Good evening!
Today I enjoyed doing absolutely nothing. I offered to help Eric paint, but he said, ‘Ange, just take the day to relax and veg out.’
He is brilliant if I do say so myself. That, or he doesn’t want me messing up the painting and didn’t have the heart to tell me…
So yes.
I sat. I vegged.
I ate some of this…
I deemed this The Day of Theo Mint Chocolate.
This chocolate is straight from our Florida trip. It has been hidden in my dresser, buried under clothes and I forgot about it for weeks. I know this may sound like I am a 90 year old lady who hides things and then forgets about their location, but trust me, I need to hide this chocolate from myself.
This may help explain…
I packed a small suitcase full of European chocolate when Eric and I were at the tail end of our honeymoon. I had to bring a huge stash back to Canada with me. Why is European chocolate so much better?
So yes, I had the most lazy morning and afternoon. It was great.
Around 5:30pm, Eric and I went to the pool to swim laps! We had a lovely swim and we even met a new running/tri friend. :) The pool is turning out to be a great place to meet people! Who knew?
The swim:
- 40 mins
- Alternated freestyle, breaststroke, and flutter board
- approx 35 lengths/875 metres
We showered, dried off in the sauna where we met another triathlete/runner, and then headed back to the car. I ripped into this Glo Bar!
It was 7pm and I was starving. Dinner was not in sight for at least 45 minutes. I saw hubby eying the Glo Bar, so I split it with him. True Love.
We drove home and made this awesome dinner (thanks to a wonderful tip from blog reader, Jen).
Quinoa Salad with Homemade Vinaigrette
Adapted from Quinoa Greek Salad.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 orange or red pepper, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1/4 cup green onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion (or sweet), chopped
- Seasonings (Oregano, basil, salt and peppa)
- 1 clove Minced Garlic (optional) I rarely use garlic because I can’t digest it well.
Dressing:
- I made a full batch of my Better Than Bottled Balsamic Vinaigrette to pour over top. I looove this dressing.
Directions: In a pot, bring vegetable broth to a boil and reduce to medium-low. Add 1 cup quinoa and stir gently. Cook for about 15 mins. stirring often. Set aside when quinoa is cooked and has absorbed the broth. While it is cooking chop vegetables. Throw everything into a big casserole dish and then pour homemade dressing over top. Serve immediately or chill in fridge for a couple hours.
We loved this! Thank you Jen!!! :) The homemade dressing went awesome with it.
I had seconds…
and then more chocolate. ;)
By the way, I have been meaning to tell you about a discovery that my mother-in-law told me about! I always have a huge issue with crying when I chop onions, like many people. Well, my MIL told me to run cold water (just ever so slightly) while chopping the onions and you won’t shed one tear. I was very skeptical, but I tried it last week and it worked like a charm! It was so nice to be able to cut onions and not have tears running down my face.
Updates:
- Vegan overnight oats spotting!
- I have a new quotes page! Yes, finally. I know. Many of you have been asking me for a quotes pages for months now, and I finally added one. I will be updating it frequently.
- Reader Green Monster recipes are up
- Some of you have been asking me how to get a picture/avatar beside your comment– go to www.gravatar.com and sign up for a free account to upload your picture!
I’m off to tame this wild post-pool/no hairdryer hair and then we are going to meet a couple friends for a drink. Hopefully I remember to drink a big glass of water before bed so I don’t wake up parched.
Tonight’s question- Do you have any tricks up your sleeve that you use in the kitchen when cooking or baking? Do tell.
One of my favourite tricks is to dip a knife into a glass of cold water before spreading icing. Another trick is to make a glaze (made from milk + icing sugar) and coat the cake with a thin layer of glaze and let it dry in the fridge. Once it is firm, then you can ice the cake and this helps prevent crumbs from getting all over the icing.
Regarding the onion, I keep mine in the fridge and have never shed a tear. That salad look great!
Love the new layout! Doesn’t it feel good sometimes to jsut relax?! And of course enjoy some chocolate : )
Thanks for the onion tip!! I cry like a baby when I cut them!
OBSESSED with the new layout! I’m partial to blue :-P This reminds me of the old layout but more updated and streamlined
glad you took the day off, you need it, don’t want to burn yourself out!!
When I bake with chocolate I always add a little instant coffee or espresso powder – it brings out the chocolate more!! And when I make veggie chili I add cocoa powder to give it some more richness (that normally meat would give).
So yay for coffee and chocolate!
And European chocolate IS better *g* … I am from Germany and my favourite German one is “Ritter Sport” chocolate (a chocolate square in aaall sorts of flavours) and second best would be the Swiss Lindt Chocolate! When I had some American chocolate (I haven’t had a chance to taste Canadian chocolate yet ;-)) I thought it didn’t taste creamy and chocolaty but rather dry and cocoa powder-like, but not in a good way!
All the Germans I know that live abroad always demand chocolate survival parcels to be sent to them :-)
And Angela, the new layout looks sooo gorgeous!! :-) Love it!
I love the new setup!! You look beautiful. :)
Glad you had a day of rest. There was none of that in my weekend, but in a very good way. Thanks for the icing tips. I always hate icing things. I don’t have issues with crying and chopping onions, but I’m glad you found a way to relieve it for yourself.
THANK YOU for the quotes page! I love it and can’t wait to read through all of them.
Angela, I absolutely LOVE THE NEW WEBSITE DESIGN!! the colors totally do echo the older OSG, which I think fit you much better than the orange/yellow, too. It is so refreshing and inviting!! and the picture of you on the top is gorgeous!
I think quinoa is in my top three favorite foods…I could eat it for every meal!
My best cooking tip is to mix a tiny bit of OJ in with guacamole or mashed avocado to keep it from turning brown. You can’t really taste it unless you are thinking about it — and actually, I really like the slight tang it gives avocado….which is my number 1 favorite food :) I ate a whole avocado with a spoon in the kitchen at work on Thursday and got lots of strange looks from the other teachers!
For frosting cake, you can also refrigerate the cake or cupcakes for a bit to keep the crumbs from getting into the icing (I think that’s a tip I learned from a Betty Crocker video back in the day). Chilling the knife seems easier, though!
Reading your blog from Ireland here, and I love this site, got such a shock when I saw Cadburys and Milka chocolate popping up in this post :D
Haha, I’ve tried all the tricks with onions in the past, wearing sunglasses while chopping etc. but I don’t know if I buy a different brand these days because I never cry anymore :D
European chocolate is so good!! I would recommend trying Finnish chocolate :P
That’s a great tip for icing a cake!!!
A day without chocolate is like…well, it’s like a day that’s not good. I
I like my chocolate so dark lately that I’m not sure I even need the sugar anymore, so I’ve been looking for some cacao nibs to experiment with.
After 15 years as a cake decorator, my #1 tip is to always keep a little plastic bag (snip the corner to make a decorating bag) and a star decorating tip on hand. You can make nearly anything look impressive with those two tools, from deviled eggs to fancy drizzled things.
And if you have trouble icing something smoothly, drag your spatula back and forth to make ripples, then pull it sharply in the other direction (once up, then once down, then up again.) Does that make sense? It looks pretty and takes mere seconds!
Thanks for sharing that recipe! It looks wonderful.
About onions, my tip is to keep them in the fridge, you won’t shed a tear! :)
Your dinner looks awesome! I love light salads like that for summer meals. :)
My kitchen tip is to use ice cube trays to freeze small portions of things like coconut milk and tomato paste after you open the cans. Then when you need a serving, you can just pop it out and use it!
I love those tricks, I need to try the onion one because I am always crying over onions. Sometimes I don’t even use them because I can’t deal with the pain haha!
That Quinoa salad looks so refreshing, gonna have to try that one!
One of my tricks to keep from choking when cleaning jalapenos is to soak them in warm sugar water for about an hour, before deseeding them.
LOVE that chocolate stash!! I am the biggest chocolate fan. Cadbury is my absolute favourite and, luckily, that is the main chocolate we get here (Australia). When I travel to places that don’t have Cadbury, I crave it!