To Quinoa or Not to Quinoa?

Or, maybe I should have titled this post, "quin-whaaaat?" (get it? get it??)

So, I've noticed a TON of people talking about this funny thing called "quinoa" (pronounced, from what I can tell as "Keen-wahh"--now do you get my joke above?? :) and seen tons of recipes from folks that include it. Usually in place of pasta or rice.

I had heard of it a while back from my mom, but didn't pay too much attention to it. And then all over the blog scene and Pinterest these recipes keep popping up. And now I am intrigued.

I've found yummy things, for example:

Quinoa Mac and Cheese

Weight Watchers Quinoa and Apple Breakfast "cereal" 

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Mac and Cheese
(can you tell that I like Mac and Cheese? hehe)

Shrimp and Quinoa Salad

Quinoa "Burger"

And I know one of you who I follow (and apparently I can't remember who it was) had one post about a ton of quinoa things that you had made that all looked really tasty!

So....I am thinking that I need to get on the bandwagon and try this little guy out. Apparently there are many advantages to it, some of which include:

• it's allllll protein ("has 9 essential amino acids that are required by the body as building blocks for muscles"  --(taken from BodyEcology Website)
• it's got fiber fiber fiber!
• it's easily digested (for some reason the "Activiaaaaaa" jingle just popped into my head)
• According to the BodyEcology website, it also might be effective in treating and/or preventing artherosclerosis (say what?), breast cancer, diabetes and insulin resistance (BodyEcology)

Apparently there are a butt-ton of other reasons why quinoa is the shizz, too. Dang,  I had no idea!!

Alright, so I guess the answer to my blog title is: To Quinoa!

Anyone had any experience with it? Is it yummy? Is it easy to make? Hook a blogger up and fill me in!!

Happy quinoa'ing!!