Dinner tonite Lentil and Quinoa Salad

Lentil and Quinoa Salad

Recipe type: Salad

Author: Once Upon a Tart

Serves: 8 ppl

Ingredients

• 6 cups cold unsalted water (for the lentils)
• 1-1/2 cups French green lentils, rinsed
• 3 cups cold unsalted water (for the quinoa)
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• GINGER CURRY VINAIGRETTE:
• Juice of 1 large lemon
• 2T. red wine vinegar
• 1 T. Madras curry powder
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions

1. Place water and lentils in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until tender but not mushy.
2. At the same time, cook the quinoa in another saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature and simmer for 10-15 minutes until slightly translucent.
3. Drain both the lentils and quinoa and add to a large salad bowl.
4. Add the grated carrots
5. Add the chopped cilantro
6. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to mix.
7. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.
8. GINGER-CURRY VINAIGRETTE:
9. Whisk all ingredients except the olive oil in a small bowl. Add the olive oil in a stream, whisking as you go until blended.

   Lentil and Quinoa Salad

   5.0 from 2 reviews

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   Recipe type: Salad
   Author: Once Upon a Tart
   Serves: 8 ppl
   Ingredients

   • 6 cups cold unsalted water (for the lentils)
   • 1-1/2 cups French green lentils, rinsed
   • 3 cups cold unsalted water (for the quinoa)
   • 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
   • 4 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
   • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
   • GINGER CURRY VINAIGRETTE:
   • Juice of 1 large lemon
   • 2T. red wine vinegar
   • 1 T. Madras curry powder
   • 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
   • 1 garlic clove, minced
   • 1 t. salt
   • 1/2 cup olive oil
   Instructions

   1. Place water and lentils in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until tender but not mushy.
   2. At the same time, cook the quinoa in another saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature and simmer for 10-15 minutes until slightly translucent.
   3. Drain both the lentils and quinoa and add to a large salad bowl.
   4. Add the grated carrots
   5. Add the chopped cilantro
   6. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to mix.
   7. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.
   8. GINGER-CURRY VINAIGRETTE:
   9. Whisk all ingredients except the olive oil in a small bowl. Add the olive oil in a stream, whisking as you go until blended.

Summer go-to salad

I've made this sald gazillion times by now.  So simple, delicious and nutritious.  I've always brought it to potlucks and such and it's always been a hit!

Black Bean, Quinoa and Citrus Salad

serves 6-8

Ingredients:

for the salad:

2 15-oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 red onion, minced

2 large grapefruits, divided into segments and chopped

1 large red bell pepper, diced

3 ears fresh corn, kernels chopped off’

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 large (ripe but firm) avocado, diced

1 small bunch cilantro, minced

for the dressing:

juice of 3 limes

2 tsp cumin

3 T extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Bring quinoa to a boil with 2 1/2 cups water with a pinch of salt. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until all water is absorbed and quinoa is light and fluffy. Remove from stove and let cool while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Place black beans, red onion, grapefruit, cilantro, bell pepper, avocado and shucked corn kernels in a large bowl. Toss to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients. Add quinoa to salad then pour over dressing. Toss well and serve.

Salad will keep in sealed tupperware containers for up to five days in the fridge.

Time:

45 minutes (includes prep time for chopping veggies)

New Breakfast Cookie Recipe

To be tested tonite:

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup regular rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2-3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter (softened)

1/2 cup date syrup (or regular honey)

1/2 teaspoon  vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried dates, chopped 

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine flour, oats baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Stir until well mixed. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the egg lightly. Add butter, vanilla extract and honey/date syrup. Stir until well combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir in the chopped dates.

Drop heaped teaspoons of the batter onto the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. 

First day is good, not the best but still good

First day on crutches


Getting around is not as bad, still annoyed when I got home.  I need to just chill out and feel the need to clean every crumb right away.  Nothing bad is gonna happen.


Did some core workout in the morning and will do a little more later.


Baked a soda bread!!  That recipe is so darn delicious and so easy!!


1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour (I used 1cup WW + 1/4C oat bran + 1/4C chickpea flour + 1/4C mix of almond meal/flax seed meal/peanut flour)
1/2 cup oatmeal (ground) (Didn't grind)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (More like 1tsp)
1 cup buttermilk, plus a tablespoon or more if needed to moisten all flour (3/4 cup yogurt + 1/4 cup milk)
Mixed in fennel seeds, sesame seeds and chia seeds


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease or spray a small baking sheet with nonstick spray or oil.


Read something today
http://www.purposefairy.com/3308/15-things-you-should-give-up-in-order-to-be-happy/


And I especially feel for these two things:


2. Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.


4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.

“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle

It's OK to have negative feelings but don't make the feelings even more negative by beating yourself up for it!  Love yourself and just allow yourself to be happy!  Live on Wendy! :D

Life is tough and I am tougher

After the two months of limited activity dealing with the tendonitis, what I have turned out to be a fracture.

I feel angry, frustrated and has been an emotional mess.  I've been trying to be positive for the last 3 months or so, focusing on not being too bothered by the inability to walk.  Considering how much I used to run (~5 times/wk) and how much walking I do just doing the day-to-day stuff, it's HARD... physically and emotionally.  But I keep telling myself, it'll get better.  Now when I thought I was almost through, I ned to do everything all over again.  I'm drained of all the positivity and mental toughness :(  I feel I've been running a marathon with this injury but right before I reach the end, I'm told I've ran the wrong race.  I feel so angry because my doctor just wouldn't listen to me from the beginning when I tried to tell her "it doesn't feel like a tendon problem, I feel something is broken, why don't we do an MRI if the x-ray is negative..."

But I know all this negativity is not going to help me get anywhere.  I should gather whatever I have inside focusing on healing and getting better fast.

I feel so lucky how many awesome friends I have.  They come over, listen to my bitching, bringing food, laughter, crutches, calcium pills.. whatever they can to cheer me up.

I feel so extremely lucky how awesome a husband I have.  If I've been "running the marathon" with the injury, he's been running alongside of me this whole time without one word of complain.  Yet when I just can't deal with this anymore, he is still there, doing everything he can around the house, buying whatever I want from the store, researching on the diet/aircast whatever he can, cheering me up every second no matter how negative and bitter I could be.

For all the people I love and most importantly for myself, I need to be STRONG!!  I know I have that inside.

In the next month or so, I will focus on:

Finishing my paper I've been dragging
All the things I've been putting off career-wise
Studying the MRI open course

A lot of core exercise, upper body exercise and stretching (have a set period of time doing that every morning and night)

Cook/Bake a different recipe every other day and finally go through the 1 million bookmarked pages

Spend quality time with Casey

Have friends over 2-3 times a week to cook and hang out together  

Eat nutritious meals and nourish the body

Write down how I feel on the blog every night

Read at night and go to bed early

Yes, I know I can do this!!  Life is an experience, instead of trying to change it (which nobody can anyway), I should just enjoy the ride and cherish every moment of it.  Just because it's not the way I expected it to be, it doesn't mean life is not good!

Life is still good and I'm a lucky girl!  Don't ever forget that!

30 day Yoga Challenge

So far success

Feb 8 - Franklin St Yoga
Feb 9 - Open Heart Yoga with Tom
Feb 10 - Franklin St Yoga
Feb 11 - Franklin St Yoga
Feb 12 - Home Practice
Feb 13 - Franklin St Yoga
Feb 14 - Planning to go to Franklin St Yoga with Casey for a Vday date before our dinner :P

Soft and ADDICTIVE peanut butter choc chip oatmeal cookies

This foot injury has been really affecting my day-to-day life. Duh!

My morning run/bike is replaced now with limping and hopping to the kitchen taking my first dose of pain killer of the day... My climbing/yoga at night is now called vegging in the couch with a kindle or with some brainless show running on netflix. I keep telling myself, it'll be over soon and everything is OK and life is still good but it's hard... considering how restless I am, it's hard!!

So I go into the kitchen and get my bake on... somehow the smell of cookies/butter is strangely soothing and my dirty little secret is, I don't even like eating sweets all that much. I mean I like sweets, mostly Asian sweets, such as mochi or anything stuffed with red bean paste... but cookies or cakes just usually don't sound all that great to me. But that doesn't affect my love in making them... especially making them for Casey and seeing his boyish smile on his face when he has them.

Last night, I came upon a recipe on BrownEyedBaker... oatmeal, chocolate chips and peanut butter... need I say more? I'm making them! Of course, with a little bit "healthy" twist.

Adapted from BrownEyedBaker

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 15 BIG what we call PAPA cookies and 12 BAOBAO cookies

Dry:
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour (yes, I sneak it in anywhere I can)
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Wet:
1 ounce unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 ounces canned pumpkin
½ cup creamy peanut butter
1/4cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine.
3. While the mixer is running, whisk together all the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.
4. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined.
5. Use a large cookie scoop (I used 1/8 cup measure) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Dip the scoop in water in between dough to make it come out more easily.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool on a rack and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

The verdict: Casey had about 10 of them and kept saying... there is no way you did your usual "healthy substitution" trick because they taste sinfully good. Ohh well, what can I say? :)

Back on the injury thing... I've started a weight lifting routine (Yes, you can call something a routine when you've done it twice :P) loosely based on this. I need to get more weights and a pull-up bar (only have a couple of 5lbs from a century ago and they make me feel so too "girly" :P) I did day 1 (Chest & Triceps) and day two Day 2( Back & Biceps) yesterday morning and last night (skipped some because there are just no at-home-free-weight alternatives) and day four (Shoulders & Abs) this morning. Yes, I'm impatient like that and can never follow a plan just as it is... maybe that's why I'm always injured? :P No that's not even funny to joke about right now!

Good news, I biked to work today!! Biking is actually so very gentle on your foot!! :D