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

A Quick WIAW!

I started this day with the full intention of documenting everything I ate with a photo, but that didn't really turn out as I hoped due to my scatterbrained mind and constantly thinking about tomorrow --> Nick is coming for the weekend!! I'm more than excited, obviously. 
On to the eats
Breakfast

Oats In A Jar! (OIAJ) + Coffee

I finished off what was left of the PB&Co Dark Chocolate Dreams (about 2 tbsp) with some hot stovetop cinnamon vanilla oats.

- 1/4 C Rolled Oats

- 1/4 C Oat Bran

- 1 Tbsp. chia seeds

- 1/2 C water

- 1/2 banana diced and melted into oats on stovetop

- sprinkling of cinnamon

- tsp. vanilla extract

- a bit more milk added at end of cooking to add more moisture

poured right into the PB jar!!

on top:

- half of sliced banana

- raisins

 Lunch

Veggie Salad & Iced Tea

- Bed of spinach

- half a tomato, sliced

- 2 baby bell peppers (I used one red and one yellow)

- 3 baby carrots, diced

- kalamata olives

- feta

- cucumber ranch dressing

+ a few pickings of some diced cantaloupe (not pictured)

Snackykins (pardon me)

Frozen Grapes + Fresh Cantaloupe

Dinner

Not pictured -- complete fail

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Meatless Marinara and Sauteed Mushrooms

Spinach & Tomato Salad w/ Caesar Dressing

3 Slices of Ciabatta loaf

Skim Milk

Evening Eat

Recipe for success = Cheesy Miley Cyrus romantic movie + apple and almond butter

Some fun pictures of the past few days...

Checking out the Menu at Ruby Tuesday with the girls :)

Most fun ride ever. WOO

SO HOT here on Monday and Tuesday. What to do? Go to the beach of course!

Me and the girls I nanny --> probably the cutest ever.

Goals, Grapefruit and Groceries

Friday again! I feel like this summer is already flying by. Sometimes, even though the days seem to move by at a slow pace, I wish the months would pass more slowly. Maybe it's because our weather has been less than extraordinary so far (one or two sunny days in the past week, tops), but I feel like I still haven't taken full advantage of my summer yet! I do have a few things I hope to accomplish this summer. Let's see if i can?

Gorgeous (HUGE) Hosta leaves at the Botanical Gardens

1. Run a 5k. I know I can do this, but the idea of a race intimidates me. Especially because I know I'd be running it by myself. I still have to sign up for one -- there are a few I've been eyeing -- I'm just so new to the world of running I feel like I need someone's hand to hold through the whole process. Gotta get over this mentality!

2. Begin practicing yoga again. I stopped doing yoga during college when I hardly found time to make it to the gym. When I did get my fitness on, it was usually in the form of some 30-40 minute session on a cardio machine. Whether I get a yoga DVD or sign up for a 3-month pass to a yoga place, I really want to get back into the stretchy groove.

3. Get stronger and leaner (i.e., strength train). Strength training intimidates me. I know that I love how I feel after a session, and I understand how wonderful strength training is for your body, but ever since I withdrew my gym membership, I've found it hard to be happy with an at-home routine. My mission this summer is to find a set of at-home strength moves that will help me get leaner and feel stronger.

4. Create the perfect muffin. It's no secret that I have a love affair with baked goods (muffins, scones, breads, YUM), but I've prohibited myself from enjoying them for so long. This summer I want to come up with my very own perfect muffin recipe that I can carry with me for the rest of my life. I want it to be big, hearty, healthy, and flavorful. That is the mission.

5. Improve my photography. I'm signed up to take a summer photography class at MCAD (Minneapolis College of Art and Design) that focuses on portrait photography. Photography is an art that I've always loved and been passionate about, and now that I finally have a great camera I want to develop my skill further. Photographing people is something that I've never felt confident about, but something that I see as a great asset. Photographs make wonderful memories come to life and photographs of people are some of the most moving images to create. I'm so excited about this class and I hope the things I learn from it can translate to better pictures on this blog :)

I drove a good half hour yesterday to go grocery shopping at whole foods. Dedication? Maybe. Indulgence? Definitely. I ended up spending wayyy to much but that's just because I am horrible at sticking to lists and such a sucker for trying new things. I got lots of yummy new produce (most of it was the sale stuff, woo!), a bulk cereal that sounds really cool (flax, quinoa, aramanth, and corn flakes), $1 limade (whatup!) and a new blackberry pomegranate jam that was on sale I have yet to try. Plus other unpictured randoms that I picked up -- including my first ever Larabar!

Breakfast this morning started with half of a mondo red grapefruit from Whole Foods. This baby was HUGE. And actually kind of sour. It definitely woke up my taste buds.

Followed it up with a cereal experiment inspired by Gabriela. I mixed a serving of my new Mesa Sunrise cereal (see grocery picture) with a teaspoon of drippy, organic peanut butter and half a scoop of vanilla protein powder. Had to use my hands with this one as the pb liked to stick to the spoon. I topped this funky mix with some fresh raspberries, a banana and a teaspoon of ground flaxseed and poured almond milk in to mix everything together. It was tasty and super filling! Filling is definitely something I strive for with breakfasts since I'm usually ravenous in the morning. I'll definitely be making this one again (and hopefully I'll remember to snap a pic!)

After breakfast I took a nap. I was so tired from a week of getting slacky sleep and being on the go, but my body still wanted to wake up this morning at 7:30. I slept again from about 8:30 - 9:40 and decided to get my booty moving, somehow. I definitely wasn't up for running, but I knew I wanted to get some fresh air on my day off. I decided to go on a super long walk (6 miles) and ended up doing a few 30-second running spurts every now and then. It was so humid that I had no trouble getting my sweat on.

I craved something fresh and cool for lunch so I started with the second half of my breakfast grapefruit and then threw together a bunch of stuff hanging out in my fridge and called it a salad. It ended up being actually really yummy and super refreshing.

Atop this bowl of awesome (spinach) was sliced strawberries and cucumber, leftover cooked corn, cottage cheese and a drizzle of french dressing.

For dessert/snack I tried the limade (verdict: tart and summery. I like) and my first larabar ever. It was the cherry pie flavor and definitely hit the spot. I loved how soft and bursting with cherry flavor it was! After trying this one, I'm super excited to make Allison's homemade recipes. You should check them out, too!

Alright, after this monsterous post, I'm going to sit out on my porch, skype with the boy, drink a tall glass of iced tea and get some reading done. My parents are going to our family friends' grad party tonight and I still haven't decided if I want to go or not. Playing it by ear, I suppose! I love Fridays.

What are some of your summer goals? Do you think you can achieve them?

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad With Tuna

Yesterday, I knew I wanted to incorporate quinoa into my lunch somehow. I decided to throw together a salad with a bunch of stuff in the fridge that I thought would work well together. Result? Deliciousness. If you're a fan of tangy-salty-mediterranean cuisine, this salad is definitely up your alley. Here's how I made it. It's super quick, and super EASY. :)

Ingredients

- 1/4 Cup quinoa

- 1/4 Cup water + 1/4 Cup orange juice

- 5 baby carrots, quartered lengthwise

- 2 handfuls of fresh spinach

- half a can of tuna (seasoned with s&p)

- a few kalamata olives

- dollop of garlic hummus

- sprinkle of feta

- 1/2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

- pepper to taste

Cook quinoa in orange juice - water mixture. Let the mixture come to a steady boil then cover and lower heat so quinoa can simmer and absorb the liquid. When just a bit of liquid remains, add the carrots so they can cook slightly. 

While quinoa cooks, assemble the spinach, tuna and olives on a plate or bowl, however you prefer. Add the cooked quinoa and carrots to the salad. Top with a dollop of hummus and sprinkle of feta and finish it off with a teeny tiny bit of olive oil to balance the tangy-ness of the other ingredients. Add pepper if you like. I love the smolder of a little bit of cracked black pepper on my salads, especially mediterranean ones. 

Enjoy!!

In other news, I won't be posting for a few days because I'm journeying to Milwaukee too see the boy (and my family, hah) for the weekend. :D So excited. Many pictures shall be taken but I probably won't have much time to blog. I'll be sure to do a Memorial Weekend recap when I get back. Enjoy yours bloggies!