Thursday, September 2, 2010

Quinoa

Pidge and Judy asked yesterday what Quinoa is. Here is an excerpt of what I found on the net:

”Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) is an ancient food that is not yet well known in North America. It has been cultivated in South American Andes since at least 3,000 B.C. and has been a staple food of millions of native inhabitants. The ancient Incas called quinoa the "mother grain" and revered it as sacred. Each year at planting time it was traditional for the Inca leader to plant the first quinoa seed using a solid gold shovel! Quinoa was used to sustain Incan armies, which frequently marched for many days eating a mixture of quinoa and fat, known as "war balls." Beginning with the Spanish conquest in the 1500s, there was a 400-year decline in the production of quinoa. It became a minor crop at that time and was grown only by peasants in remote areas for local consumption.”…
You can read the rest here.

We really liked it and I added some of the leftover to my soup last night and to todays ground beef mishmash. We had the rest of that tonight.

This afternoon we took a trip to Costco. I “needed” some of their great prunes. Since I discovered those we have used many packages. Cliff and I have 5 prunes each afternoon when we watch the News.
On the way back we turned on to Stebbins road off West Shawnigan Road. We followed that up, up and more up. Very few houses but quite a few  lots sold and still lots available. Most of them were around 5 acres. We saw a price tag on some of them $ 369 000.00 Canadian. The views were breath taking. I cannot imagine living there though. OK in the Summer but to drive up there in snow and ice must be hair raising  even worse trying to drive down. If I lived there I would never get off the mountain in the winter!! Not for me I’m afraid but it sure was nice today. I took some pictures but they did not turn out too good.
DSC02595

The day looked so clear but there must have been a haze.
Now I have to package some of the meat I bought.
Good night everybody ☺

3 comments:

  1. Good morning! I'm visiting from Rick's blog, my first time here. What caught my eye was "Quinoa". Seems like not a lot of folks know what it is or how to use it.

    I have several great quinoa recipes, for both the red version and the usual white type. Four of them (all salads) are included in the recipes listed on my blog, and I can tell you that the two most popular are Greek Style Quinoa Salad (white, recipe from a Canadian!)and Quinoa and Black Bean Salad with Smoky Lime Dressing (red, my personal favorite).

    The other day, Odel had to pull me away from the Quinoa display in Costco, as I extolled it virtues to a couple contemplating a first time purchase. I'm glad to see it getting more exposure: quick cooking, versatile, delicious.

    Happy cooking,
    Laurie

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  2. But is it cheap to buy??? How much a pound is it or a kilogram, or a bunch or however you buy it???? Whoops, I am talking about quinoa of course.,.,.,, would it take the place of potatoes or carrots or cabbage or beets and their tops, for nutrition, I wonder

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  3. Thanks Vera, for the very interesting explnation. Now I must try some. I liked your picture today.

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