Last-Ditch Effort

Not gonna lie, some days I’m all about being super creative in the kitchen. Most days, I just want something quick and easy. And if it was a day like yesterday, not only did I want something quick and easy, but due to the fact that we don’t grocery shop until we have used everything we have so as not to waste anything, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came to putting something together! I came home, opened the fridge, and this is what stared back at me:

*half a red pepper
*one tomato
*about 1/8 of an onion
*2 stalks of celery
*about 1 cup of rice milk
*Homemade vinaigrette
*Mustard
*Wine

Now, my first thought was “well, there’s some wine…I could just have a liquid dinner and call it a night.” However, I knew I needed something to sustain me, so I went to the pantry to see what kind of grain I could use to supplement the meager vegetable offerings in the fridge, and this is what I came up with, which was not only completely satisfying but delicious and nutritious to boot. There’s not really a recipe, but feel free to follow what I did. I also knew I’d feel lazy this morning when it came to lunch (damn PMS!) so I made a lot so I could bring it:

Quinoa Pilaf-Stuffed Pitas

I took 1.5 cups of rinsed quinoa and put it in 4 cups of boiling vegetable stock. Added some onion seasoning, dill weed, cayenne pepper, basil, and garlic powder. I started dicing up veggies and threw in some diced celery while it was cooking over medium heat in a nice simmer. Then I added some diced red pepper and while I was at it, I threw in about a cup of chopped broccoli that was hiding in the freezer for a little color. I let this mixture simmer down for about 30-35 minutes until most of the water was soaked up, then removed from the heat. While it soaked up the remaining liquid, I put a tiny bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a small skillet and put a whole wheat pita in, flipping until hot and just slightly crisp. Fluffed the quinoa, scooped some onto my toasty pita, topped it with tomato slices and drizzled with a little more balsamic vinegar and presto!! A super filling, super nutritious, super easy meal!! Now it’s time to get some dang groceries up in this joint!!!


Poor quality...I was hungry and too lazy to grab the camera, so this was taken with my phone...yeah, it was one of those lazy nights!!!