Strawberry Quinoa Breakfast Bars

Happy Friday!

 

Wow, the weekend is here! Zach, kitty, and I are looking forward to family time this weekend. Zach has three siblings, two brothers and a sister. They will all be coming along with my sister-in-law and almost sister-in-law. So we will have a full house:) We usually like to get together every couple of months and it usually isn’t a problem for all parties to drive an hour or so to the meeting place. Our family is all driving further this time, out to Pittsburgh, so this weekend feels extra special.

 

I have already planned the menu for the weekend and just finished up the grocery shopping last week. I am amazed every time that I go to Aldi how much I can get with the money that I spend. It occurred to me to take a picture of all the food that I purchased last night but then I got side-tracked and started making dinner. I will be sure to do this in the future. I have a not-so-secret goal to try to get everyone to convert from pricey stores like Whole Foods and even the local grocery store in our area, Giant Eagle, to Aldi and Trader Joes. Personally, I live five minutes away from an Aldi, so I get everything from there. I am not a big red meat eater so their selection of meat (and now fresh fish) is good enough for me. I also get my paper towels, toilet paper, and tissues there. I think that between Aldi and Costco, we end up saving hundreds of dollars each year on groceries. Zach and I have a goal of spending around $60 per week on groceries (not including eating out), I try to stick to this as much as possible and I am usually right on track.

Here’s my menu for this weekend, with links to the recipes that I will be using. All found on Pinterest!

• Friday night dinner: Goat cheese & Guac Burgers with Cheddar Cheese and Caramelized Onions (I will be using ground turkey instead of beef, per usual) with baked sweet potato fries. http://www.howsweeteats.com/2015/05/goat-cheese-guac-burgers-with-cheddar-and-caramelized-onions/
• Saturday morning breakfast: Baked oatmeal, haven’t picked out this specific recipe yet but it will probably be from one of our many Mennonite cookbooks:)
• Saturday lunch: Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage and Spinach with Crostini. This is Zach’s specialty and something that he makes often for us, absolutely delish! http://www.yellowblissroad.com/tortellini-soup-with-italian-sausage-spinach/
• Saturday dinner: Eating out at La Palapa, a great Mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh.
• Sunday morning brunch: Lots of items. Make Ahead Breakfast Casserole. http://freshaprilflours.com/2016/07/06/make-ahead-breakfast-casserole/ Fruit salad with pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries. Cinnamon swirl French Toast with homemade whipped cream. Maybe mimosas, maybe:)
• Sunday lunch: Tuna salad sandwiches with cut up veggies and fruit. My tuna salad recipe varies every time and I end up adding a little bit of this and that until I get a flavor I like.
• Sunday dinner: Spaghetti dinner with Autumn Kale Apple and Quinoa Salad. http://www.cookingclassy.com/autumn-kale-apple-quinoa-salad/

How about a recipe review for you this Friday? Yesterday I was trying to figure out what to make with some extra cooked quinoa I had in my fridge (I do not like to ever throw out food). I found this recipe with a quick online search and had great success with it last night!

 

Strawberry Quinoa Breakfast Bars – compliments of My Fussy Eater

Time to prepare: 5-7 minutes. Time to cook: 25 minutes. Total: 30-ish minutes.

Servings: 9, I made 12 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1/4 cup raisins (I used chocolate chips because I was out of raisins)
• 1 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Spray a small pan with cooking oil. I used a small cake pan, you can use a 9×9 inch, just not a full-size cake pan, unless you double the recipe, which you may want to do because these are so delicious!
2. Mash the bananas and add the eggs and vanilla to the bowl. Mix.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until mixed.
4. Pour into prepared dish and bake for 20-25 minutes. I think that I took them out of the oven too early because they are pretty moist. Next time around I will bake for the full 25 minutes so as to have a drier bar.
5. Cut into bars and enjoy for breakfast or a snack.

Nutrition Information:

144 calories per bar – 2.8 grams fat – 25 carbohydrates – 5.2 grams of protein

Look at all those fresh and fun ingredients!

The finished product – success!

 

Have a great weekend everyone! Come visit me on Monday for another new post!

~Meghan