Lora's Blog

I hadn’t eaten grapes for several months because they seemed to cause a stuffy nose. It wasn’t all that surprising because I’m allergic to melon, which makes me sad. I absolutely love cantaloupe but I don’t love rashes, so, there you go. Maybe I will try to find organic cantaloupe and give it another try. Anyhow, I ate these grapes several hours ago, and so far so good. It just goes to show, if you throw enough money at a problem… Okay, that’s not always true, but in this instance it seems to be working out. Oh yeah. I have another name for grapes – Impatient Wine.

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic or 1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp parsley
2 tsp chipotle chili powder
3 cans of black beans, cooked in a slow cooker beforehand
1 cup of quinoa
6-8 tomatoes diced or processed in a food processor, or a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
4 cups of vegetable broth
1/4 cup of lime juice
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot and cook the onions until they are softened. Add the spices, adjusting to your personal taste. The original recipe calls for 3 tbsp of chili powder, which I omitted because I couldn’t find any without silicon dioxide added.

I then add the broth, tomatoes, quinoa, and beans to the mixture. The original recipe calls for mashing at least 1 can of beans with a potato masher. Instead, I cooked all the beans in a crock pot the night before to make them easier to digest.

Bring everything to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer for at least 30 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and add salt and pepper.

I serve this over a baked potato, and I never miss the crackers. I add a dollop of Greek yogurt if I’ve gotten carried away with the chipotle chili powder to cut the heat, but sour cream works too.

This recipe was adapted from a recipe found in “500 best quinoa recipes”.

Kind of wanted to send a back handed thank you to NBC for kicking Ann to the curb. I have not watched The Today Show since then, nor will I ever again. I have been there rooting for Robin every step of the way and would have had no idea if I were still watching another network. What wonderful caring and decent people they have over at ABC! Not that everyone else on other networks are awful, because they aren’t. Still I’m grateful to now be a GMA girl and so happy that Robin is back where she belongs.

Yes, it is always best to eat fresh fruit “in season”. However, I am so very very thankful that I live in a time and at a place where I can get fruit even if there is snow on the ground.

I threw this together last night mainly because I wanted to use up what was in the frig to make room for our weekly grocery shopping trip. I kind of got carried away with the paprika but bland is no fun! I made this using extra-virgin olive oil, shredded cabbage, red onions, mushrooms, and summer squash. I stirred in some rosemary and garlic powder and topped it off with black olives, grape tomatoes, salt, pepper, and an abundance of paprika.

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