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Moody Girl Eats: Greek Quinoa Salad with Shrimp


As part of my New Year’s resolution, I mentioned that I wanted to stick to healthier diet of more fruits/vegetables and clean up my bad eating habits.  I think that I’ve been pretty successful with this so far.  I’ve been eating a ton more vegetables and trying new foods and recipes that include quinoa, chia seeds and lentils.  I’ve also given up eating greasy fast food and opting for a healthier option like subs from Subway or soup and salad at Panera Bread.  This is especially challenging because I travel so frequently, but I force myself to buy anything other than McDonalds or my old favorite Chick-fil-A.  Lately, since I’ve stopped eating at these places I really haven’t had any cravings for them, which is great.  I also gave up eating dessert/sweets for Lent.  This has been extremely difficult because I love ice cream, cake, cookies – you name it, I eat it.  Anyway, I digress.

I wanted to share with you all one of my favorite recipes that I found sometime in January from another blogger.  This recipe has been my go to meal for the past month and a half.  I recently made some for my sister a few weeks ago and today I brought some in for a potluck at work.  Everyone enjoyed it and they all wanted the recipe.  My sister now makes this meal probably just as much as I do.  So, I figure that I would share this with you all today.  It’s really fresh and healthy with a few simple ingredients.  It’s also really quick to put together.  Check out the recipe below and let me know what you think.

Greek Quinoa Salad with Shrimp
[Adapted from With Style & Grace]

Ingredients:
                  1 ½ cup of dry quinoa
                  2 cups of water [or chicken broth]
                  1 cup of cucumbers, quartered
                  ½ cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
                  ¼ cup of Kalamata olives, sliced
                  ¼ cup of red onions, chopped
                  2 green onions (scallions), chopped
                  1 lemon, juiced
                  3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
                  2 tablespoons white wine vinegar [or red wine vinegar]
                  2 garlic cloves, minced
                  Salt and Pepper to taste
½ pound of cooked shrimp (chopped in half)
                  ½ cup feta cheese (optional)

Directions:

In a medium pot, bring 2 cups of water [or chicken broth] and quinoa to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, 16-18 minutes, until all the water is absorbed, Once cooked, remove from heat and allow to cool approximately ten minutes while prepping the rest of the ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine cucumber, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, red onions, and green onions.  Add the cooked shrimp that has been chopped in half.

Dressing: whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper.

Drizzle a little bit of the dressing over quinoa/vegetable mixture and stir in a little at a time while folding the mixture.  Season with salt and pepper, top with cheese, serve and enjoy!



Current Mood – Top 3


I really love all of the looks of spring in the new Anthropologie catalog.  I also love all of the great shots of Thailand.  I’ve always wanted to visit Thailand and now I’m even more determined to get there.  It has definitely moved it’s way towards the top of my list of future getaways.  Have any of you been there or do you have plans to go?  What was your favorite part of the trip?  Anyways, I waned to share my top 3 items that I would love to add to my closet. Do any of you have any favorites that you can’t live without this month?  What’s on your wish list?







miscellany monday


happy monday everyone! i've been struggling over the past few weeks to find inspiration to update this blog.  i thought my writer's block was just because I've been busy with work, working out/running and my personal life... but i just might be a little burned out.  hopefully this funk will pass soon and i’ll get back to blogging on a regular basis.  i’ve added my random ramblings to carissa’s miscellany monday party!  check out carissa’s blog here and join in on the fun. 

{one} running. this past saturday, i ran in the largest 15k race for the third year in a row – the gate river run.   i didn’t have time to write a full recap about the race, but i wanted to write quickly about some of the race highlights.  the race started promptly at 8:30am, but there were 4 waves to start in order to avoid the congestion all of the runners.  this year there were a total of 15, 569 total finishers, 7409 male finishers and 8160 female finishers.  the weather was picture perfect for a morning race, despite the cool weather when i first woke up.   i wore a long-sleeve shirt over my race shirt, but i removed it before i got to mile three.  the course took us on a scenic route throughout the city where there were tons of fans along the way.  one of my favorite part of this race is getting a ice pop around mile 6 or 7 courtesy of a local family.  there were people handing out mimosas, beer, donut holes and sausages and oranges.  if you didn’t eat breakfast before the race, you could have eaten it there.  this race is infamously known for runners tackling the green monster.  the green monster is also known as the hart bridge.  the last mile of the race took us over the bridge and back to the stadium.  i was pretty happy with my time this year.  my official chip time was 1:30:04.

{two} lululemon. lately, i’ve been going to yoga at my local lululemon store.  did you know that they offered free yoga classes?  i recently discovered this little perk and i thought i would share it with you.  do you have a lululemon in your town?  if you’re not sure, check out the store finder here to find a store in your area and the calendar of events.

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