On the 11th day of Fitmas, Coach Wendy gave to me:

• 11 joyful bridges
• 10 love handle liquidators
• 9 triceps dippers
• 8 squats a’ squating
• 7 shoulder presses
• 6 walking lunges
• 5 gold star jumps
• 4 killer pushups
• 30 second wall sit
• 2 awesome push ups
• and a 1 minute holiday plank

I love quinoa!  I usually make it with just water and add it to homemade burrito bowls, serve as a side or add to salads as a great source of plant based protein.  I really haven’t ventured out of making a big pot of it on Sundays and adding it to things through out the week.  I saw an interesting wild rice recipe while scrolling Pinterest a while back and decided I would adapt it a little and use quinoa instead.  The results are AMAZING.

Cranberry Apple Pecan Quinoa:

• equal parts water and apple juice (depending on the direction to make your quinoa)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 Fuji or honeycrisp apple, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Make your quinoa as you normally would using half water and half apple juice adding the salt, pepper, parsley, oregano and thyme.   In a warm sauce pan add oil, apples and garlic,  Sauté until apples are soft, about 5-7 minutes.  Add cooked quinoa, vinegar, cranberries and pecans.  Stir all the ingredients together, serve and enjoy!

* Side note- I have recently been introduced to a pressure cooker and picked one up on Black Friday and LOVE it.  You can make this quinoa in 10 minutes!!!  Here is the one I got: InstaPot Programmable Pressure Cooker

Have an amazing day!