Choco Chip Quinoa Muffins

My daughter has Terra Nova testing this week at school, standardized testing taxes the brain to it's max. The brain needs glucose to fuel it, good glucose, not candy and soda.   Bananas are of great benefit to the brain as well as blueberry/pomegranate juice.  I wanted to add to a little more to the Brain~concentration arsenal. Maddy had a Health class project a few months ago and had to select a "healthy" alternative to fast/packaged food. We searched the internet looking for something that didn't have peanut butter or coconut (classmates with food allergies). We stumbled upon this recipe from another blogger at http://www.yummyhealthyeasy.com/2013/12/quinoa-muffins.html.  Maddy made them by herself, under my ever watchful eye...LOL and amazingly, she liked what she created. So, I thought I'd share this recipe and how very simple it is to make.  The quinoa cooks up just like rice except that it's 1 cup of dried quinoa to 1 1/4 cup water. I use a microwave rice cooker and it comes out perfect each time.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cooled, cooked quinoa
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips
• ¼ cup canola oil or coconut oil
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, mini chocolate chips and quinoa.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, buttermilk, egg, yogurt, and vanilla. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir just until combined. Divide among muffin cups.
  4. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Onion Anatomy and a quick cutting lesson

Anatomy of an Onion

Onions-peeled and unpeeled

The top of the onion (where the finger is pointing) is the part that sticks out above the ground. The root of the onion is what is below the soil.

Using a sharp knife, make vertical slices into the onion, down to the root.

Now, make horizontal slices, across the vertical ones you just made.

Lay the onion on it's side and slice through your cuts. 

You should have nicely sized onion squares that are perfect for sautéing or salads. 

FYI~ If you only need half an onion and plan on saving the rest of it for another meal...you should always cut your onion from the top to the bottom. All of the flavor is retained in the root end. So, if you start at the bottom, the onion will lose it's flavor faster.