Quinoa Mandarin Salad

It is SO hot today, unbelievably hot! Since the hubby is an electrician on construction sites, he got off early because of the heat. To stay cool, we decided to take the kids for a swim this afternoon. It was baby Dee's second time at the pool. She is such a water baby, she smiled and cooed, and just chillaxed in my arms while we cooled off in the pool.

Dinner tonight was also refreshing. I had a craving for a mandarin salad my Mom always makes. I was also craving me some Quinoa. The result:

Quinoa Mandarin Salad

1 cup parsley

2 green onions, finely diced

1/2 cup  canned mandarin orange slices

4 cups cooked quinoa

1/3 cup slivered almonds
dash of salt and pepper

Dressing:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

1 packet (1/2 tsp) stevia

Directions

1. Finely dice parsley. I did this in a mini food processor but it can be done by hand.
2. Mix green onions, parsley, and mandarin slices in a large bowl.

1. Make your dressing by whisking all ingredients together. Pour over parsley mix, and stir.
2. Add quinoa and almonds, and toss until combined. 
3. Serve with a dash of salt and pepper.

Definitely refreshing :D 

Go-to Green Smoothie

YAY first post :)

I've been getting back into green smoothies lately. I first started making them, ohhh maybe 5 years ago. Wow time goes fast!  I would bring one into work every morning and I'd get alot of disgusted looks from co-workers as I sipped it down.  Yeah, they may not look pretty appetizing, but I swear it IS possible to make them pretty tasty!   

Go-to Green Smoothie

1 cup Kale  (you can use other greens such as spinach or even lettuce)

1 cup coconut milk or rice milk

1 frozen banana

2/3 cup frozen blueberries (or any frozen berries)

Optional Add-ins:

1/2 scoop vegetarian protein powder, I use Precision Vanilla Vegetarian Protein

sweetener to taste -  Xylitol, stevia, maple syrup, agave, or honey 

I use a magic bullet to make my smoothies, although in my dreams I make them with a Vitamix blender, gotta start saving for that! Because the magic bullet is a bit small to fit all the ingredients in at once, I do it in steps:

1.  First blend the Kale and coconut milk
2. Add the banana and frozen blueberries.  Blend. 
3. Add more coconut milk if it's not smooth enough.  
4. Add the protein powder and sweetener and blend again! Done!

If you have a larger blender, just throw all the ingredients in and blend. 

 My almost three year old drank the entire smoothie! Can't be THAT bad ;)