If there is one thing that a newlywed wife learns quickly, it is to cook from what is already have in the pantry. Two full time college students don’t have a lot of wiggle room when married for splurging. I learned to buy ingredients to have on hand at all times and to cook from what I have laying around in the kitchen.
Recently I have been making a point to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet and cutting out as much red meat as possible, white bread and fast food. I’ve given up drinking Diet Coke ans Sweet Tea (which was hard for a southern girl like me) and only drinking water, juice and milk. On my healthy journey, I discovered Quinoa and renewed my love for lentils.
Even though it is in the low 90s in south Mississippi, I decided to make some lentil and quinoa stew. I didn’t have a recipe for it, but I knew I could throw some things together and make it work.
Let me just say this stew was amazing! I have to share it with ya’ll! So while I was eating, I tried to remember everything I put in it and estimate how much of each ingredient-I didn’t expect it to turn out so great so I didn’t write it down as I was cooking.
After looking through the pantry and digging through the freezer, I found what I needed for this recipe. The key here is to use what you already have. Any kind of vegetables would work great: sweet potatoes, celery, corn; use your creativity.
Lentil Stew:
4 C Chicken Broth (or any broth you have)
1 2/3 C Lentils 1/2 C Frozen Spinach
4 Small carrots (from my garden (: )
1 Small red onioin
1 Can diced tomatoes
2 C cooked Quinoa
3 tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 pinch thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Garlic powder
Cayenne
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Put all ingredients except the quinoa into a pot on low/medium heat. Cook for 40-45 minutes. Add the quinoa and turn the temperature to low. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Serve with crispy bread.
(I know, this is a horrible picture. I didn’t expect to blog about this. I took this picture to send to my mom lol)
First Lady of Pole Creek 