Recipe: Quinoa Fruit Salad

Yum yum! Another recipe score!

Ingredients:

1 c rinsed, uncooked quinoa (or ~2.5-3 c cooked)

1 c vanilla yogurt

1/4 c honey

1 T fresh mint, chopped

1 pineapple, cut into bite-size pieces

1 pint strawberries, cut into bite-size pieces

4 peaches, cut into bite-size pieces

1) Cook the quinoa

2) While it's cooking, mix together yogurt, honey and mint for the dressing.

3) Mix the quinoa into the yogurt. Add in fruits and toss.

4) Chill, then serve.

Simple, fast delicious! I made up this recipe because I imagined it would taste good. I looked for other recipes like it, but I couldn't find any. Now I just need a name for it. Quinoa reminds me of fish eggs, but that's a disgusting name for a fruit salad. Any suggestions?

Tofu Pineapple Fried Rice

It's been a while since I posted a recipe, but this one turned out so goshdarn well I had to share it. It's my first successful fried rice, so I'm pretty happy.

Ingredients:

~1 cup pineapple chunks, preferably fresh, but you could use canned for convenience. I just ask that you reserve the juice to make a smoothie or something.

~3 T cooking oil

~3-4 c leftover rice. If making new rice, be sure to put it in the fridge for an hour or so first.

~1 package of firm tofu, cubed into 1-inch pieces

~1/4 c chopped onion (the original recipe called for 3 spring onions, but I used what onion I had)

~3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

~1 chili, finely chopped

~1 T cilantro, finely chopped

~1 egg

~1/4 c vegetable/chicken stock

~1/2 c frozen peas (can add more for healthier fried rice. I used about a cup)

~1/2 c raisins (or craisins in my case, because I didn't have raisins in the house)

~1/2 c cashews (I finally used some of those cashews, mom!)

Sauce:

~3 T soy sauce

~2 t curry powder

~1 T lime juice

~1/2 t sugar

Directions:

~Fry the tofu in 1 T oil at some point. I multi-tasked and made the tofu while making the fried rice.

~Mix the sauce together.

1) Mix 1 T oil in with the rice, making sure it's all coated and the clumps of rice are separated.

2) Stir-fry the Onion, garlic and chili in 1 T oil for about a minute in a large frying pan/wok.

3) Push everything to the side, and scramble the egg in the empty space. Mix with the rest after it's cooked.

4) Add the peas, and add the veggie stock bit by bit as needed-may not need it all. Just when it starts to dry out, add some more.

5) Stir in the rest of the ingredients, and drizzle the sauce over everything. Do not add any more stock after this. Stir-fry everything together for 5-10 minutes, until it's reached a consistency you think you will enjoy. :)

6) Put the tofu in with it, and serve/eat!

I should have taken a picture.... Then it'd be like a real blog. Maybe I should make a video of myself cooking.

I do have nutrition facts for you, though. That's above and beyond! I'm doing B-level work, here, folks! (FYI, not the healthiest, but better than most restaurants, probably.) Disclaimer: This is with the ingredients I used. The ingredients you use will make a difference.

Calories: 400

Fat: 16g

Cholesterol: 43mg

Sodium: 756mg (could replace with low-sodium soy sauce)

Potassium: 170 mg

Carbs: 50g

Dietary Fiber: 6g

Sugar: 9g

Protein: 16.5g

Vitamin A: 10.5%

Vitamin C: 21.2%

Calcium: 8%

Iron: 15%

Day at the Mall

MOA on a Saturday. Never again.

I endured a packed train, crowds and screaming kids for a day of job searching and buying some tops for work.

I guess it wasn't that bad. I never had to wait in very many lines. I got a few good deals and had a delicious dinner of a falafel pita (Go to the Pita Pit next time you're at the Mall! So good!) and taro bubble tea.

I applied for jobs at Pita Pit, Ragstock and H&M. I probably won't get the job at H&M because they require complete availability on Saturdays and Sundays (as the manager I spoke to told me several times) and I work every other Saturday morning at Wells Fargo. Ragstock is hiring a lot of people right now, though, so hopefully they hire me!

I also found an awesome vest at Ragstock. I love their "vintage" (used) section.

Happiness is

Not a warm gun, despite what the Beatles may tell you. Although, that is relative. Some people probably really enjoy warm guns.

In any case, I think I am a very happy person. At my lowest, I am weary, but more that 90% of the time, I am content. Someone can be ruder than a toot, and I might feel a little flustered, but I am still generally happy. I am comfortable in almost every situation.

I don't really know why, though. I never try to be happy. I don't look for ways to make my life more enjoyable. But at the same time, I don't think I'm settling for something that could be better. Life is life. Some things you can control. Other things, you can't.

Not to say I don't wish things could be better. I could always use more money, for example. But I am not miserably poor, and I am really grateful for that. The only control I have over my income is how much I work, and I'm applying for a second job, and trying to glean as many hours as I can from the bank.

I really don't have any other problems in my life. I'm sure I could find some, if I looked. I should probably be lonely, but if I were lonely, I'd probably do something about it. I should want to find a significant other, but if I really wanted one, I'd try and find one.

Although I'm not sure how successful I would be. Life happens to us. We react to our situations. There's only so much we can do to make a life. I can't find an elderly rich relative out of nowhere to find more money (plus, that'd be elder abuse), and I am not so poor that I would even consider a sugar daddy (which could also be elder abuse!).

Maybe more ambition and discomfort would do me good. Might get me further towards my goals than where I am now. Or it might make me unhappy because I am not reaching them fast enough.

Hmm... awkward!

So, I am not one to closet myself. I am always willing to talk the truth with whoever I am with. But today at work, it just made things awkward between a customer and I.

Trying to flirt with me, he asked me how my boyfriend feels about me working all weekend. I tell him that I don't have one. "What? What's a beautiful girl like you doing without a boyfriend?"

"Nah, I don't need one."

"You could have a lot of boyfriends!"

"Yeah, I'm sure I could. If it happens, it happens. I don't need anyone right now." I was trying to be nonchalant, trying not to flirt back, but not shutting him out, because he is a customer.

"As long as you don't want a girlfriend."

At this, I just felt awkward. "If it happens, it happens," I replied. Honest, right?

"No... Why a beautiful girl like you would want a girlfriend..." He trailed off muttering, as I finished his transaction and quickly changed the subject to something like his work.

How do I react to this? I am unsure. I am an out and proud bisexual, but this man was obviously uncomfortable by the idea, and here I am, trying to make him into a loyal customer. I hope I handled it ok.

My favorite number is 6.

What is your favorite number? Participate in this study: http://favouritenumber.net/ (Why do the British always have the coolest internet studies?)

Six is a beautiful shade of dark blue. Sometimes 6 is silvery, too. Sixes are most beautiful when they are together. 66, 666, .66. They are the ocean waves. A six is a sleeping cat.

A six makes any other number seem cooler. The quiet, pale 7 becomes a rockstar when 67, because sixes are cool and mysterious and sexy. Don't even get me started on how sexy an awkward 9 becomes when with a 6.

Yet, sixes are comforting as well, a tire swing to play in, a mothers arm holding her baby. 6 is balanced and grounded. A 6 might roll around a bit, but a six won't fall like a 7 or a 9.

Sexy six is a much better number than that ugly, old, pee-yellow 8.

This is the approximate color scheme of a 6. It's a bit more shiny that that, though. It was the closest I could find in quick google search.

This is also a good example of the color six.

Life on the West Bank - No, not that West Bank

So, I have been living by the West Bank of the UofMN for about a month and a half now, and I have to say that I really like it.

1) The proximity to everything. I can get almost anywhere in the cities in an hour or less using public transit, aside from random obscure places in St Paul. I can even get to random obscure places in the suburbs, especially if I bring my bike along. To get groceries or do laundry, I just walk or take the bus about a mile away.

2) My house is surprisingly cool, temperature-wise. Especially in this week of Minnesauna, where the world is melting unless it's in AC. I don't have AC, but my house is a good 10 degrees cooler. I can actually use a sheet at night and comfortably sleep. It's so hot outside, I actually jumped through a sprinkler on my way home from work. It took all my will power to keep my pants on.

3) My neighborhood is surprisingly quiet. Considering how high the crime rate allegedly is, how many bars are nearby, how many low-income students and immigrants live around here, I don't hear a thing, aside from a dog barking or some kids playing. I even live about 2 blocks from the freeway, and I rarely hear traffic.

4) Work is nice. It's doable and stimulating enough where I enjoy doing it. I do need a second job though, just for extra income. Maybe a restaurant will hire me for weekends, or something. I could bus tables or be a host at a restaurant or something.

5) There's room for one more! I have a lot of space that I don't use. Roommate forthcoming, at some point!