Hoarders

Behold, the bounty of my quinoa stash!

Upon reading my alarming post about skyrocketing quinoa prices and looming shortages of this Bolivian food of the gods, the wife went out yesterday and topped off our supply of quinoa just in case the shit hits the fan!  Check it out folks, that's four pounds of high quality, organic, quinoa from the Bolivian highlands, a virtual lifetime supply.  Last night we decided to dip into our stock of the red quinoa to give it a try and it was darn good.

Here's the wife mixing up a batch of red quinoa for the family to feast on.  Deeeeelish!

There it is, the finished product.  Rotisserie chicken, peas and corn, yam and parsnips, and a healthy dose of red quinoa to nourish the temple that is my body!  Yes folks, the quinoa stock is strong at my compound but before any of you get all crazy thinking you're going to raid my stash, just know that I've got a semi-accurate bb gun and the will to use it!  Stay the f*ck back!

The Quinoa Wars of Bolivia: Hard Hitting Journalism at its Best

I figure I've posted enough photos of Quinoa so here's Miss Bolivia!

This morning I was given insider information (by an article in Yahoo news) on a looming battle for control of Quinoa on the Bolivian highlands.  According to Time magazine:

"Over the past decade, the "Andean superfood" has become a pinnacle product for First World foodies. Often mistaken for a grain, quinoa is actually a chenopod (cousin to a beet); rich in minerals, it's the only vegetable that's a complete protein. To the added delight of politically correct health nuts, it's produced by small-scale Andean farmers like Huarachi who reap direct benefits of its international popularity. Recently, those benefits have skyrocketed: quinoa's price has tripled since 2006, triggering a boom in the poorest region of South America's poorest country"

While this all sounds fine and dandy for those Bolivian folks, I guess the influx of money for the greatness that is Bolivian quinoa has caused some squabbling including a three day land battle between farmers over land this past February where people were temporarily kidnapped, dozens were injured, and some wild man took it to an all new level and blew up some dynamite which made another guy lose his freaking arm!  I think the dynamite chuck must be the Bolivian equivalent to a 'shoot up in da club' here in the U.S.

All told, prices for quinoa on the world market are skyrocketing and this is causing a huge issue with land usage in Bolivia where, up till now, 90% of the quinoa grown was completely organic.  Bottom line...those dynamite chucking Bolivians aren't going to keep up with exploding demand so that means we should do what Americans to best and that's panic and start hoarding quinoa!  Get the fuck out of my way, I'm going to go raid every Trader Joes from here to the Mexican border!


Full Article Here

Holy Quinoa!

This weekend, my sister, who is an actress, was over at my place making funny talk about her favorite vegan bakeries and restaurants, and yoga, and products that make her poo like blocks of Jell-O and I tuned in when I hear her mention Quinoa.  I've heard of quinoa before (pronounced Keen-WAAAA) but have never had it.  I don't know if it was a combination of me being semi drunk or just my natural sense of adventure but once I heard my sis going on about the greatness of quinoa, I ordered my wife to buy some at once (that's not how it happened but that's how I remember it).

Flash forward to last night when I got home and my wife had purchased this sack of quinoa (above) and was preparing it so we could have it for dinner.  To my surprise, quinoa is fan-f@cking-tastic!  This stuff is high in protein and would be something you'd have instead of a starch like rice or potato, etc.  I'm sure there are other uses for it than just a side dish but I'm not ready to go full hipster yet.  According to the package, quinoa comes from Bolivia, and let me tell you, other than the burrito, and the soccer fans below, quinoa has to be the greatest invention Bolivia has given our planet!

Open up your trap and put some quinoa in it todaaaaaay!

Nutritional value:



http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/10352/2