Shelley’s is Giving Away Ellie!

By now most of you know I am on a “Wellness Journey” to a healthy makeover. I started this journey a little over three weeks ago with a nutritionist who I meet once a week and a trainer who I work out with three days a week plus added cardio another 2-3 and I’m happy to report I’ve lost 10 pounds so far.

Last week my nutritionist told me that I need to “step up” my exercise a bit and take an extra walk or find something else I like to do to get my bootie moving a little more. My daughter who was home last week on spring break and I shook our booties to exercise TV which I didn’t even know we had, Disco Abs baby! Lol but I have heard some great things about Zumba so I’m on a mission to find a certified teacher to give it a try. Meh, one thing I’ve learned in my life is “what doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger” I think this is true of exercise too! LOL

I love to cook for family and friends and entertain, so going on this healthy living jaunt I was worried about future entertaining and holidays but have since learned that there are ways to “skinny” down a recipe and make it healthy for everyone.

I’ve tried some new foods which I never had before and the recipe below for quinoa is an example of one of those. Quinoa pronounced keen-wah is a grain much like rice but can be used as a side dish or even as a breakfast in place of oatmeal. Give it a try…

photo credit: The Food Network Ask Ellie

QUINOA WITH GARLIC, PINE NUTS AND RAISINS

Ingredients
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Place the quinoa in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until toasted, about 2 minutes. Add 1 3/4 cups water (or use low-sodium chicken broth) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the liquid is absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, about 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a skillet over medium-high heat, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes; transfer to a plate. Add the olive oil and garlic to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer the garlic to the plate, reserving the oil.

Fluff the quinoa with a fork. Add the pine nuts, garlic, reserved oil, parsley, raisins and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss.

Per serving (3/4 cup): Calories 300; Fat 15 g (Saturated 2 g); Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 5 mg; Carbohydrate 37 g; Fiber 4 g; Protein 8 g

I have been using Ellie Krieger’s “So Easy” cookbook a lot and have loved pretty much everything that I have made. So I thought it would be a fun idea to have a giveaway for this cookbook.

To Enter:

Be a follower of I’m Still Standing via Google Friend Connect (2 entries)

Add my button to your blog (1 entry)

Follow me on twitter (1 entry)

You may enter as often as you like by doing any of the following (be sure to come back here and let me know)

Extra Entries:

Tweet about this giveaway, may be tweeted once a day for 1 entry each tweet. You must leave a link of your tweet in your comment and add @shelleyellen to each tweet

Get a friend to follow I’m Still Standing via Google Friend Connect, your friend must comment telling me you sent them (4 entries)

Blog about this giveaway, linking back I’m Still Standing (5 entries)

Become a fan of Shelley’s Wellness Makeover on Facebook (2 entries)

Contest open to the U.S ONLY. Ends on April 9, 2010 at midnight. You must leave your email address in your entry as I will email the winner and then the winner has 48 hours to reply. If the winner does not reply within’ 48 hours, I will award the cookbook to the “next in line”.

Good Luck!