This afternoon I was pretty domestic doing laundry and such. My lack of carbs at lunch left me a bit hungry around 4:30 so I grabbed a snack to fuel me for a walk with Rascal. My disappointment in finding the full fat yogurt this morning led me still wanting yogurt. I had swapped out the undesirables at TJ’s earlier so I was good to go.
I love to nuke berries in the microwave and top them with Greek yogurt (or vice versa). There’s something about the combination of hot and cold that I really like. Unfortunately I overestimated the number of seconds that it would take to turn my fresh raspberries into a fruity syrup, which resulted in a catastrophe in the microwave. After cleaning that up and salvaging some raspberries that escaped the ramekin, I topped the berries with about 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, a few chocolate chips and PB Puffins. Several Puffins also made it into my mouth without being photographed. It was great and just what I needed.
Rascal and I set off on a walk on a greenway I had forgotten about until I stumbled upon it yesterday on my run. He was surprisingly interested in the other dogs which is not like him at all. He has a bit of a reputation for being a snob to all the other dogs in our condo building. I think he just doesn’t have any idea that he is a dog.
Back at home, I started dinner. I wanted to roast an acorn squash and mix it with quinoa. Quinoa is one of those words that I never say correctly, even though I know how to say it. I always said it in my head as it looks (qui-no-a) so it is difficult for me to say it correctly out loud (keen-wah). While the acorn squash was cooking I snuck in some stomach exercises.
I cooked 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups of vegetable stock and added a huge minced shallot that I sauteed. I also added about 1 tsp. of thyme and about 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon. I also added about 1/3 cup of chopped almonds, macadamia nuts, and dried cranberries. I seared some salmon in a cast iron skillet with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper on both sides. Green beans were also cooked in boiling water. Lastly I piled everything on top of each other (fancy restaurant style), heated up some of my grandfather’s homemade barbecue sauce that we always have in the fridge, and brushed the salmon generously with the sauce.
If you're ever feeling fancy, just pile all of your food on top of each other...everyone will be so impressed.
The chef received many compliments from her only dinner guest (Brad). He told me I had to write the recipe down. I’m really into cooking without directions and even when I do follow a recipe, it’s rarely to the T. Thankfully, blogging serves many purposes. 🙂
Later, we will definitely be partaking some leftover gingerbread.