Beef and Vegetable Stew

Soups and stews are easy to make and can be very tasty.

For this one I used home-made stock made from veggie scraps:

6-8 cups vegetable stock
1 onion, cut
3 carrots, cut in thin circles
1/2 lb ground beef
1 can black beans, drained
2 little yellow squash, cut in quarter circles
1/2 cup quinoa, washed
1 cup macaroni
salt, pepper, cumin, parsley

Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry half of the cut onion for a couple of minutes. Add spices and the cut carrots. Fry for another 5 minutes, then add the ground beef and fry until beef is done.
In a pot, bring the stock to a boil, add salt and spices, then reduce to a simmer. Add beans,  squash, quinoa and macaroni. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the beef-carrot mix.

I first wasn't quite happy with the result because I had forgotten to salt the stock before putting the macaroni in so that they were kind of tasteless although the broth and vegetables had a good amount of spices in and on them. But on the second day the macaronis had sucked up the flavor and it was much better.
I also liked the colors of the dish :)

Quinoa Quiche

After making the eggnog I had a lot of egg whites left over. In the past I have made omelets with left over egg whites by just adding one or two whole eggs (and it was surprising to find that it was not possible to taste the difference!).

This time I found a recipe that sounded a little more exiting. Quinoa Egg White Quiches! These crustless mini quiches looked appetizing and easy to make. (of course I couldn't resist making them with the new found potato crust!)

Using ingredients I found in my fridge and around the kitchen I made three fillings:
- Tomatoes and basil
- Frozen vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and carrots) with cream cheese
- Meat balls with tomatoes

All in all the result was a little less flavorful than I would have liked it and the mini quiches were hard to get out of the pan in one piece. Best tasting (though I didn't try the meat ball version) were the vegetables with cream cheese.

I'm thinking of maybe doing them again and trying more flavorful options (mushroom, red onion) or just add more spices (more basil, more cheese, always more cheese :D )