Sausage and Peas Quinoa

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Sausage and Peas Quinoa1So the latest rage on the Internet world of food has been quinoa. KEEN-wah. Say it slowly, it’s ok, KEEN-wah. I seriously must be from the south. I could not even pronounce it. I had to Google the phonetic. Quinoa is a type of grain from South America. I kept seeing recipes using this and I was immediately intrigued.

Sausage and Peas Quinoa2 When I was shopping in my local discount warehouse I found a huge bag of it for a really cheap price. So I said to myself, “we’ll I guess it is now or never.” I am so glad I did. I absolutely love quinoa. I think I am the only one in the house who really likes it. The first time I made it, I added lima beans and lemon. That really didn’t go over well, bit I liked it! On Tuesdays I lunch alone because my husband goes to staff lunch and my kids are in school. So I took the opportunity to make a quinoa for myself. I am so glad I did. This time I decided to do it right. I added some sausage, onions, peas and a little wine. YUM,YUM YUM!

Sausage and Peas Quinoa3

So come out of the little square food box with me and open your taste buds to a whole new world of deliciousness. And it’s healthy for you too but whatever.

SAUSAGE AND PEAS QUINOA

recipe adapted from here

YIELDS: 2 servings

PREP TIME: 5 minutes

COOK TIME: 25 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 small onion chopped in large pieces

2 sausage links

1 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 vegetable bouillon cube

1 cup frozen peas

shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In large pot sautée onions in olive oil.

2. Take sausage out of casing then add to the onions and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Mix in quinoa and cook for 1 minute. Stir in water, wine and cube.

4. Add frozen peas, stir and cover for 18 minutes.

5. Sprinkle with cheese and ENJOY!

Sausage and Peas Quinoa5

Sausage and Vegetable Soup and Charleston

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Sausage and Vegetable Soup

This last weekend was a long weekend because of the holiday and the kids being out of school. So we packed up for an overnight and headed out of town to Charleston, SC. I was quite excited because I had not been there before and the weather looked like it was going to be gorgeous for us. Friday we had a little bit of snow and Monday the temperature was in the 70s. So a big difference in just a matter of days. This soup was something I made due to the pending weather we were about to have. Sausage and Vegetable Soup

This sausage and vegetable soup is a bit like packing for me. Some how when I travel I manage to get the rest of the house packed a day or two before our trips. For me I seem to throw things in at the last minute. And I normally end up missing a few items, or a lot of items. One time I went to Italy for about 3 weeks and had 2 shirts and very few underpants. Luckly, there was a washing machine. This trip I managed to do pretty well for myself, not so much for my 4 year old, but we made due.

It is crazy because for the older kids I try to keep them very organized. I make them both write out a list, then they have to check items off as they pack. I think I spend so much time giving detail to others that I lax in giving detail to myself.

  IMG_8504_newPic#1 Rainbow Row

IMG_8530_newPic#2 Sullivan’s Island

IMG_8457_newPic#3 The Battery

Well this soup was one of those types of soups where I just kind of threw things together to see what I could produce. It was perfect for a cold winter night, while we waited for snow. I did see snow but only because I was looking at the street lamp and nothing seemed to hit the ground.

Sausage and Vegetable Soup

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SAUSAGE VEGETABLE SOUP

YIELDS: 6 servings

PREP TIME: 15 minutes

COOK TIME: 1 hour

TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 sausage links

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 small onion, chopped

7 cups water

1/2 vegetable bouillon cube

salt and pepper for taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Using a large pot, saute onion in olive oil till translucent.

2. Add sausage and brown, breaking it into pieces as you go.

3. Add water, cube and vegetables.

4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer for 1 hour.

5.  Add salt and pepper for taste. Cool for 5 minutes, serve and ENJOY!

Sausage and Vegetable Soup

I linked this post over at Buns In My Oven.

It’s not your canned Ragú

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Ragu

Pasta con ragú. What is that you might ask? Well let me share. In English that is Pasta with ragú . For Italians ragú sauce is a meat based sauce. Typically served over pasta. Or gnocchi. Or slathered onto a piece of bread works well too.

Now the most common ragú sauce I have heard here in America is bolognese. That is just a regional name for that particular sauce. It comes from Bologna, Italy. My husband is from a town just north of there about 100 miles away.

My mother-in-law makes a very good ragú sauce that I want to share with you.  It won’t be the same but it will come close.

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The first picture is of my sauce. This second picture is of the plate my mother-in-law served me. She always serves the plate with a spoonful of sauce right on the top as you see I did in picture one. Picture two I had already stirred the pasta up when I took the picture. There is nothing like a ragú sauce in Italy. The texture is different. The meats are different. It is so much more flavorful. Even down to the taste of the noodle and the cheese shredded on top. It makes your taste buds burst and jump for joy. This recipe link is also posted on tasteandtellblog.com if you want to have a look!

Ragu

RAGÚ

YIELDS: 8

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOK TIME: 1 hour and 20 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound of meatloaf mixture (beef,veal, and pork) or any kind of ground meat you prefer. Turkey works great too.

2 small carrots, peeled and chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

2 sprigs of rosemary

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash of ground black pepper

8 ounces Hunt’s 100% Natural Tomato Sauce

Directions:

1. In cast iron dutch oven (or any large pot) add raw meat, carrots, celery, onion, salt and pepper. Place rosemary on top of mixture to the side.

2. Mix well together, then turn on heat to medium.

3. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

4. Uncover and stir. Careful not to mix the rosemary.

5. Cover again reduce heat to low and cook for 1 hour.

6. Uncover remove rosemary, stir and add tomato sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.

7. Cook any type of pasta according to directions on package.

8. When done add Ragú, mix and ENJOY!

Ragu