without the aioli, it really brings out the best flavors all together. Without it, it will seem a little bland. 

Quinoa cakes Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa

1 egg

3 T flour 

2/3 shredded fontina cheese

2 green onions thinly sliced 

2 teaspoons pepper

Dash of garlic salt 

2 T olive oil (for cooking pan only)

Aioli Ingredients: 

1/2 cup mayo

Juice from 1 fresh lemon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon minced garlic 

S&P to taste

Mix all the quinoa cakes ingredients together in a mixing bowl. 

Heat cooking pan with olive oil

Create patties with your hand and place on warm pan. 

Cook about 5 minutes on each side. Should be dark golden brown.

Makes about 12 cakes. 

Mix all aioli ingredients in a blender or food processor. If you don't have either you can whisk by hand. 

Serve a dollop of aioli on each warm quinoa cake. 

Served with balsamic grilled chicken and a side salad. 

Balsamic chicken marinade:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 T Dijon mustard 

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning 

1 teaspoon salt & pepper

NOTE:

Here's a little tip on how to check if your eggs are fresh! 

Peanut butter Chocolate chip Cookies

I don't even need to say anything about these. If you love peanut butter you will die for these! 

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

1/2 sugar

1/2 brown sugar 

1 egg

1 cup flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2+ 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 cup chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350

Cream together peanut butter, butter and sugars. Slowly add egg. 

Mix in dry ingredients and lastly chocolate chips. 

Scoop cookie dough into balls and then press flat on top with a fork. (About 12 per cookie sheet) 

Bake for 12 minutes. 

Should make around 30 cookies. 

Beef Tenderloin

If you're looking for a meal high in protein, requires hardly any fancy ingredients, 300 calories per serving and tastes amazing? You will love this beef tenderloin recipe I made tonight. Its Whole Foods Market recipe, but I added more veggies to my version. 

Ingredients:

Red potatoes

3-4 carrots 

1/4 red onion

4 celery stalks 

1 T minced garlic 

2 T olive oil + extra for drizzling on veggies

2 T fresh rosemary 

1/2 T thyme 

2 lb beef tenderloin ( I used a Cabernet flavored one from Trader Joes) 

1/3 cup chicken broth

S&P 

Preheat oven to 400

Chop up veggies and place in baking dish

Drizzle with olive oil 

Sprinkle with S&P and 1 T rosemary 

On the stove brown beef tenderloin in olive oil, rosemary and S&P (about 10 minutes) 

Place in baking dish with veggies all around it

Pour chicken broth into pan you used to brown beef and mix with drippings. Pour over all the veggies. 

Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, until meat thermometer reads 130-140 degrees

Slice beef to serve. It should be slightly pink. 

And that's it! Great for when you're having friends and family over!

Healthy snack tips

Now I am by no means a health freak. I literally ate a browning in the middle of the night last night. But, like everyone else I want to eat better and be as healthy as I can. Since its the start of a new year and most people make New Years resolutions about their health I decided today to do a little fridge make over. Hopefully these little tips will be the start to new habits and helpful to you too. 

I started with preparing and pre-packaging fruits and veggies. I gave them their very own drawer in the fridge too! This way when we get hungry we can just grab a bag and dip them in hummus, ranch or peanut butter. 

Last night we made a big match of Mean Green juice from the documentary Sick, Fat & Nearly Dead. We added extra apples and lemons to make it tastier and left out the ginger since I hate ginger. But this is a great detox juice! Especially after a weekend of drinking or eating junk food. We are going to try to make it every Sunday night. The batch costs about $16 to make. 

2 large bundles of kale 

2 cucumbers

8 celery sticks 

2 lemons 

10 green apples

Organize your fridge so that all the healthy items are visible and not hiding. Things you don't need that often like open broths, jars of sauce, condiments, cooking items specifically for a recipe you are going to make all can be in the bottom drawers or behind other items. I also put all my left over containers together. That way you know what you have and you aren't being wasteful. 

I love smoothies! They can be almost like a treat after a work out, a delicious lunch meal substitute, a filling breakfast or snack. No matter what, it's a healthy option for when you're hungry. 

The key to a perfect smoothie is to use frozen fruit and not too much liquid base. Always try to keep a bag of frozen berries, peaches and blueberries in your freezer. And buy bananas every week! 

This smoothie recipe is my all time favorite! Ryan likes to add chocolate protein powder to his after he goes to the gym. 

I also really like this recipe as well...

Handful of spinach

Handful of kale

Frozen strawberries

Frozen peaches 

Apple juice or water

It will be a beautiful green color but tastes like delicious fruit! 

Ok..... Now for some advice on what NOT to eat! 

1. White bread & white rice

2. Diet soda (I'm bad about this one) 

3. High fructose corn syrup

4. Anything that says "non fat" or "reduced fat"

5. Anything with sodium nitrite (most bacon and meats with preservatives) 

6. Anything that has been genetically modified. Look for non GMO items. 

7. Microwaveable pop corn. The bags are lined with perfluorooctanoic acid. The same material found in Teflon pots and pans. 

8. Pretty much ANY microwaveable frozen boxed meal. Usually tastes like crap and is HIGH in sodium. 

9. Vegetable oil & margarine. These are most likely genetically modified and you want to stay away from trans-fats. Only use real butter, olive oil or coconut oil which are saturated fats and are much better for you.

10. Sugar. You only need 35 mg of sugar per day. Not including your fruits. So choose wisely. 

If you are really going all out, avoid these items for burning belly fat. 

1. Soda

2. Dessert

3. Potato chips 

4. Fast food

5. Milk 

I am all about moderation, but once you start to eliminate these from your diet it will become easier and easier to not crave it anymore. Cinnamon in the morning will help cut your sweet tooth cravings.

I think it's pretty obvious to not eat anything that is chemically man made, yet it's in so much of what we eat. My best advice is to read the labels before you buy anything. Soon you will be pretty well educated on what's good and what's bad. And your body will be thanking you. I hope this helps anyone out there trying to get healthy. Good luck! I need it too 😉