Love Moments - February 24th, 2013

Well another whirl wind weekend!!! I'll start with the Quinoa salad recipe I promised earlier in the week.

I made this one up as I went and measured nothing so I am going to do my best to put a recipe down!

Quinoa, Chickpea, and Feta Salad
Yield: LOTS we have been eating it all week!
Time: 1/2 hour - so super quick

Ingredients: 
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1 can of chickpea, rinsed
1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1 cup artichoke hearts, diced ( I used the jarred ones)
1 orange pepper, diced
1 cucumber, diced
1/4 cup basil, diced
1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Optional  Ideas - Red Peppers, Olives, Red Onion, Garlic , Mushrooms, Snap peas, really you could add anything that your heart desires.

Put all the ingredients in a large bowl. Make your dressing, see below.

Dressing:
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp of vegenaise
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk the dressing together. Check the taste and add more or less of any of the above ingredients to make it exactly to your liking. Play around with it, make it how you want it to taste. As I said earlier a lot of time with dressings I just pour and taste as I go. I very rarely measure.

Mix your dressing onto your salad and your ready to eat! This is one of my favourite salads, it makes a large amount and it tastes good everyday. You know how some foods just don't taste the same unless they are freshly made, well I swear this ones gets better when you eat it day after day :)

This was definitely a whirl wind weekend but we managed to accomplish a lot! I read a good novel, got some studying done (although not as much as I was supposed too), saw some good friends and family, and ate good food. What more could I ask for in a weekend! Well maybe a longer one.... lol

Here are my love moments from this weekend:

Love Moment 1: 
Conquering my fear of running/walking "Bear Trail." I know this sounds really strange but the name of this trail has really been freaking my out! But I finally just did it! Yay for conquering fears.

"Bear Trail"

Near the end of the trail where it starts to meet up with houses again I came across this great duck pond, that is literally some one's backyard! They made the pond and over the years have gotten all the ducks to come to it! We just stood and watched them for a good ten minutes. The dog was very confused. 

Love Moment 2: 
Heading out to meet up with the family (my mom, dad, brother, and sister in law), mike stopped to treat me to a tea which was really nice of him.

We also decided to take the dog to see the family as well! She just loves car rides!!!

She is staring out the back window at all the cars!

 We had an amazing dinner at our favourite Indian Restaurant called Tandoori Kona. We used to be regulars there until we moved an hour away. It is such amazing food, and I was so hungry that I completely forgot to take any photos while we were at the restaurant!

This is my brother and his pride and joy! 

We had an epic game of poker after dinner, in which I kicked every one's butt! It was my brother and I at the end and I managed to beat him with two great hands.

Love Moment 3:
Lazy Sunday Mornings!! I slept in, made a healthy and yummy oatmeal breakfast and a cup of tea, meditated, relaxed in silence and just pondered for a good half hour looking out at nature. It was perfect. Then I read my novel for an hour before finally getting up and taking the dog for a walk. Sometimes taking that little extra time for yourself in the morning can really change your outlook on the day. It was great!

Yummmm!

Meditation Table: Diffuser, Candles, Books....

Love Moment 4:

Completing my first bootie order for a girl at work who bought some for her girlfriend. She is having a baby boy on Mar.2nd. Aren't they just adorable! 

To end of our weekend we went to a friends for dinner and to watch our weekly TV show. They made us amazing burners, spinach salad, and yam fries. Soooo good!!!! Thanks guys, always fun times!

That's all for now folks!! Have a wonderful Sunday night!