Fancy Lunch (Psst there's a secret...)

Spicy Chili Lentils & Quinoa
8 Weight Watcher Points Plus (11 pp if you add the avocado)

When I was working I mostly brown bagged my lunch. But, least once a week I would go out for lunch with a co-worker. Now, I do not go out to lunch for a few reasons: 1. Not in the budget, 2. While I love my co-workers (other stay-at-home-mamas) my bosses (the two tots) are not fun to dine with especially so close to nap-time. But, just because I can't go out to lunch doesn't mean I have to eat a turkey sandwich everyday.

So what is the secret I mentioned above? While this lunch looks fancy (my 3 year old has a thing for Fancy Nancy so this word has been interjected into my lexicon) this is super fast & easy. First I started with Quinoa. I cooked a big batch of this on Sunday so I would have it ready to eat during the week. I just followed the recipe on the bag. I used fat-free chicken stock for my liquid but you could use veggie stock if you don't eat meat.

I have recently started eating Quinoa and I really love it. I was a bit scared off at first because it was described as being very healthy which usually means it tastes like - well you know. First, quinoa is easy to cook -- much easier than brown rice which I ALWAYS screw up. Also, I bought a bag at Costco so now I've got to try it in new recipes (it was just so much cheaper there). You may be scratching your head (I was until recently), if you have never heard of quinoa (pronoucned keen-wah) and want to learn more about why it is good for you, etc. click here.

Next, I opened the bag of Madras Lentils pictured above and microwaved it. I normally don't buy pre-packed stuff like this but the sample lady got me at Costco. It tasted really good. It is marketed as something to mix with rice, a taco filler or as a chili style topping (Think chili fries or chili dog.) It is 4 pp for a serving which is half of the package.

Here are the specifics...

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup of cooked Quinoa = 4 pp
  
• 1/2 package of Madras lentils = 4 pp
• 1/4 of an avocado sliced (optional) = 3 pp
• Cilantro (optional) = 0 pp

Directions

• Cook quinoa according to the package
• Microwave lentils
• Combine all ingredients & enjoy