sibling cooking night: week 1

I think anyone with a full time job- or with parents who work full time- knows how hard it is to a) eat healthy foods and b) eat often enough. My dad works until 7 or 8 pm most nights and for the past four or five years, Friday nights have been 'take-out night' at our house. 

With my brother studying nutraceutical sciences (--> nutrition meets pharmaceutical) and I being into all things health and fitness related, Friday nights have always been a challenge for us. Most take-out is not healthy at all and as much as I love sushi, you can only eat it so often before feeling the permanent bloating from sodium and white rice. 

We decided then, since I don't have work Fridays and since my brother doesn't work, period, we would make Friday nights 'sibling cooking night'. 

Despite my father's protesting that "Friday night is my excuse to eat unhealthy food", I'd say we made a pretty impressive meal!

'Sibling cooking night' week one:

The quinoa black bean burgers (click the link for the recipe) were especially good! I've never been a fan of garlic or onions, but I couldn't even taste them. The recipe called for yellow bell peppers but we didn't have any, and we added chili pepper and Italian seasoning for more spice. They didn't turn out too spicy, but it really added more flavor. We also used 1/2 cup of quinoa instead of 1/4 cup, which seemed to make the perfect amount.

The ricotta stuffed squash didn't turn out quite as well as we'd hoped, but it was still delicious! (Maybe because I have a borderline unhealthy obsession with anything cheese-related.) The recipe calls for yellow squash which we couldn't find, so we got summer squash and I don't think we cooked it long enough. I also measured 10 oz. of spinach based on the size of a 1 oz. shot glass (skills learned in university). I'll give ya this advice for free: 1 oz. of vodka is not the same as 1 oz. of spinach.

Lastly, the Kale chips are my brother's specialty:

Ingredients

canola oil

iodized salt (or garlic salt)

pepper 

chili powder 

Directions

Lightly drizzle canola oil over the kale. Add Salt (or garlic salt if you prefer the flavor), pepper and chili powder (all of these can be adjusted to whatever amount you want). Bake in the oven at 400F for 5-10 mins until they're crispy.

And there is your healthy cooking lesson of the week. Seriously: go make those burgers. 

Enjoy :)