Bright and Sunny

I live on what I call the shady side of my street.  The morning sun streams in the back side of the house so it's nice in the kitchen in the a.m.  Which means we get the afternoon and evening sun on the front of the house.  During the very long, very hot Texas summers this is not so enjoyable.  Regardless...I have been relishing the early mornings in the back of the house.  It's still very cool, low to mid 40's in the a.m. and starting to warm up to mid 70's in the afternoon.  My perfect idea of a great climate. These kind of days aren't around for very long, so I do my best to really enjoy them.

Hubby and I have been trying to overhaul our menus lately.  We go in stages of eating out a lot, and eating things that really aren't good for us.  Then we alternate to only cooking at home, and eating what we know is good for us. During the latter stage, we end up feeling very virtuous about it, but actually feeling BETTER as well.  Funny how that works, huh?

Most mornings breakfast is oatmeal.  But mornings in a hurry, it's something quicker. For hubby that means a breakfast sandwich at a fast food place. He calls it his Buffett breakfast...  he saw in an interview with Warren Buffett that he eats the same thing most mornings, from the $1. menu.  HaHa  Yesterday I had one of my favorites, which I don't have often.  I have a love/hate relationship with bagels.  Mostly because I could never stop at just 1/2 but always had the entire thing.  Those things are HUGE you know!  Well, I don't feel so bad when I can eat just 1/2. Then I treat myself to cream cheese and a bit of  Fig Preserves. This is almost the best jam I have ever tasted.  The label says 50 calories per Tblsp. I use less on 1/2 bagel.

Did you notice my new bright yellow straw placemat?  I picked them up at Target last time, on clearance for .67.  Every year they have these, in different colors.  I was suprised they had the bright spring-like color on clearance.  I can't resist getting a few new ones each year,  I wouldn't have gone for the yellow, but have been using this old tablecloth lately, and thought a pop of bright would be nice with it.
I haven't mentioned any Target finds lately because I simply have been behaving myself and not going there as much.  On the same trip that I got the placemats, I found a few Nate Berkus stationery items, shown on the same yellow placemat.  It looks a little faded in the photo, but is is really bright in person.

 

Keeping with the yellow theme, here's what I had in the late afternoon, sitting on the front porch in the sun when it was 75.  This is only 7 oz., just the right size. A friend told me Dr. Oz said it is healthy to have one "light" beer a day.  I don't know if this one is considered light or not, I just like it.

 

I cooked us a healthy dinner of green beans and quinoa and a salad, along with bruschetta with sauteed garlic and tomatoes.  We were hungry and ate it fast so no photos.  It wasn't that exciting visually, but was very good.

Getting Creative in the Kitchen

First time Quinoa


Well, I do usually paint papers and such on the kitchen island and counter. But this time I actually cooked for a change. Yes, food prep can be a creative endeavor you know. I've loved quinoa since I discovered it only a few years ago. But I've only eaten it in restaurants, or bought it already prepared at Whole Foods. Was a little uneasy about cooking it at home. Seemed too labor intensive to me...soak, rinse, toast, then cook. I don't know what came over me, but I finally bought some to try at home. I researched tons of recipes online, but couldn't come up with one using stuff I already had at home. Also, many of the recipes called for two items my dear hubby dislikes...cucumbers and tomatoes! Anyhow, I cooked some up...thinking that it "doubles" like rice. Well, it Quadruples...So I had tons of it. I dragged out a bunch of ingredients and just played around. I made two different recipes, and both turned out well. I didn't measure or write anything down, so will never be able to make the exact ones again, most likely.

No.1 has Olive oil, lemon juice, celery, onions, garlic, and one of my favorite spices, Sonoma Pepper. It is cracked pepper with lemon and orange rind. This one turned out yummy. Hub liked it and so did a friend. Good thing, as we ate it for several days!

No.2 I wanted to be sweet, so I used olive oil, balsamic vinegar, juice of a whole orange, cinnamon, and a bit of nutmeg. Chopped some dried apricots and added those. Put chopped walnuts on just before serving. It was really good warm for breakfast the next day. Hub liked it too.

I'm happy I finally tried it. I'll be cooking this stuff every week now. I'll still do the one with cucumbers and tomatoes, for myself and friends. I found several recipes the Hub will like...One has yams and chile powder..going to try that next.