Eat to Nguyen
Welcome to my blog about a subject I am very passionate about: food.
Growing up in a health conscious family, I constantly heard my parents telling me to shed some pounds. I never listened to them because I didn't think that there was anything wrong with my weight. During my 16 year physical check up, the doctor told me I was becoming overweight. That was the wake up call that I desperately needed. For the first time, I looked in the mirror and saw my body. Seeing my reflection, I vowed to reach a healthy weight, which I accomplished through exercising and changing my diet. Along my weight loss journey, I learned many things about food, which I hope to pass onto my readers and inspire them to lead a healthy life.
How do I come up with my recipes?
Let's get this straight: I have no experience in the kitchen whatsoever. I just cook for fun because I love seeing how food takes on different tastes and textures when combined with different ingredients. Now on to the question. I like to take popular foods such as pancakes and pizza and make the healthiest version possible, using fresh and nutritionally packed ingredients. My goal is to create food that I will not regret eating once the plate is clean. Provided that I have some of my favorites food such as cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and oatmeal always stocked up in my house, you will most likely see at least one of these ingredients in my recipes. I will admit that it does take a while to come up with recipes because I try to eliminate butter, which is found in almost all recipes especially desserts! Foodgawker is definitely the website where the whole thinking process begins.
What does Eat to Nguyen mean?
My friends tease me about being healthy. They always tell me that my lunches are "foreign" to them because they consist of a variety of fruits and vegetables. Since my last name is Nguyen, which sounds like the word win, one of my close friends came up with the title Eat to Nguyen for a future cookbook. Because I cannot cook a decent meal, I just decided to use it for the name of my blog.
My other tumblr: Nick and Nat
Look at how thin the kiwi slice turned out! You can practically see through it.
My family has been using our new dehydrator like crazy! We bought one because we were tired of seeing dried fruits at the grocery store with added sugar and preservatives. Even though it took more than a day for the moisture in the fruits to be removed, the wait was worth it. The dried fruits might not be as filling as regular fruit due to the water loss, but they make the perfect travel snack. I can throw a bag of dried fruits in my purse without worrying if my wallet is going to squish them and make a mess. It has happened before when I packed a bag of grapes. Anyway, my whole family agreed that the bananas and apples dipped in lemon juice and sprinkled with cinnamon were the best ones. I can’t wait to dehydrate other fruits and vegetables! Maybe meat to make a jerky?
Recipe for Quinoa with Nuts and Cranberries
- 1 cup of quinoa
- 1/2 cup of walnuts or sliced blanched almonds
- 1 cube broth stock
- 1 1/2 cups of boiling water
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup of dried cranberries
Directions:
Over medium heat, stir and toast your choice of nuts until golden. Add the quinoa and toast a few more minutes until it begins to darken. Transfer the toasted quinoa and the nuts to a 2 quart saucepan and add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, covered, then reduce the heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Fluff gently with a fork and serve.
This is the recipe from the back of the Earthly Delights Quinoa bag. I just added the possibility of using walnuts instead of almonds. Enjoy!
