Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Sparrow Me the Quinoa

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As you can see I got a lot of productive things done on my day off yesterday.  Painting my nails was actually written on my to-do list. :)

I slept in (duh), walked the pupper to Starbucks (duh), played around on the internet and read blogs (duh), read some more Castle (duh), oh…and vacuumed (odd).

While putting together my own blog post about the weekend I was inspired to make another yummy salad with apple and fresh squeeeezed lime…

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…and since that package of bacon got opened I just had to have some in my salad.

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The manicure process was a wee bit lengthy, but turned out great!  For those of you that care (hello, anyone?)…I have really nice, strong nails that grow quickly and in a great shape.  I’m quite lucky.  About once a week I trim and file them but I rarely ever polish them myself…

For the price of a good manicure I was able to buy three new OPI polishes so I figured it was a fun holiday thing to do for myself! 

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I know Shatter polish has been around for a while now but I was excited to try it when I found it in silver!  Part of OPI’s newest collection: Pirates of the Caribbean.  :)  I also got Sparrow Me the Drama (pink, shown) and Mermaid Tears (green, not tried yet).

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Two coats of the pink…let dry for HOURS…then topped with one coat of the magic Shatter polish and top coat.  It was really quite cool to see the Shatter in action…and it seems to be holding up very well. :)

All that business kept me busy most of the day so when dinner time rolled around I wanted something simple but tasty.  I found just enough quinoa in the cupboard to make a fabulous creation.

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While the quinoa cooked I emailed my friend Tia and asked her for her quinoa salad recipe.  She brought it to a potluck once and it was amazing so I really wanted to make something similar.  Just as I was pulling the quinoa from the heat on the stove she emailed me back…I had all of the dressing ingredients on hand…perfect!

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From Tia"I eyeball this whole recipe but the dressing is about 1 tbsp of Dijon, a splash of soy sauce, sesame oil, balsamic or white or red wine vinegar, s & p, about 1.5 tsp of honey and canola whisked to emulsify. Oh, the key too is to make the dressing in the bowl and toss in the still warm cooked quinoa while you chop the rest of the veggies, it kind of soaks into the quinoa that way.”

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I did exactly as she instructed and mixed it with 1 cup cooked quinoa, 1 cup white kidney beans, 1/2 an avocado, green onion, diced cherry tomatoes, orange pepper, sunflower seeds and fresh flat leaf parsley.

At the last minute I added a squeeze of lemon juice just for fun.  Stirred it all up and let sit about 15 minutes before devouring a big bowl.

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It’s really all about the dressing.  Use the sesame oil VERY sparingly but don’t be afraid of the Dijon! :)  Thanks Tia.  Loved it!

For dessert the last of the Bacon Cookies.

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After dinner I did the Shatter part of my manicure then finished a few more things from my to-do list and then actually took myself to bed relatively early. 

Of course I then proceeded to stay up until the wee hours watching more Dawson’s Creek.  The show actually annoys me to death but here I am on Season 5: The College Years…which should also be known as The Dark Years.  At least Dawson finally cut his hair and Joey is wearing pants that fit. :)

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Weekend Eats

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After posting about my rut on Friday I felt a bit more motivation to get back on the food paparazzi train this weekend.  Maybe because I actually ate salad like I promised!

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Golden Delicious apples are amazing in salad.  Especially when dressed with fresh lime juice.  I think I’ll replicate this for lunch today.

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Best.impulse.buy.ever.  $3 Angel Food Cake.  130 calories for ONE SIXTH of this cake.  FYI, that’s a bigass slice o’ cake!

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Best.find.of.the.weekend.  Pineapple Liberte Mediterranee.  Is this new?

It’s freaking deeeeelicious.  It may just trump coconut as the new crack.

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All that cooking of candied bacon led to the need for a BLT.

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Tiffaney and I cashed in our Hot Yoga Groupons on Saturday.  Also known as: how to sweat your azz off.  Holy moly. 

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The jury is still out on what I thought of this.  Good news is it doesn’t seem to have aggravated my back injury.  Bad news is I’m pretty sure I was thisclose to actually passing out in class.

Post workout blood sugar reload…

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I was freaking ravenous after class.  No time for planning or cooking…just eating.  Fresh, cool, sushi thank you very much.

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Sunday was much more chillaxed.  Remember that Angel Food Cake?  Remember that pineapple yogurt?  Put them together.  Oh yes.

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Taste test those PB Cookies with Chocolate Bacon.

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Planted some herbies and flowers.

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Walked the pupper for a good, long while.

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Ingested some veggies with fresh basil and salty feta.

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Favourite frozen food…spanakopita.  With impromptu dippy made from Greek yogurt and Greek seasoning.

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And then there was cake.

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Cake to start.  Cake to finish.  Sounds like the right kind of Sunday, no?

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Monday, May 30, 2011

Patio Garden

When I moved into my new little pad last July it was a weeee bit too late to be starting up any planters or gardening.  I was a little sad.

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Instead I got a couple of comfy chairs and the deck became home to my poor neglected bicycle.  (Shhh…don’t tell my Strata!)

This year I’ve been watching the calendar and weather in anticipation of a weekend when it would be all good to plant a few little things.  This weekend was finally it!

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Yesterday was this perfectly sunny day with a lovely breeze up on my deck.  Just right for a little bit of planter box action.

Not a lot of room for a whole lot, but just enough room for me!  I opted for planter boxes as I don’t want anything hanging and blocking what little view I have.  Boxes will be at a good level for ease of care and good sunlight as well.  (Sadly I’ll need to enlist one of my handy dandy friends to help come up with a way to hang some of these from my railings…apparently my railings are an odd width which caused me trouble finding brackets that fit…lame-o.)

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Shelves and the patio floor will do just fine for now!

Here we have Ever Bearing Strawberries x 3 and Peppermint.

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Some curly parsley, a cute hot pepper, and cilantro.

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Oregano, rosemary, and sweet purple basil.  Still on the hunt for regular basil…which apparently had been delayed a bit this year.

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Of course a bit of colour is needed too!  Multiple shades of pink and white impatience do the trick quite nicely.

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And last but not least, I’m pretty excited about my bigass tomato plant!

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“Sugar Snack” sound quite tasty, no?  I’ll be babying this one for sure.

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It’s only been one day and I’ve already been outside checking on my little babies, making sure they are getting enough light, some food and water, and maybe a little chit-chat.

What?  You know you talk to your plants too.  ;)

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Let us eat cake!

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Tiffaney’s birthday was in January. 

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At the time she wasn’t interested in a party or any fuss.

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For five months Laura felt deprived of her right to provide cake.

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At the mention of fresh lemon curd and candied lemon peels a cake agreement was made.

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Lemony, amazing, spongy, homemade, love filled cake.

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Happy 5 month birthday anniversary Tiffaney!

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