{'fried' quinoa}

So...this meal was really simple. But since I told you I'd blog about it, here I go. :) We had some fried rice flavor packets that we bought on sale a couple weeks ago {we're talking, quite a few}. I don't know the 'health' factor of these packets {any preservatives? etc.}...but I decided to use it anyways. {please note: I actually  made this meal in February, before I 'officially' started this experiment...so when/if I make the fried quinoa again, I'll attempt to make my own sort of fried rice flavoring...with the help of google, of course. :)} Anywho, I prepared the quinoa as per the instructions {just like rice - 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water....bring to a boil and then let simmer for 15 minutes. piece of cake.} A little tip that I learned by researching quinoa recipes and reading through the comments on recipes {yeah. i'm one of those people...I love reading the comment section}...is to also add chicken {or beef if you prefer, I suppose} stock to the quinoa to take away some of that 'bitter' flavor. I say 'bitter'...because to me, it doesn't taste bitter. but some people think it does...and they say this helps mute that. So I usually add 1 cup chicken stock to it. {does using chicken stock count as eating meat?!?! Hmm. I should look into that... :)} Once the quinoa was ready, I added in some peas and carrots, as well as fried up an egg and added that in...and voila, I had my 'fried' quinoa! 

For someone that doesn't cook and has little experience in the kitchen arena {seriously, hate cooking}, this recipe was so simple and yet so delicious! I did take a picture...but it didn't look too pretty...so I decided not to post it. :) Since I made this in February before I started the no-meat thing, I actually cooked up some chicken and ate that with it as well. Don't worry, I won't be doing that during March...but haven't had this meal since then! It is definitely on my to-have-again list, though. If you have any ideas on how I could tweak this, I'm all ears! :)