Confession: I love food.

Along with my love of good food, I also love finding new recipes and trying them.  I love it especially when I find a new one that I love!!!  This is the case with last night's quinoa salad.

A couple weeks ago, I was perusing a leftover copy of Real Simple magazine.  I like that magazine because it offers fabulous tips & useful tricks.  The magazine usually showcases a new food and then gives you different options.  In this particular issue, they were suggesting trying couscous.  (Note:  Couscous is gluteneous.  I actually did not know that couscous was a major no-no for the gluten intolerant.  It's listed on my 5-page list of NO-NO's.) 

The picture of the salad looked fabulous...  There were chunks of avocado and onions...and a smattering of kidney beans.  And too top it off - fresh squeezed lime juice.  My taste buds were salivating.

I pondered the recipe and the texture of couscous and wondered if I could substitute to quinoa, so I did the most logical thing...I sent a text to my mom.  She didn't see why it would be issue and bid me goodluck!!!

Sunday night I cooked the quinoa.  It takes about 20 minutes for the all the water to absorb and the quinoa to expand.  Cooking this the night before really did help my Monday night to be too insanely crazy from the time I returned from work and the rush-rush-rush to get back out the door to Ladies Club.

Here's a picture of tonight's (Tuesday) supper - leftover quinoa, kidney bean, and lime salad.

And here's my version of the recipe...

Ingredients:
3 cups of quinoa cooked
2 15-ounce cans of kidney beans, drained and rinsed.
2 avocados, cut into chunks
8 scallions, chopped
2 limes, juiced

Directions:
1. Cook quinoa per directions.
2. Chill cooked quinoa.
3. In a bowl, combine all ingredients and stir well.
4. Stir in quinoa.
5. Serve salad chilled.  Enjoy!

Apple shopping

It's nights like tonight that I miss the Cherry Valley Apple Orchard.  You see, at said apple orchard, they have a table set-up where you can sample all the apples.  It's fabulous. 

They don't have a table like that at Woodman's.  AND they did not have my favorite apples...Fuji. 

Picture me standing there with one of those red shopping baskets (the baskets that say, hey-I-don't-need-too-many-items-but-I-forgot-all-the-little-items-weigh-something-and-now-my-fingers-are-numb baskets) in one hand and two gallons of water in the other hand.  My purse was perched on my left shoulder.  I always put my purse straps on my left shoulder.  I wonder if in my elder years, I will walk lopsided because of the added weight on/to one side of my body.

There I was...standing, weighed-down with miscellaneous grocery items, 2 gallons of water, and my black purse. ...searching for my beloved Fuji apples. 

I love apples and peanut butter.  And I know that peanut butter is not the healthiest of all the nut butters out there...but FOR REAL ---> it's peanut butter and it's better than dipping my apples in carmel.  (Yum! by the way.)

My options:
Granny Smith - I only use these for applesauce or apple pie filling.

Delicious - No thanks, I don't like eating food with a sponge consistency. 

Golden Delicious - They have the word "Delicious" in them and I have trust issues.  Also, if you have to call yourself "delicious" isn't that a little pride-ful, I mean for real?

And lastly...Pink Lady.

I opted for the Pink Lady apples because they were a nice, "healthy" shade of pinkish red...probably has something to do with their name.  Hmmmm...

I have purchased these apples in the past but I cannot remember if I liked them.  I'm hoping that I liked them.  I didn't look at them and shudder (as with the Delicious ones). 

Did you know...

Today I spent one of my 15 minute breaks researching pink eye.  I don't recommend looking at the images. (Ick!!!)

I learned...
Pink eye is viral.
The Eye Bright (Euphrasia Officinalis) herb has been used for some time.  One website sited the use of the herb (stems and leaves) as far back as the 1600's.  Wow -- that's quite awhile ago.

Do not attempt to make eye drops with the liquid form of this herb; the liquid form contains alcohol which will burn your eye.

Here's how I make my pink eye drops:
1. Open 1 or 2 capsules and pour contents in an empty coffee mug.  Set aside.
2. Boil a cup of water in my tea kettle.  (I'm old-school like that.)
3. Pour boiling water over Eyebright herbs and stir.
4. Realize you want to use the drops TONIGHT so add 2 ice cubes to cool.
5. Use cheesecloth to strain out the "chunks."  Confession:  I do not have cheesecloth sooooo I use a clean knee high.  I take the hoseries and cover the opening of a cup.  Then I dump the water and herb mixture over the knee high thus straining out the "chunks."  I carefully remove the hoseries and discard.
6. Pour the mixture into a dropper bottle.
7. Put several drops in your eye(s).

Store remaining bottle of mixture in the fridge.  I would discard the mixture after a month and make fresh.  But good heavens, if you still have pink eye after month, figure out what in the world you are doing wrong!!!  :) 

I read online that Eyebright can also be used for dry eyes and fatigued eyes.  It seems like an all-around great eye herb!!!