Breathing again

This weekend felt like a breath of fresh air after being stuck in a hot stuffy room for too long. 
I finally felt like myself again, my energy and motivation was back!  When Saturday dawned I threw myself into some yard work.  It was high time for spring clean-up on my garden pond and while Walter tilled the vegetable/herb/flower bed.  We discovered this treasure in a juniper by the pond:

Marla the monster, the pit bull we are fostering, loved being free in the yard while we worked.  She rolled and snuggled down in the cool freshly turned dirt and looked adorable. She didn't seem so adorable later on when she ripped up the pond filter before I could blink an eye.  No doubt that his dog will need an assertive owner to keep her behavior on track.

Sunday started with a run on the riverwalk trail (also with Marla), shopping excursions for home and garden, and then dinner of Lamb chops, green beans and quinoa chickpea salad. We rewarded ourselves for all our productivity by going to the movies to see The Hunger Games.   We both thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was sorry to see the weekend end, but it left me re-vitalized for the work week to come.   

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I'm sharing the quinoa recipe that I found at Sarah's blog, A House in the Hills, because it seems perfect for spring, light and fresh, yet packed with protein.  I omitted a few things and added some different things which is reflected below.


Quinoa and Chickpea Salad
(This picture is from Sarah's blog, she serves the salad with with sourdough toast and smashed avocado.)

2 cups of cooked quinoa at room temperature or chilled

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped 

1/3 cup tomato, chopped  (I used much more than this.)

1 large handful of cilantro cut finely with kitchen scissors

3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice

1-2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients into a nice bowl (Use the bowl you want to serve it in to make things easy) and mix thoroughly.  Give it a taste and correct salt, pepper, and/or lemon to your taste.  It is nice at room temperature and nice chilled.  Serve alone or over a bed of mixed greens.  

Enjoy!