Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Random Thursday: Favourite Easy Recipes...

 
Yup, time for another awesomely random topic brought to you by yours truly along with Lin and Meg. I warn ya, it's a li'l domestic:

I'm not a huge cook, so you're just getting one. And I promise, super easy. It's actually a recipe I stole from Rachael Ray Magazine, and you can find the original here. The recipe is for Herbed Quinoa - but what I like about it is it's really easy to customize. Without embellishments, the original is great as a side instead of rice, or even on its own. This is what the original looks like:



Required ingredients:   
    1.5 cups dry quinoa
    3 Tbsp virgin olive oil
    1/2 c. fresh basil and cilantro, chopped (it has to be fresh, not dried)
    1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
    1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)

Optional:
    1 juicy tomato, chopped
    1/2 orange or yellow pepper, chopped
    1/2 cup parmesan or feta cheese (grated for the former, cubed for the latter)
    1/4 cup red onion, finely diced

How to make it:
  1. Cook about 1 and a half cups of dry quinoa  by bringing about 2 and a half cups of water to the boil, add quinoa, reduce heat and cover pan. Simmer for 15 minutes until water is absorbed. 
  2. Let the quinoa cool. It can even be prepared as much as a day in advance.
  3. Add oil, salt, pepper, herbs, vegetables and cheese. Stir until evenly mixed and allow to sit until flavours are melded. 
Unfortunately I don't have a pic for you because I don't have all the ingredients in stock and forgot this was happening this week... but make it and see!
TA-DA! Super easy an healthy summer salad. 

What do you like to cook? Or, you know, manage to cook without taking out your block? Share, share, share!



Tuesday, June 25, 2013

It's Tuesday. It's raining. This'll make it better.

It's been raining here for two days, almost solid. When I wake up in the morning I can hear it sheeting down outside and the realization that I have to not only get up, but subsequently go outside in that mess is pretty awful. While I don't have 10 things for you today, I do have a couple that I think make up for it.



And anyone who claims animals can't feel love clearly hasn't seen this:



Cutest. Puppy. EVER. But wait, there's more (because clearly one box of Kleenex used up isn't enough):



Awwwwwww! Okay, carry on.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Random Thursday: Desert Island - 5 Items I'd Want to Have with Me...

 
Lin, Meg and I have another fantastically creative topic for y'all. If you're fans of High Fidelity (or just top 5 lists in general), this will be right down your alley:


Oh my god this is tough. I know I should probably list unlimited clean drinking water, ample food sources, a way to signal for help, sun screen, camping gear... that sort of stuff. But I'm not gonna. I'm gonna list the non-essentials. Cos they're more interesting. Oh, and I'm also assuming that J. is with me, cos let's face it, he usually is. The cats too.

1. Computer with internet connection.

Music. Movies. And, of course, access to blogs. I honestly don't think I'd last a week without it.

2. Lin.

I cannot last a day without that girl.

3. A library.

Not just a book or two. A LIBRARY.

4. Lip balm.

What? I'm a girl.

5. Beer. Unlimited.

Well I'm assuming that this desert island is warm. And everyone knows that if it's a warm, sunny day, you need an ice cold beer at some point. It's only logical.

That's it for my list of 5. Now it's your turn. What can't you live without? And let's stick with the fun stuff.


Thursday, June 13, 2013

Random Thursday: Give Us a Tour....

 
This week's topic from Lin, Meg and myself is one that will require a little clean up:

The most obvious tour to give is one of your house. But it can also be a tour of your town, your car, your office, your stamp collection... whatever strikes your fancy!

Unfortunately I'm sitting this week out because a) my house is an absolute tip and b) I have a work event coming up this Saturday and I'm just way too busy and stressed about that to deal with the added stress of showing my house to the internet. However, check out Meg and Lin's posts and, of course, link up below!

To make it up to you:







 


Better? Link up:

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Random Thursday: Phone Photo Dump...

 
And.... we're back! Lin, Meg and I have another (possibly embarrassing) topic for ya:


So... funny story. About a month or so ago, I decided to take a bath. Which led to a life learning moment: a bathtub, a phone and three cats do not make a good combination. Yeah, you guessed the rest of this story. On the plus side I got a spiffy new phone. On the minus side, I lost most of what was saved on the old one. So y'ain't getting more than a few pics from me this week! And they aren't very good. In no particular order:

This is the watermelon beer J. and I tried on my birthday. It was.... interesting.

A picture I took to send to Lin to show her that my nail polish really did match 
my scarf that day. (Yes we have an odd friendship that involves sending each other 
random photos throughout the day. So?)

Another pic I took for Lin - I'm really into tea and wanted to show her 
that one of my fave tea shops, Davids Tea, actually has a menu. 
No joke. It's like 20 pages long.

My cat looking really sad that she can't fit into a paper bag she found.

This is where they're renovating the future Nordstrom's in Vancouver. 
I took this to send to Lin (but forgot to) because I wanted to ask her 
if she or Rusty had any idea how in the hell they got those cranes 
(or whatever they are) up there???

 My old home away from home - my favourite bar. Which has apparently gone 
upscale since I stopped hanging out there on the regular and has painted the tables 
(they used to be bare wood made from old bowling lanes that had pennies jammed in 
the cracks and graffiti all over them). Wonder if there's a connection between those two 
things?? (And yes, this was also a pic I sent to Lin.)

Yep, super exciting. Also makes me realize I need to start taking more photos with my new phone! I'm absolutely certain you can do better than this, so link up below and show us how it's done!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...