Banana Puffed Quinoa "Truffle"

Craving something sweet but knowing that we shouldn't just eat a whole bunch of chocolate, I decided to use some puffed quinoa that I had made earler (that recipe may come later) and bananas. This little "truffle" is just sweet enough with a little bit of bitterness.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup dates pitted
• 1 cup puffed quinoa
• 1 banana
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spices
• 12 chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions

Add all ingrediets (except chocolate and cocoa powder) to a food processor and pulse until all ingredients have been combined. For the mixture into balls one tablespoon at a time. Take the chocolate chips and push into the center of the balls. Put the cocoa powder in a smal bowl or wide bottomed mug.One ball at a time, put the balls into the cocoa mixture and swirtl until fully covered. Refrigerate in anairtight container or enjoy immediately.

Cran-Apple Quinoa Salad

Cran-Apple Quinoa Salad

What do you do when you need to make lunch for the following day but there isn't really anything in the house that is easy to make? You just throw a whole bunch of things together and hope that what comes out at the end is edible... And maybe even a little tasty. Tonight we decided to make quinoa, with a few additions.

1 tsp olive oil
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 tbs nutritional yeast flakes
2 tbs maple syrup
1 cup fresh halved cranberries
1 diced apple
2 tbs apple jalapeño jelly
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raw shelled unsalted pumpkin seeds

Add olive oil to pot and warm on medium heat. Add quinoa and toast for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add water and bring to a boil.
Reduce to medium heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes (until all water has been absorbed).
Add maple syrup and cranberries to a pan on medium heat. Stir often and let the cranberries soften and breakdown.
Add apples to pan and continue to cook for about 4 minutes.
Stir in apple jalapeño jelly (hot pepper jelly or cranberry pepper jelly would be equally as good)
Add walnuts and pumpkin seeds.
Combine quinoa and cran-apple mixture.
Transfer to a bowl and let cool in the fridge before serving.

Prep time: About 10 minutes
Cook time: About 15-20 minutes
Serves: About 3-4 servings