New friends

Hi everyone!
WOW – so sorry I have been MIA. I’ve actually had some downtime but since Marc and I share a computer it’s been tough to have it for a block of time. He is very busy right now with his scholarship projects and needs it quite a bit. Oh well – it’s a compromise thing, right? 😉

Tonight I have been busy working on my project site with Marc. It is for his scholarship fund that helps Student-Athletes of Washington State. Check it out! www.thejackreynoldsscholarshipfund.com

Since I haven’t been blogging about ANY of my eats as of late, here are some pictures to tantalize your taste buds!

This was last night’s dinner. Marc was at a committee meeting so I opted for quinoa noodles with some spinach marinara and nice light spring mix salad with a drizzle of raspberry vinaigrette, grape tomatoes and toasted pine nuts.
For those of you that haven’t tried quinoa noodles, please do! They are much better than rice noodles – light, fluffy, soft and tasty! We are not gluten free but I try to buy other alternatives to wheat if I can. And you all know how much I LOVE quinoa!

This morning Baby J let me sleep in until 7! He has been waking up at about 6-6:15 and he is very cranky at that early. It’s dark in his room so I really have no clue as to why he is waking up that early. But sleeping in until 7 felt great! Thanks, my little boy!

It’s so sweet of Marc – he always gives me my first cup of coffee in the morning. 🙂

I make it but he pours it for me. I love it!
I made some time this morning to head to the gym so I ate a half of a peanut butter Cliff bar, and then the rest after I came back home.

My knee is feeling so much better! Not 100% and believe me, I am not pushing it. I ran a mild 2.5 miles in 25 minutes then hit the stair master. I need to get some leg strength back into my legs as I haven’t been pushing them the past few weeks. I also have been icing my knee to prevent further injury.

After a nice shower I walked into the kitchen on a mission. To find a recipe that I could incorporate my pomegranates into!
Well, I didn’t “find” a recipe, I made one up! I don’t even know what to call it… it’s just a mixture of this and that, but OMG was it ever so good!

I will post a recipe on it with the entire ingredient list and directions, but for now I will give a brief description. I used quinoa as the base – I boiled it with a bay leaf, dried basil, parsley, Italian seasoning and poultry seasoning (mainly for the sage as I didn’t have any plain sage). I added about a cup of frozen carrots and peas, too. Once it was cooked I let it cool and the fun began! I just kept grabbing items out of the fridge and pantry – it felt like I was concocting something magical! I added toasted pine nuts, dried cranberries, pomegranate arils (the actual name of the fruit), fresh basil, EVOO, s & p and feta crumbles. It turned out wonderfully! This could be used as a side dish with chicken, turkey or pork but since I don’t eat a lot of meat, I used this salad, of sorts, as my main meal for lunch!

Along with a mini brie, some Mary’s Gone Crackers and a VERY ripe red pear. I found these mini brie’s at the store and I just love them!

I even used them as a spoon for the quinoa – a perfect combo!
After lunch I was feeling a bit restless so I packed up Baby J and set out to the book store – my favorite place! I received a very sweet Birthday package from my dearest friend, Sophie, which included a gift card to Borders! Thank you, sweetie! (PS – I AM NOT AVOIDING YOU 😦 – Been insanely busy, and I know that is no excuse not to call or text, Please forgive me! I gravel at your feet! I love you xoxoxox)

Off I go! (Yes, I know I’m a dork – hehe)

One thing that I love about driving is I get a chance to listen to music. Back in my HighSchool days I ALWAYS listened to music. I would stay up late, have my disk player in hand and jam out. Now I only listen to it when I am at the gym OR in the car. Our Tahoe has built in XM Radio and I am obsessed over 1st Wave and The Coffeehouse stations.

1st Wave plays a mixture of Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, The Clash… basically old school British punk/rock/alternative. LOVE IT!

The Coffeehouse is all acoustic singer-songwriters, just what you would hear in a coffeehouse! Very relaxing and puts me in an instant good mood. 🙂

I found a bunch of treasures at Borders!
First a cute book for Jordan – this kept him busy while I shopped.

I found this beauty on the clearance rack – it has descriptions and pictures of hundreds of ingredients that you can cook with. I thought this would be a valuable resource to have in the kitchen.

And the Grand Daddy of them all: The Worlds Healthiest Foods. It is my new bible for nutrition facts, food facts and over all eating healthy. George knows what he is talking about, no doubt about it! I was only able to flip through the pages, all 800+, and I am excited to actually sit down, take notes and learn from this massive book.
You can visit his website at www.whfoods.org

I also for a fun literary guide – one can never stop learning!

And one of my favorite magazines: Bust. It’s indie, it’s feministic, it’s bold and blunt – LOVE IT!

Phew – all of that shopping made me quite hungry so I snack on soy nuts as I browsed the pages of my new friends.

And look what else I received in the mail: MORE MAGAZINES!
Ahem, I have a “small” addiction to magazines. They are like candy or presents to me. I love the feeling of getting something other than a bill in the mail and magazines brighten up my day! I have like 6 or 7 subscriptions right now – shhh don’t tell Marc. 😉

After Baby J went to sleep, Marc and I worked hard at the scholarship website – it’s 1 AM folks! We started at 7.
I had a pretty basic dinner/snack of Oikos, almond butter, granola and a honey crisp apple.
The some coconut mint ice cream – because I deserved it! 🙂

Wow – I have got to get into bed. I have a feeling that since Jordan went to bed a tad early tonight he will be up early, too. 5 hours of sleep will not cut it!
Goodnight!

PS – Don’t forget about my give away!