Quinoa Salad, A Dog Fight, and Dark Chocolate Dreams

Hi friends! My random blog title is reflective of the mood I am in. Ever feel like your brain is going in 10 different directions? Then you get it! Before I get to my tasty quinoa salad dinner, here are some things I must discuss:

#1 – My Memorial Day evening hike turned out to be pretty adventurous, mainly because Harley got attacked by another dog! OK, attacked sounds sort of dramatic since there was no blood shed, but it was a bit scary at the time.

The situation: We were hiking at the toughest part of Kwaay Paay Summit, where it’s super steep and narrow, and came across a guy with his dog. Harley and I stopped a bit away to see how to go about this, as there’s no way that 2 people and 2 dogs can cross each other at this point in the hike. There’s barely room for 1 person really. The guy hopped up on this little ledge off the trail and picked his Pit Bull up and put him on the side as well. So, assuming we were getting the go-ahead, Harley and I started walking up past these hikers.

As we’re passing them, the other dog lunges past its owner and tries to attack Harley. Now, they say not to get in the middle of a dog fight, but realistically, that’s exactly what your gut reaction is… especially when your only other option is to let your dog go tumbling down a mountain with a dog who has probably 20 pounds on her trying to rip her eyeballs out.

If you can imagine it, I was trying to keep my balance on a tiny awkward dirt path while at the same time trying to break up 2 dogs who are going at it. And let me tell you, my sweet little friendly girl turned into ONE CRAZY BITCH! Her teeth were out all crazy, and she was making these horrific noises I’ve never heard her make before.

In the end, the guy regained control of his dog, and I picked up Harley and rushed past them. When I looked down at her after we were in the clear, she was looking at me like, “Let me at him mom, I can take him!” Yes, I know I personify Harley a lot, but seriously, if she could talk she would totally be saying that. 😉

So, although this was the second most scary thing that’s happened with Harley thus far (the first being her literally jumping out of my car window while I was driving one time…), I have to say, I’m kind of proud of her. It made me gain confidence that she’s my protector who would go all crazy ass on someone who tried to hurt me, and not just roll over to have her belly pet. She’s quite the character!

#2- I came across a jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter at the store yesterday… and I’m already obsessed. If you see this at your food store and like PB and chocolate, you must try it!

#3 – If you’d like to check out a great collection of photos from Memorial Day, check out this. It features MDW photos from around the web, including one from my post yesterday.

#4 – I finally picked up the second Hunger Games book and have started reading it. I love it already! Speaking of books, I’m still refusing to read 50 Shades of Grey for now, as I heard the writing style sucks and am not really feeling all the hoopla surrounding the book. Oh Katniss, how I’ve missed you…

#5 – Last but certainly not least, dinner! Inspired from seeing a prepackaged quinoa salad mix yesterday, I whipped one up for dinner tonight. This salad will certainly give you your fill of produce and vitamins! I used a box of a quinoa blend from the brand Near East, which is a mix of quinoa and brown rice. You could always use plain old quinoa too, but I’m a fan of this mix:

Quinoa Salad

Serves 2

• 1 box of Near East roasted red pepper & basil quinoa/brown rice blend
• 2/3 c frozen fire roasted corn, thawed
• 2 fennel bulbs, chopped
• 1/2 c cherry tomatoes, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1-2 green onion, chopped
• 1/2 avocado (2 oz), cut into chunks

Cook the quinoa according to package directions. After you add the spice sack to the pot, add the bell pepper into the mix.

Combine the corn, fennel, tomatoes, green onion, and avocado in a bowl.

Once the quinoa blend is done cooking, remove from heat and stir all the veggies in. Combine well.

This salad will be delish either hot or cold.

Stats per serving: 430 calories, 9 g fat, 12 g protein, 71 g carbs

Off to take Harley for a stroll!

(Super Healthy!) Quinoa Lettuce Wraps

Anyone else find this hilarious?

I do have a Pinterest account, but fortunately, I definitely don’t spend more time on it than I do working out!

Onto food…

On Tuesday night I ate dinner at a Japanese restaurant. This must have put me in an Asian food kind of mood, because I found myself thinking about lettuce wraps yesterday. I just so happened to have randomly bought fresh ginger at the farmer’s market (I couldn’t even tell you why…) and had a ton of different veggies around. I also found miso paste in the back of my fridge from when my friend moved almost a year ago and gave me all the food from her kitchen. I checked the expiration date and it was still good, so with that,  I came up with these vitamin-packed lettuce wraps:

Quinoa Lettuce Wraps

• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1 large carrot, peeled
• 1/4 c dry quinoa (Ancient Harvest)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 large cucumber
• 1 oz gourmet mushrooms
• 1 TSP brown sugar
• 1/2 TBSP red miso paste
• 4 TBSPs water
• Fresh grated ginger (I’d guesstimate 1 TSP)
• 1 TSP roasted sesame seeds
• A few fresh basil leaves, chopped
• Iceberg lettuce leaves (I made 4 wraps)
• Salt & pepper

Cook quinoa according to directions.

Meanwhile, heat 2 TBSPs of water in a skillet over medium heat. Mince garlic, and add it and the ginger to the pan. Finely chop the pepper, carrot, and mushrooms, and add to the skillet. Cook for a few minutes until softened, then remove from heat. (Add additional water if it starts to get dry.)

Next, place remaining water and brown sugar in a saucepan, and dissolve over low heat. Add in miso paste, and stir until it’s combined with the sugar/water mixture. Meanwhile, chop basil leaves and julienne the cucumber.

Once quinoa is done cooking, put on a small plate. Mix the miso sauce with the veggies, and pour on top of quinoa. Add basil, cucumber, and sesame seeds, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon some of the mixture into each lettuce leave to enjoy.

Nutrition facts: 300 calories, 7 g fat, 12 g protein, 59 g carbs

Nutty Veggie Quinoa

If that’s true, then my fat cried a river this evening! My boxing class had me literally dripping sweat. It was totally gross, yet awesome!

This afternoon I realized that while my diet yesterday included a bunch of fruit, the only veggie I had eaten was a few tablespoons of hummus. I decided to quickly remedy my lack of veggie intake and throw together a lunch using the zucchini and bell pepper I had on hand. The pine nuts add a bit of crunch to the dish, and the parmesan really gives plain quinoa a lot of flavor.

Nutty, Cheesy Veggie Quinoa 

• 1 serving of quinoa, dry (1/4 cup Ancient Harvest organic)
• 1 small zucchini, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 TBSP pine nuts (TJ’s pignolia nuts)
• 2 TBSP grated parmesan cheese (Boar’s Head)
• Salt & pepper

I cooked the quinoa according to directions, throwing the veggies into the mix as I boiled the quinoa and water in a pot.

When quinoa was cooked, I removed from heat, added in cheese, pine nuts, salt & pepper, mixed it all up and then enjoyed my healthy lunch!

Nutrition Stats: 305 calories, 10 g fat, 11 g protein, 44 g carbs

I have some more work to get done tonight and am already starting to feel exhausted, so I better get to it. Good night!