Project Quinoa, A Roaring Success….

Hello, Everyone!

I hope that you all survived Monday. Ours was pretty great here because we had some friends over for dinner and it was a really good time. Lydia and I made “One Pot Mexican Quinoa” and it was delicious. I could easily say that it was my favorite quinoa recipe so far. I haven’t tried many recipes yet though, so I plan to keep exploring this new and interesting ingredient. I want to incorporate more of it into our diet because it is so good for you and actually tastes great if you make it right.

Here are the two Quinoa recipes I have tried and loved so far:

http://damndelicious.net/2014/04/09/one-pan-mexican-quinoa/?m

We left out cilantro because I personally think that stuff is one of the worst things I have ever tasted. We added extra broth while it was simmering as well. I have found that quinoa recipes never call for enough liquid for it to actually cook right, so I am always adding more than called for. We also prefer more spice and added extra chili powder.

I would recommend serving this with some sour cream, pickled jalapenos and a little cheese to top it off. We ate it with corn chips.

I also made “Quinoa Fried Rice” which was full of veggies and super yummy.

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/quinoa-fried-rice-recipe/

I once again added extra liquid to my quinoa. I added mixed veggies rather than just peas and I also added broccoli. I would recommend putting in one TBS of soy sauce at a time and tasting it as you go. The recipe called for too much for our liking, but it really depends on what you prefer.  I also cooked up some chicken on the side for William. I just pan-fried it with a little soy sauce and sesame oil. It was apparently very good.

I would highly recommend both of these recipes. If you’re only cooking for yourself or for two, you could definitely keep it and use it for lunches throughout the week. I think they taste even better after sitting in their own flavors for a bit.

Sorry for not taking pictures! I was too busy stuffing my face. Both times.

Talk to you soon!

Oops… (The random update)

Hello, Everyone!

So I suppose I lost my habit of writing regularly, which really stinks because I was kind of enjoying it. I got kind of busy and then I got kind of uninterested in anything at all for a bit because I go through phases. Also my laptop barely works anymore, so there’s that. I will be getting a new one soonish so I will get back into it soon hopefully!

Here are the important updates:

• I have started one of my part-time jobs and the other starts this month, so I will be working two jobs and hopefully not losing my mind.
• William and I spent three days watching every Harry Potter with our lovely friends and it was so awesome that I had to pause my random books from the library sale and start reading Harry Potter right away. So far I am obviously loving it.
• School starts September 14th and I am not one bit ready or excited.
• My older sister left for China and it is both depressing and exciting because she is my bestest friend and I’ll miss her, but it’s also her dream job and she kicks butt and I am pumped for her.
• I am trying to cook healthier food so I bought spaghetti squash and quinoa… We’ll see.

That’s all I can really think of at the moment.

Cheers,

Making Smores in the apartment…

Hello, Everyone!

The other day William was headed out to go for a run. He was gone a while but I didn’t think anything of it because I figured he was going for a longer distance than usual since he’s been wanting to work up to doing more before soccer season. It turns out that he went to Wegman’s after his run and picked up ingredients to make Smores because I had mentioned how good they sounded earlier that day. He’s really good at doing cute things to surprise me and make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Here is our version of Smores and our process of making them via apartment kitchen:

Marshmallows and Fudge Stripes – Less ingredients but still chocolatey gooey goodness, and chopsticks.

Making them over the burner. Be careful. Ask your mom first.

Toasty marshmallow goodness.

The finished product!

My husband is awesome. I am a sugar addict.

Birthday Celebration

Hello, everyone!

Today is my friend Micaelina’s birthday. Yesterday I was able to make it back home for a birthday dinner at her house. We ate a ton of delicious vegan food, played a dorky game that I got her for her birthday. It was really nice to hang out with some friends from back home and have a good time. I never pass up a chance to eat Teri’s vegan cupcakes, so how could I not go? Just kidding! I really did go for Mic.

Here are a couple pictures from the night:

In honor of our eight(or something like that) years of best friendship, I thought I ought to share some embarrassing old photos of us together!

I hope all of your birthday wishes come true. You’re a beautiful soul and you make me laugh like no other. Thank you for sticking with me through all of the dumb obstacles growing up can bring. I will love you always. As 2012’s obnoxiously huge birthday card said, you’re the greatest!

Talk to you soon,

Good times

Hello, everyone!

Yesterday was a pretty great day. I’ve had quite a few good days since moving here, but yesterday was extra good. I think God knew I needed it, because I’ve been having a rough time getting settled. Not having a job and not really getting to know anyone here has left me pretty bored and lonely while William is at work for most of the day. Adjusting hasn’t been easy for me. I think I’m finally going to get used to it now.

First on the agenda for yesterday was a visit from my friend Kristin and my little sister Bethany. I love when friends and family from home visit me, so it was really nice. We tried to get out to go the park and ride the merry-go-round, but Bethany wasn’t feeling great so we got some food and chilled out in the apartment. We did play a very competitive game of Candy Land, at least. Bethany and I were neck and neck for winning but I drew that double red and made it to King Candy’s castle first. What can I say? I’ve got some sweet Candy Land skills.

William got home from work early, which is always a nice surprise for me. Our apartment building was having a cook out, so we decided to make chicken wing dip and cut up a watermelon. While we were working on our contribution to the feast I received a phone call from Macy’s offering me a part-time position. I obviously accepted it because a little more income and a little less time alone at home is greatly welcomed right now. It wont be as many hours as I might like but I can always pick up shifts and I’m sure it will be perfectly fine. I am super thankful for that call because I was getting restless and worried about being unemployed. I’m looking forward to starting in a few weeks!

The picnic was awesome. Everyone brought something delicious and southern themed to share. It was really nice talking to everyone and hanging out for a while. I haven’t had a chance to talk to many people here so I am very excited to make some friends! It was a really good time.

The best part was the slip and slide that we played on afterwards, I’d say. I have never been on one so I was a little freaked out to go shooting down a hill on a soap covered tarp… I’m glad I did though! I only went a few times. William and some of the other guys were crazy and were at it for a really long time. Once they started linking arms and going down three or four at a time, Ala cracked us up by saying,

See? Guys like touching each other, they just need an excuse

By the end of the night we were covered in grass, which is still all over my bathroom floor because I’m waiting for the grass-covered clothing and towels to dry so that I can shake them off before putting them in the washing machine. I don’t enjoy huge messes, but this one was well worth it!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Frisbee and broken laptops

Hello everyone!

So, if you’re wondering why I didn’t get a post out on Monday it is because my computer decided it doesn’t want to connect to any internet at all and I can’t figure out how to fix the problem. Isn’t it convenient that it is messing up on me right before this next semester begins? I love electronics! (Hopefully you sensed my sarcasm there…) So, I am using William’s computer right now since he is at work and I suppose I’ll do the same for Friday unless we can figure out a solution with mine. I really hope we can. I’m a little bit, well, a lot bit frustrated about it. But that’s enough about that, here is what William and I were up to yesterday, plus some poor quality photos from my phone!

William didn’t get finished working until almost four yesterday, so I put up my cute canvas in the kitchen. My sink area had this boring open spot so I figured it would be a nice place to hang something up!

We decided that we needed to get out and do something fun for the rest of the day, so we purchased a Frisbee at Walmart and headed over to our favorite park. It’s probably ten minutes away from our apartment. I really like it there because it’s out of the city and feels a lot more home-ish. William wasn’t actually annoyed at me, he was just being a goober. By the way, I used to be terribly bad at Frisbee, but William made me practice and now I can actually enjoy playing!

2015 Highlight: Best friends

Hello everyone!

I figured I should probably share a few highlights of the year so far. A lot of great stuff has been going on so I will go over some of them throughout the next few weeks (among other random stuff, of course).

So before going into this one I should probably give you a little bit of a back story. I “met” Jami through a mutual friend that I had met through a Christian website for kids forever ago. Jami and I started talking on Google Chat because for a while that was the shizz. We didn’t have an awful lot in common but we got along weirdly well and she became one of my favorite humans ever despite never seeing her in person…

Fast forward to May of this  We decided we were finally going to hang out in person. For a whole WEEK. I don’t know about you guys, but I am really awkward when it comes to meeting people. I was extremely excited to meet my beautiful friend but I was also extremely nervous that she wasn’t going to like me very much. It was a crazy mix of really freaking excited and really freaking scared. Little did I know, there was not one itty bitty thing to be worried about.

William, my sister Rachel, and my bestie, Micaelina all piled into my dad’s bright green car (mine was way to rickety to drive all the way to the airport in and come back alive..) and headed to pick up my favorite Texan. I was so excited I kinda thought I would pee myself… And I’m being serious. We got to the baggage claim and real life, totally adorable Jami attacked me with one of the greatest hugs of all time(See below).

The meeting was surreal to say the least. I instantly felt comfortable. We weren’t actually meeting because we already knew each other so well. We were just finally seeing and it was great.

We tried to fit in as many fun things that we could within the boundaries of a little less than a week. It was tough and we were exhausted half the time, but we did it! We tried way too many coffee shops, bought way too many matching items, and ate way too much food! What else do you do with a best friend?

I never once in my life thought my mom would be cool with one of my “internet friends” staying at our house for a week. I’m so glad she did because meeting Jami was one of the best experiences ever.

 

Until next time!