[quinoa muffin teaser]
It is my favorite time of the month.
The time when all of a sudden all the magazine corporate behemoths ship out their new issues (a month in advance of the actual date on the cover of course).
Definitely just had to look up the word behemoth. and I still used it correctly *score*
I absolutely love getting mail in my mailbox, especially since this is the first time I've actually had my very own mailbox, and magazines are the best things I ever get in this sad world of internet/virtual/satellite communication. When I get a new shiny magazine every single day for 3 days in a row, well that is just overly exciting folks. I am seriously a magazine junkie. It may have started when my hairdresser gave my sister and me her old bridal magazines when I was in second grade. One of the best periods of my childhood was when my mom subscribed to Traditional Home (which I thought had the most gorgeous dream houses ever). Eventually I had to settle for Newsweek, Forbes, Road and Track, etc. (can I blame my mail-loving parents for instilling in me this addiction?) I even read the AARP and annual cheesy college magazines when I was (/am) home.
And oh my goodness back in the day when we would come home from an extended family vacation (before my family started going on vacations without me...sadness of being the oldest "adult" child) and pick up our huge crate of mail from the post office, I would pretty much be entertained for hours with the backlog. Catalogs are almost as good as magazines too, in my opinion. My sister and I hoarded (yes. hoarded.) Wooden Soldier and Storybook Heirlooms catalogs (read: insanely ridiculous expensive children's clothing of the 90's) to fuel and inspire our paper doll making extravaganzas. Magazines pretty much define the stages of my life. High school was Cosmo Girl and Seventeen (ugh), college was Glamour, and now I have a weird mix of semi trashy healthy living mags and "how to be a perfect homemaker" mags. Leaning towards anything that will give me recipes though.
Anyways, I have pared down my subscriptions to
-Women's Health
-Elle Decor
-Better Homes and Gardens
-Women's Day (they think I have kids. but have good easy recipes)
I just dropped Runner's World and Health, because I am still a poor grad student after all.
But then the most aggressive marketing campaign I have ever seen came into my mailbox in the form of a Martha Stewart Living ad book (not just flyer) and I was so sucked in. Give me my free tote bag and my shiny collectible life-enhancing periodicals and I will give you my credit card number and soul, Martha. Show me the secrets.
I am not giving up my BHG though, even though they are apparently inferior to your magical powers.
- If you have never tried quinoa before (pronounced keen-wah) then you definitely should. It is probably in the health food or grain section of the grocery store, but cheapest in bulk at the natural foods store. It is one of those "ancient superfood" grains and has lots of protein and other mysterious goodness. You cook it like rice; one part quinoa to 2 parts liquid, simmer until the liquid is absorbed (about 10-15 mins). I always make TONS of extra quinoa so I can make these delicious muffins!
(recipe adapted from somewhere online...I can't remember where)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup milk
- 1 T ground flax
- 2 T oil
- 2 T applesauce
- .25 cups brown sugar
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1.5 cups white whole wheat flour (or whatever flour/mix of flours you have)
- 1.5 t. baking powder
- .5 t. baking soda
- .5 t. salt
- 1 t. cinnamon
- .5 t. cloves
- 1.25 cups cooked quinoa
- Muffin add-ins: any chopped nuts, dried fruit, etc. you have
- Heat oven to 350 and grease/non-stick spray a 12-cup muffin tin
- In a medium bowl, stir flax into milk, then whisk in oil, sugar, and vanilla
- In a larger bowl, combine flour, soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
- Add the wet ingredients and stir until JUST COMBINED
- Add the quinoa and add-ins.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes
They are best warm or toasted in the toaster oven with almond butter or honey. Yum!