summer quinoa salad with goat cheese

I go on kicks when it comes to certain foods like avocados, eggs for breakfast, and particular salad dressings. Currently I'm on a huge goat cheese kick! It started when we were moving to Chicago and Ben's sister and boyfriend took us out to dinner at The Bad Apple, which apparently has amazing burgers, but I was just coming off a moving-induced burger kick and wanted something a little lighter. I got the quinoa salad with goat cheese, and was immediately obsessed. So this is my version, that uses up all the summer produce you have sitting around the fridge!

 

Summer Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

-chilled quinoa (make a large batch and keep it in the fridge!)

-summer veggies

-pine nuts and golden raisins if you have them such as red peppers, cherry tomatoes, arugula, etc.

-goat cheese! or feta.

-fresh chopped basil and/or mint

-your favorite dressing

(I made one with raspberry balsamic, brown mustard, honey, salt, and olive oil)

 

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and enjoy!

 

I'm super excited when I discover something like this that is quick and easy to throw together for lunch, which is my least favorite meal of the day. It's also very portable if you make it in a big tupperware! And of course it's super healthy so you can indulge in a brownie later in the afternoon.

melted crayon art

I’m sure most of you have noticed the melted crayon art fad sweeping Pinterest, and for my bridal shower my best friend Ashley actually gave me the supplies to make because she knows I like fun crafts. Dare I say best bridal shower gift ever??

My goal was to create something that actually looks artsy, not grade-school, and luckily I found this post by Jenna Brown that shows it’s possible!

Here’s my “studio.” Just lay out a lot of newspaper on the floor and blast those crayons onto a canvas with a blow dryer set to “hot.” I found that if you move the crayon back and forth (like you’re coloring) while blasting it at close range on “low” it will release the most wax. When I had a blob of wax, I set the crayon aside and blasted the blob on “high” to spread it around and let it seep into the other colors.

No fancy supplies needed—a box of 64 crayons is about $2.84 at Target right now. Thanks, back to school sales! I had a fork handy to spear the crayon per Jenna’s advice in case my hand started burning but it really wasn’t necessary. A little bit of wax goes a long way and I didn’t wear any crayons down far enough to burn my fingers. Some colors definitely melt better than others, and silver was my favorite!

I highly recommend this project. It’s fun, super easy, and VERY relaxing to watch crayons melt into rainbow swirls. And the result makes a fun Rorschach-style conversation piece. Personally I see a snail-dragon on the bottom of mine. 

 

Or if I rotate it this way maybe a hot air balloon?

 

I think I’m going to hang it above the kitchen sink.

Seriously, have a glass of wine tonight and try this, and send me the link or picture if you do!
And check out my etsy shop to see more of my art :)

little victories

One of the biggest things I've learned this year is that life takes patience.

Ever since I truly entered the "real world" it feels like I've dealt with enough job-related failure to make up for the previous 24 years of success-kid glory. Buuut I try to just keep on living and trust that things will work out in time, and maybe they actually will. I've got the guy and the city, now I just need to see what falls into place for me.

Today I did have my first good job news in 8 months: I've landed a part time job leading school field trips at the nearby Morton Arboretum for the fall! So I'll have something fun to keep me semi-busy for a while. It's all about the little victories! I decided to let the news propel me into making today a good one.

To celebrate Ben's official first day of teaching 10th grade history I made cosmic brownies

 And I got a library card!

And I love the pretty flowers in our kitchen.
(I feel like people either love or hate lilies depending on how many funerals they've been to. Luckily they remind me of Easter and I am obsessed with how they make the whole room smell nice.)

Also, I just discovered the new Bravo show Gallery Girls. Have any of you seen it yet? It is kind of like a cross between The City and Real Housewives. And I watched it for two hours even though alllll the girls are super annoying. Oh Bravo. Please tell me I'm not the only one that is totally addicted to the trash reality channel?