I’ve been trying to get back on a health kick (trying being the operative word). That doesn’t necessarily mean I have to miss out on great dishes, though!
With my current work schedule, I’m at the office by 7 a.m. One slight issue is that means breakfast around 6:15 and I normally don’t eat lunch until right around noon. I’ve been in search of something filling yet healthy (and not just your standard granola bar) for a mid-morning snack. In part because the recipe looked simple enough, I decided to give apple cinnamon quinoa breakfast bites a shot.
Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver. I don’t know if it didn’t have a good binding agent or if it’s better as mini muffins or if the quinoa somehow “fluffed” up, but I wasn’t a fan. At all. They looked great until I took them out of the tins. Part of it was a consistency issue. It didn’t stay together and I didn’t particularly care for the texture (which is odd given I normally love grains and oats). It also surprisingly lacked flavor. I’m just thankful I didn’t have to go out of my way to get any ingredients and had yogurt and granola as a backup for my morning snack.
My second recipe this week was also chosen because of the relative simplicity of the recipe, though this one (thankfully) turned out a lot better. I already had most of the ingredients on hand from making pizza the other week, and this way I’d get the pizza flavor without too much of the carbs (which leave me feeling more sluggish and sleepy after lunch than I’d care to be).
The slow cooker pepperoni and chicken seemed straight-forward enough and I opted to throw in a few extra “toppings.” After all, a pizza would be complete (at least for me) without mushrooms and pineapple (though I would wait until the end to put the pineapple since, since I think sitting in tomato sauce for three hours made them lose some of their flavor). For the sauce, I used less chicken broth and more of the tomato paste. I’d definitely do the same again, primarily since I prefer a thicker sauce.
While it turned out to be really great, I was slightly confused on how to classify it and what to pair it with as a meal. Is it like a casserole? Or perhaps like chicken parmesan where you generally pair it with pasta or potatoes? It doesn’t quite make the cut for being a stand-alone, but if that’s my only concern about the dish, I’d consider it a success.
Life After School 
I think most of us get in that “healthy kick mood” every now and then. I have also been dealing with this “kick”. With such a busy schedule it can be tough to keep a healthy diet. Sometimes it seems as if it is to “time consuming” to be healthy. And thats usually when people go for the quick fix and quick meal. Usually something unhealthy. Your “mini muffins” look pretty good but sometimes lack of flavor can be a real buzz kill. Your dinner meal looked great. Hope you are able to stay on your healthy kick. 🙂