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staying creative : desperate fridge dinner winner

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This week’s picture comes with a recipe! It’s a 2 for 1 deal!

So last night. Dinner. Go out? No. Smoothie bowl? Been there, done that, more times than I remember…this week. Something healthy? And easy? And using up old groceries? YES.

I had frozen salmon in the freezer and quinoa in the pantry. The spinach and arugula expired a few days ago but what’s in a stamped date? Everything else was added on the fly.

Winner, winner, desperate fridge dinner!

Ingredients:

Spinach and Arugula salad base

For the quinoa:

  • 1/4 cup quinoa dry, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • sliced scallions (about 2 Tbsp)
  • fresh parsley (about 2 Tbsp)
  • fresh ground garlic salt to taste

For the salmon:

  • 4 oz. salmon filet
  • 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 Tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Boil the quinoa until water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. When just a little water remains, turn the heat off and let sit, covered, for another 5 minutes or so. Fluff with fork and add remaining ingredients.

While the quinoa is boiling, whisk together the maple syrup, mustard, and vinegar for the salmon glaze. Coat a grill pan with non-stick spray and heat to medium-high before adding the salmon. Cook each side for 4-6 minutes, adding glaze as you flip.

Make a bed with the salad, add the quinoa, and top with the salmon.

Healthy old groceries dinner in under 30 minutes.

As Nike would say, BOOM.

staying creative : mother’s day run

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Well…I was planning on using this one as this week’s creative pic just because I love the colors so darn much…not to mention the subject matter (red velvet cake frozen yogurt!!!):

But then this morning…I took this one. And even though we both look like we’re high on something other than endorphins, it brings me so much joy every time I look at it that I can’t not use it as this week’s featured picture:

That right there is my mom…who couldn’t run two blocks just a few months ago…and ran four miles today. FOUR MILES! And we were only supposed to do three!

There are no words for how proud I am of her gumption, determination, and SUCCESS. She is one tough lady. We’re running a 5k together in June and somehow I doubt it will be our last…or our longest.

GO MOM GO! Happy Mother’s Day!

staying hungry [nc series] : southern food tour

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Well y’all…I did it up right food-wise in the South.

Would you expect anything less?

The soul food train started rolling in the right direction with a classic staple:

Stop #1: Southern fried chicken with applesauce, fried okra, and two buttery biscuits from Mama Dips.

I think I can still feel that brick in my stomach…but oh my word…it was so worth it. I’ve been dreaming of that chicken ever since.

Next was straight to Stop #2, Locopops. Because what better to add to a stomach brick than a layer of ice cream?

This one was AMAZING. Mexican Chocolate, you have my heart.

But as for pure, unadulterated love? That goes to Jubala, Stop #3, and home of one of the best cups of coffee I’ve ever had in my coffee-lovin’ life.

But wait, there’s more! They serve food too! This granola yogurt was good, but I think I have to make a trip back just to try one of their pressed sandwiches (oh my word, the PB&J…).

Never one to leave well enough alone, I went back to Locopops because I couldn’t stop thinking about this Pineapple Basil concoction.

It was a good decision.

Which brings us to Stop #4. I think I could do an entire post on A Southern Season, a mecca for fans of all kinds of culinary wonders. Just to prolong the experience, I decided to have lunch at their attached restaurant, Weathervane.

The chicken salad…it was calling out to me. And I’m so glad I answered. It was over-the-top amazing! And sweet potato fries? One can never go wrong with sweet potato fries.

Unpictured Stop #5: Chick-fil-A. And lots of it!

(Regret: I wish I had tried one of their new cookies. But perhaps, along with the milkshake, that would have been a tad overzealous.)

I knew that after an exhilarating three days in the South I’d need some special fuel to drive North on the fourth. So at Stop #6 I ordered a black iced coffee with a shot of espresso from Caribou Coffee. As far as iced coffees go, it was standard. I appreciated the bold assistance offered up by the espresso. The ambiance probably enthralled me more than the coffee.

At Stop #6.5…I ordered up an iced triple tall caramel macchiato from Starbucks with my free birthday coupon! The fact that I drank one iced coffee, four shots of espresso, and over 2 liters of water and only stopped to use a restroom twice in a 12 hour drive is a testament to years of building up bladder endurance. Admissions travel and cross-country road trip – I’m looking at you.

Ok, people…let’s talk about Stop #7. This was clearly the way to go out with a bang: a chicken biscuit from Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen.

Don’t let it’s unassuming looks deceive you…this breakfast beauty packs a wallop like no other and leaves you wanting more! Oh…SO much more! It’s a good thing I stopped here last because otherwise I would have been tempted to have all of my meals between biscuits.

Alas. all good things must come to an end. Sometimes for your gastrointestinal system’s sake.

Which is why I woke up to this on Sunday morning:

Time to pay the seamstress piper.