Skip to main content

Running & Back to Cooking - Vegan "Sausage" Peppers and Herbed Quinoa

Running
Unfortunately I didn't have the day off like many people. If you did have the day off, no bragging please! I had originally though that I was going to just hit the gym for a bit of elliptical time and weights. I ended up opting for tomorrow's run instead because I have jury duty tomorrow and don't know what the day will hold for me.

I am trying to get back on track with my half marathon training plan this week since I pretty much tossed it out the window last week. The run called for 3 miles, 2 x(2:00, 3:00, 4:00) athletic intervals, 2 miles.

It was super windy again and drizzly out. When I left work, it looked like it was going to start raining again, so I took the run to the treadmill. Of course, the sun ended up coming out...but it was still windy. Anyway, after the intervals, I was already at 6.7 miles. There was just no way I could pull out another 2 miles, but I did round it out to a solid 8 miles.

I got home and pulled out my yoga mat (per the norm) and stretched and used my TriggerPoint Therapy Kit for about 30 minutes before getting myself cleaned up.

Back in the Kitchen 
Jason had to go home for an extended lunch to watch over the Comcast repair man, so that meant he needed to stay and work a little bit later. I almost went with veggie burgers and sweet potato "fries" because I could start the fries while I showered.

But I decided I had been pretty lazy in the kitchen lately, so I went with a dish similar to my "Sausage" and Veggie Pasta dish, which is actually based off a Giada De Laurentiis recipe for sausage and peppers sandwiches. I made "Sausage" and Peppers with Herbed Quinoa.


"Sausage" and Peppers with Herbed Quinoa
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups red quinoa
1 1/2 cups no-sodium vegetable broth or water
To taste: basil, oregano, parsley
3 Tofurky Kielbasa, cut diced into rounds
1/2 large white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2-3 tbsp minced garlic (to taste, I like a lot)


1/4 cup white wine (may need more or use vegetable broth)
1-2 tbsp tomato paste
To taste: salt, pepper, red chili flakes, oregano, basil, parsley

Directions:
In medium sauce pan, bring broth, quinoa, and herbs to a boil then lower to a simmer, cover, and cook approximately 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed.

In large skillet, brown the "sausage" then set them aside.

Saute onions, peppers, and garlic in small amount of olive oil until soft. Add in wine or broth and tomato paste an allow to thicken about 5 minutes (adding more liquid if needed). Stir in the "sausages" and allow to reheat.
 
 

This really doesn't take terribly long to make and is also good served over pasta or as a sandwich. It was nice to make a dish that felt healthy, hearty, and homemade (but still fast). As tiring as it can be always cooking dinners, it's well worth it in the end. It's nice to take a break, but I do miss being in the kitchen.

I think perhaps it's time for a new cookbook (or two) just to spark the creative juices again though. I have a rather extensive Amazon "wish list" that I need to hit up. So do you like cooking or would you prefer to eat out? Any fave cookbooks?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

Hump Day and More Pineapples

Full-Body Workout  I'll readily admit that getting up this morning was quite painful and almost didn't happen. I forced myself out of bed though not exactly excited about tackling a full-body Pyramid workout. Sort of daunting at 5 am really. I did the warm up from Shock Cardio Cardio Core Circuit (cardio only premix) then hit the weights. It was a pyramid up only so I increased my starting weight. I topped it all off with the first 2 1/2 drills from the cardio workout. I ran short on time and was basically spent. Squats into Plie Squats Step Ups (seriously hate these especially at 5:30 am) Incline Chest Flyes into Chest Press Pullovers into DB Underhand Rows Step Ups (freaking again) Static Lunges Overhead DB Press into Lateral Raises Deadlifts Kickbacks into Overhead Extensions Hammer Curls into Alternating Curls Calf Raises I am so excited to report that my new cross-trainers and running shoes arrived today. Can't wait to test both of them out. I waited way way way too

Hitting the Gym and Lazy Means Creative Tex-Mex Creation

Sunday, Gym Day Why do vacations and min-vacations go by so quickly? Just doesn't seem quite right. Anyway, we left Branson around 9:30 am to head back home. It was a pretty uneventful drive back, which is usually a good thing. We got home and unpacked, then I headed up to the gym. I started with a 10-minute treadmill run to warm up before hitting the weights for back and light legs then abs. I went with a giant set for back then supersets for legs. GS - 4x8 Underhand barbell rows Pullovers Double-arm rows SS#1 Rear-leg elevated lunges (Bulgarian Split Squats) - 3x8 Calf raises - 3x20 SS#2 - 2x8 Walking lunges Plie squats with low-end pulse Single-leg deadlifts - 2x8 I did some ab exercises, stretched, and called it quits. Lazy = Crazy Dinner I may have made it to the gym and washed a few loads of laundry, but I never made it to the grocery store - lounging in the pool trumped grocery shopping. This meant getting creative with dinner. We had another package