Organic Obsession # 7- Quinoa

I'm Back!  Wow, that trip to China threw my whole life for a loop!  Not to mention that blogs are not allowed past the great firewall of China... no blogs, no gmail, no couponing while I was there!  I don't know how I made it through...

Anyways, work has been crazy but I'm back! and I want to finish this Organic Obsession series that I started and I have just the thing to kick it off again...

On my latest trip to Whole Foods, I decided to buy some organic Quinoa.  Whole Foods has a small section for nuts, grains, and seeds where you can buy by the pound and only take as much as you want, this is where I found the Quinoa.  I have eaten Quinoa before but only mixed in with rice and this time I wanted to try it by itself.  Quinoa is one of nature's very rare complete proteins.  What do I mean by a complete protein you may ask?  Quinoa has all 9 essential amino acids that your body needs.  This is great for people that are vegetarian or vegan and are worried about their protein intake.  You don't have to eat animal protein to get protein!  Quinoa is actually much easier for your body to break down and digest.  This means you body will be able to "suck" out more of the nutrition from Quinoa than it would from animal proteins like chicken breast or steak.  You don't get that "rock in my stomach" feeling if you eat a lot of quinoa like you do when you eat a fat steak AND you get just as much (if not, more!) protein from quinoa than you would have from that fat steak!

Quinoa before it's cooked

Although quinoa resembles rice, it is not really a carb but like I said already, it's more of a protein.  Protein helps rebuild your muscles after a long day at the gym lifting weights (tearing your muscles) and it's easier on your digestion system.  It does NOT need to be refrigerated and last a long time.  To check out more health benefits quinoa offers, go HERE.  It's also super duper easy to make!  Try this recipe out for a delicious quinoa side dish.

Deal Scenario:
Whole Foods- Buy it by the weight!  Buy about 1 cup for 3 people to try for dinner and see if you like it.  Amazon also offers great deals every now and then on organic quinoa shipped to your door! (I will post when they come around)

Replacement For:
White Rice and Brown Rice.  White rice may be delicious but it has little to no nutritional value.  Brown Rice is much better than white rice but then quinoa is much better than brown rice!  If you love rice, I would keep brown rice in your diet but skip the white!!  White rice is bleached and is more processed (also cheaper).  This makes it harder for your body to break down and in the end you don't get any nutrition from it.  Brown rice is less processed and has a more "grainy" taste.  You may need some time to get used to it, but I have found that I think it's tastier than white rice.  Quinoa definitely blows the 2 out of this world though.