Quinoa – Full of Nutrition and a Staple in our Home!

You have probably heard of quinoa.  But, do you know how to pronounce it?  Well, for quite a while I didn’t.  As a teacher of phonics, now on child number three, I KNOW phonics!  I can say I have been through phonics FOUR times, if you count my elementary years.  However, quinoa does not follow the rules.  Keen-wa is how it is pronounced.  ‘Wa’ as the WA in water sounds.

Quinoa is a complete protein as it contains all nine of the essential amino acids.  Historically speaking, it is a fun thing to get your kids to eat, because you can give a little lesson, as it come from the Andes region in South America and was eaten by the Incas years and years ago.  It also is not a grain, but a pseudo-cereal (a seed which is eaten like a grain).

I love that it cooks in 15 minutes.  We use it in place of rice in stir fries and with Mexican dishes.  It tastes great with salsa on top!  I add it to soups in place of pasta.  And, it is also gluten free.

Another way we get this amazing food into our diets is as a cold ‘salad.’  My mother-in-law came up with this amazingly simple Quinoa Salad recipe.  We often eat this with lunch.  With a little extra salt (like Real Salt or Himalayan salt) sprinkled on before eating, it replaces what I like most about chips – the salt!

To get Ruth Ann’s amazing Quinoa Salad recipe, click here!

And guess what?  Costco sells it!!