Monday, June 25, 2012

Summer Salad


Good morning, Kitschies!  I hope you had a good weekend and didn't melt in the heat.  It's been super hot and there's no rain in sight.  I'm really hoping we get some good monsoons this summer, but it's not looking like that so far.

ANYway...I've been trying to eat healthier (yes, I know you've heard that from me before), but this time I'm serious.  I kinda have to eat better because junk in = junk out.  You're probably tired of hearing me talk about it, but derby kicks my ass...in a good way.  I can practice day in and day out, but until I get my eating under control, I'm not going to see the changes I want/need to see.  So, as a way to keep on top of it, I went on a "healthy" recipe hunt.  You usually think healthy = tasteless (at least I do), but I did my best to make sure what I found was good for you AND tastes good, too.  This is the first recipe I tried.

Quinoa Salad

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup feta
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
Red bell pepper, diced
Spinach, handful, chopped small
Red onion, a few rings, diced small

Dressing
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp Cayenne powder (more or less, depending on preference)
1 Tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste

Cook quinoa. To cook quinoa bring 1 1/4 cup water or chicken broth to a boil (basically the ratio is 1 part quinoa to 1.25 part liquid). Add 1 Cup rinsed quinoa, give it a good stir, reduce heat to low and let it simmer for about 30-35 minutes**

While your quinoa is simmering, make up your dressing by whisking together all dressing ingredients. In a separate bowl add black beans (rinsed, drained), corn (rinsed, drained), diced pepper, spinach and red onion.

Once quinoa is done cooking and has cooled, add it to the other ingredients. Pour dressing over everything. Mix up. Enjoy!

NOTES:  I didn't use fresh limes - I just use the prepared juice.  Next time I think I'll use a bit less cumin - it was a bit strong for my taste.  And...it didn't take anywhere near 30 minutes to cook the quinoa...maybe 15-20 minutes.  I didn't use all the dressing but kept the remaining dressing for a marinade - I think it'll be great on chicken.


So colorful!  I really, really like this, which is good because the hubs...notsomuch.  And the kids?  I didn't even ask them to try it because my previous quinoa recipe didn't go over so well with them.

 

I have been eating on this over the weekend and it's definitely better the second day - all the flavors have had a chance to marry together.  I described this to my sister and she said it sounded like Greek salad, which I think is a good description.  Kind of a southwest Greek salad!

It's shaping up to be a busy week, so take it easy and enjoy some great summer food!  Oh...and I promise to get my blog background changed soon - though it's nice to think of winter when it's so flippin' hot out!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Blue Skies Ahead


Happy weekend, Kitschies!  I hope you're busy doing things that make you happy and you have nothing but blue skies ahead.  Here in the Kitschy household, I'm keeping down the fort while the hubs is on a camping trip.  On today's agenda?  I hope to get some cleaning done and I need to run a few errands - tomorrow is Father's Day and ideally, I'd like to get out while the hubs isn't home but that's not really looking like it's going to happen.

So...in the meantime, I have a mani to share with you.  I haven't a clue when I did this mani - you all know how seriously behind I am in posting.


This is 2-3 coats of a powder blue creme from Color Club (Blue Light, maybe?  It probably came in a set - those don't usually names on the bottles).  As with most pastels, application was horrible.  You can see drag marks on my index and ring fingers.  With a dotting tool, I started with SH Thinking of Blue (navy), then combined it with white to make the cornflower blue dots.  I finished off the gradient dots with SH White On.


All in all, I was happy with this mani.  I have a question, though...how hard is it to make a pastel without it being super streaky and a pain in the butt to apply??  Do you have any tricks when it comes to applying pastel polish?  I'd really love to hear them.

Happy weekend!  See you soon. :)

Friday, June 8, 2012

I'm Still Alive


Helllllooooo, Kitschies!!  Hold on to your hats.  It's going to be a long one...

Have you forgotten about me?  I haven't forgotten about you...promise!!  I can't believe my last post was in MARCH...where has the time gone?!  I have been really super busy with...life...but I'm taking a break and going to get you caught up a little on what I've been doing.

And before I forget...thank you to those of you who've sent me emails recently.  It's you who've *inspired* me to post tonight.  As always, all pictures are click-able to make big-able!

So...last time we talked, I was getting ready for my first derby bout.  That was March 19th.  The season opener was a blast!  We had a packed house and DIA (my team) won their first bout.


That's me (in front) and Carson B Demented (our team captain).  Man...that first bout...I just felt lost through the whole thing.  Well, the first half, anyway.  Then just before the first half was over, I jacked my knee and had to sit out the rest of the time.


I believe this was during the intros...they pronounced my name (Sinestra) wrong...they always do.  LOL


Me after my first bout.  I wish I could've skated more but there was no way my knee was going to cooperate for that!  After about 2 weeks of rest, I was back on my skates, ready for another go at it!

I don't have many other pics of anything else in March.  Oh!  Easter!  Or was that April?  Either way...here's a few from Easter.



I love all three of those pictures!  We had Easter at my MIL's house - always good food...always a good time!

We took the boys to ABQ Jump for Mother's Day...and even I got to jump!  We had a nice lunch and the kids had fun and that's what really matters.




Nate graduated from Kindergarten in May, too!  Awww...my little Monkey is growing up so fast!  They had a cute little ceremony for all the "graduates".  I remember his first day like it was just a month ago...next thing I know, he'll be graduating from high school.  *sigh*



We had our second bout on May 19th - there weren't as many people but we skated great!  I didn't feel like I was completely lost the second time around and my knees held up.  I even got a couple of good blocks in there!  Oh...and we beat the HoBots.  Yay!


This is my current favorite picture of the boys.  It's so hard to get them to settle down long enough for a good picture, but I lucked out on this one!



We celebrated Mason's 3rd birthday on Memorial Day weekend because I was out of town on his actual birthday.  We had family and friends gather at a park and had cupcakes to celebrate!

And...I think you're up to date.  The hubs and his hetero life partner have their first ever COMICS booth at Albuquerque Comic Expo this weekend!  This is at least 15 (probably more like 20) years in the making.  I am proud of them for finally getting their stuff together and presenting their baby to the world!  I can't wait to see how it goes.

I've still been doing my nails and take pictures from time to time, but I haven't done any prepping.  Maybe some day (soon) I'll post a "highlights" post of the best ones from the last few months.

I promise not to be gone so long this time.  And I need to give my blog a facelift.  It hasn't felt like winter here in New Mexico in a long, long time!!

Laters babe.