One Pan Mexican Quinoa

Literally the easiest thing I've ever made.  Super filling, super delicious, super vegan (if you're into that) AND awesome for Friday nights during Lent (shout out to my Catholics).  Really, no negatives in this amazing dinner.  And it goes great with margaritas and/or wine.  So there you go.

One Pan Mexican Quinoa

Prep time:  10 minutes

Cook time:  25 minutes

Total time:  35 minutes

Yield:  4 servings (Dan and I pretty much ate it all)

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, minced

1 cup dry quinoa

1 cup vegetable broth (to be honest, I had chicken broth, so that's what I used)

1 (15-oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14.5-oz) can fired roasted diced tomatoes

1 cup corn kernels

1 t chili powder

1/2 t cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 avocado, peeled and diced (optional)

Juice of one lime

2 T chopped, fresh cilantro leaves (also, technically, optional)

Instructions:

There are literally three steps.  First, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and jalapeños and stir until fragrant.  Add the quinoa, broth, beans, tomatoes, corn and spices.  Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer until the quinoa is cooked through (25-35 minutes).  Top with avocado, lime and cilantro.  Oh and chese.  We added cheese.

Done.  I mean literally, how easy and delicious does this sound.  Also makes fantastic leftovers.

(original recipe from http://damndelicious.net/2014/04/09/one-pan-mexican-quinoa/)

No Equipment? No Problem!

One of the many hats I wear is as the Business Manager for the local high school theater.  I love it.  It's easy, the high school is right next door to the middle school I work at, and not only is it my alma mater, but basically the entire directorial staff is comprised of alumni as well.  We have a lot of fun together and the kids put on AMAZING performances.  ALMOST as good as the performances I was in when I was there ;)

This spring, the kids are putting on the stage version of High School Musical.  There are a group of kids who are supposed to be "Jocks" in the show... they're even going to stage a real basketball game! Trouble is... most of them are not actual "jocks" in real life.  Plus, the dancing in this show as a whole is unreal, and the kids need to be able to keep up.

Of course, the director had the brilliant idea to call upon my expertise.  So I whipped up a little something.  And when I say a little something, I mean probably the most difficult workout I have ever come up with.

I love it so much.  It's perfect for them.  As you'll here me say in the little instructional video below, I wanted to create something that would focus on their speed, agility, and strength... all things they would need for their dancing and basketball scenes.  I wanted them to be able to do it without any equipment, in a space the size of their bedrooms, and even if they only had ten minutes.  These kids are BUSY.  I also wanted it to be hard enough so that they had ample opportunity to get better and to see their progress.

I tried one round with them a couple weeks ago.  Needless to say, they wanted to kill me.

So, here it is for you to try it yourself:

Jock's Workout

Warm up (15 seconds each):

Jumping Jacks

Twists

Arm Windmills

Toe Kicks

Exercises:

Do each for one minute.  Repeat up to two more times.

1.  Jump Squat Lunges

2.  Pushups

3.  Soccer Juggle

4.  High-low Planks

5.  Skater Jumps (single/double/triple)

6.  Burpee Tuck Jump

7.  Grapevines

8.  Mountain Climbers

9.  Glute Bridges

10. Ab Twists

I'm so proud of how many times since then they've come to tell me they've been doing the workout.  I can only hope that they'll take what I've taught them and use it to understand the importance of workout out in general.  Let me know how you like it!