A Salad, A 'Za and A Smile

I don't know about you, but I feel like the addition of grains to a salad make it so much more interesting and appealing, not to mention satisfying. Last night I was in charge of coming up with dinner for my family  and knew that I wanted to make some sort of quinoa-spinach salad to use up the huge bag of spinach in our fridge that expires soon. I'm a fan of anything with a Mediterranean influence, and found a recipe for a Middle-Eastern inspired dressing that I wanted to build off of. The recipe for the dressing originally called for yogurt, but all we had was greek yogurt and I thought that would be too thick to dress the salad. I decided to omit the creaminess of the dressing and left it oil-based.

Moroccan Honey Lemon Dressing

- Juice of 1 lemon

- 1.5 teaspoons natural honey

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil, whisked in to the above ingredients slowly to create a smooth emulsion

- salt and pepper to season

Into the salad I tossed a tonnnn of fresh spinach, 1 cup of cooked quinoa, 1 can of tuna, roasted baby bell peppers, 1/2 of an avocado, kalamata olives and feta cheese

I was in such a rush to chow that I forgot to snap a pic of the finished salad! Here is my already-nibbled-on plate.

Would you guys like a tutorial on how to roast peppers yourself?

Tonight we made pizzas! I topped a loaded veggie pizza. The more toppings the merrier!

Pre-Oven: Olive oil, garlic salt and oregano-seasoned crust topped with fresh basil, spinach, cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms, bell peppers, black olives, and 2% shredded mozz

Post-oven

Random pic of an already-eaten, post-run orange

Operation Beautiful Award

I am so humbly honored to be a recipient of the Operation Beautiful Award by the gorgeous, wonderful Allison! The Operation Beautiful seeks to replace the seemingly-ever present negative self-talk with positivity and a love for unique and individual beauty. As a recipient, I have to answer a few questions and nominate others who I find worthy of the award.

Smile!

3 Things You Like About Your Looks

- My eyes

- My legs (calves!)

- My toes -- so random

3 Things You Appreciate About Your Personality

- I am kind. I am naturally empathetic and it's very hard for me to willingly hurt someone else's feelings, even if it benefits me or someone else.

- I'm laid back. I don't stress out about small things (for the most part) and can (usually) keep a grounded perspective during stressful times.

- I'm a dreamer. I have a big imagination that stretches into the plans I want my life to include.

Something You Find Beautiful In Other People

One thing I find absolutely captivating in others is humility. Willingness to serve others for the sole purpose of helping (read: no selfish gains like resume building, character building, or research). True humility is so rare that when I see a person who possesses the quality I can't help but be awed.

Award As Many People As You Like and Let Them Know!

Rachel

Lee

Viv

Sydney

Julia