three cheers...

...for mourning dove coos gently waking you in the morning, longer hours of daylight, balmy breezes, and sixty three glorious degrees fahrenheit!

happy spring!!

what to make when the cupboard is bare

full time work and school schedules make grocery shopping next to impossible, unless you like perusing the harsh fluorescent lit aisles at 11:30 at night.

last night we began cooking dinner at 9 pm, and neither of us had the motivation to take a trip to the gro sto. were forced to be creative, since we were running low on a lot of things, except a few staples we had stocked in the pantry and two whole red peppers. the result of our iron-chef level of creativity was delicious!

stuffed red peppers with rice, raisins, and cashews

ingredients:

2 whole red peppers

1 1/2 c. rice

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

hadful cilantro

1/4 c. raisins

1/4 c. cashews

olive oil

juice of 1 lime

salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder to taste

method

remove caps from red peppers. slice in half lengthwise and remove seeds. brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and grill on grill pan, about 5 minutes on each side. (put a lid on top of the pepper to push them down and get some nice lookin' grill lines as well). remove from heat, set aside.

cook rice. in large skillet, saute diced onion in a little bit of olive oil. add garlic when onion becomes soft and begins to brown. add rice and continue to saute, adding lime juice to pick up any rice or onion that might have become stuck to the bottom of the pan.

add spices, more lime juice, raisins and cashews. continue to saute another 5 minutes. toss in a handful of chopped cilantro (we have a ton that we needed to harvest from the aerogarden! yum... fresh herbs!!!)

fill each half of the pepper with a generous amount of the rice. serve immediately, with one more squeeze of lime juice. add crumbled feta on top, if you're feeling frisky (and you're not vegan).

after work DIY!

my itch to diy anything and everything is starting to wreak havoc on my house. because our house is small, my boyfriend and i are slowly but surely being driven out by crochet hooks, fabric scraps, spools of thread, skeins of yarn, and hot glue guns. i want a place to relax and get out all of my diy ya-ya's that doesn't make my living room look like a catastrophe, but a tiny house with little extra space forces me to be creative.

after work this afternoon, i zipped over to lowe's to pick up some supplies to make a makeshift sewing/craft/diy area... in the basement. for under $100 dollars i got everything i needed to spruce up a space that doesn't necessarily have to be for laundry and cobwebs.

materials:

-1 14x4 piece of pegboard, cut in thirds (mostly so i could fit it into my car... about $15)

-1 quart eggshell finish paint (i chose valspar 3002-2B- "peach tickle"... about $10)

- 2 packs of assorted peg board hooks (about $10)

-paint brush (which i already had)

-a sunny, warm march afternoon (free!)

i put 2 coats of paint on the boards, but in retrospect i wish i had some primer... the compressed wood absorbs paint kind of streakily. nevertheless, they are outside drying as we speak. i can't wait to put them downstairs and continue the project! more, including pictures of the finished product, coming soon...

spring thoughts

melting snow and 50 degree temperatures this weekend have me anxiously anticipating spring, my most favorite season. looking ahead to warmer, longer days, blue skies, and blossoming trees...

...and these lovely spring things:

how ADORABLE is this one piece from j. crew? delightfully retro, sweet little polka dots, perfect for lounging in the backyard on a 75 degree afternoon with some lemonade and a good book! (my spring read? the help , by kathryn stockett).

sip cool drinks during lazy spring weekends from mexican glass tumblers:

imagine a bunch of freshly cut daffodils smiling at you in this pretty anthropologie vase! delightful.

open windows!! and new, light curtains to billow in the breeze.

spring cleaning is nice. and it is even nicer with all-natural, chemical free products. thieves all-purpose household cleaner from youngliving.com is 100% natural, made from a blend of essential oils that smells fresh, and best of all, won't make you feel like your throat is closing up from chemical fumes!

disfruten en la primavera, chicos!

quinoa... not just a new "q" scrabble word.

recently, i discovered a possible culprit in my seemingly never-ending bouts with exhaustion and sluggishness: wheat. after doing a lot of research into my condition, i found that lots of people deal with the same symptoms that i do when they lead an otherwise healthy lifestyle. despite exercising, getting proper beauty sleep (i need at LEAST 8 hours), and, of course, eating all non-processed foods, wheat allergies can still affect lots of different people in different ways. some complain of indigestion, others of weight gain or loss. still others, including me, experience an inconvenient lack of energy.

speaking of inconvenient, many of the things i love to cook, and subsequently eat, contain wheat. from the joe's o's in my cereal bowl in the morning to the homemade bread from jordan's new breadmaker with dinner in the evening, i can't get enough wheat. what's a girl to do?

start cooking with quinoa, that's what. it's my new favorite. tastes like cous cous, only nuttier. and i just love its texture, especially the little white squiggles that show up when it is finished cooking!

to prepare, simply combine water with rinsed quinoa in a 2:1 ratio, bring to boil in a cooking pot over high heat, then cover and let simmer for 15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. this is your base: from here you can let your imagination run wild with this oh-so versatile whole grain.

last night, i made a batch, let it cool to room temperature, and mixed in some fresh feta, diced grape tomatoes, cucumbers, snipped basil, and thin strips of red onion. i whisked together some orange muscat champagne vinegar from t.j.'s with some olive oil and poured it over everything.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. i don't think i'll miss wheat too terribly after all.