Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Summertime Couscous Salad.


Last week I ran across a recipe for a Quinoa Salad from the Picky Palate that sounded really tasty.
I got excited to make this because one, it looked super easy, and two I wanted something light for dinner.
Then I remembered that last time I made Quinoa it was a disaster and no one ate it! So instead of having a repeat dinner moment, I came up with this version.


A super easy, yummy, summertime Couscous salad for all to enjoy!



Ingredients :
1 box of Couscous, any flavor. I used the regular.
2 cups broccoli florets uncooked
Instead of using the 2 cups cooked chicken the original recipe calls for, I bought a rotisserie chicken that I cut up. Much easier and tastier, plus I used it for a salad later that week.
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice from fresh lemon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 avocado, diced
*The recipe doesn't call for the almonds but I added them because it needed some crunch since I omitted the peppers. The next time I ate it, I added dried cranberries which was really good and gave it a nice, sweet flavor!*

1. Cook couscous according to package directions.
2. Place broccoli and chicken into a large bowl. Add couscous and stir together.
3. Place olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper into a medium bowl, whisking to combine. Pour over couscous and stir in cubed avocado.
4. Refrigerate until ready to eat. *I added the sliced almonds to the individual servings because I found that almonds tend to get soggy when combined with a little bit of liquid.*
Makes 8 servings

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Plane! The Plane!

This summer is flying by! The sun is shining brighter, hotter, and longer. The daylight runs into 8 pm making afternoons and evenings longer and more fun. More time to spend outside running in the park, taking long walks, and playing on the rooftop deck. B has been on hiatus from work for about a month and a half and I love every minute of him being home with us. I love my time with D alone, but life is much more fun with him around! We are doing a lot right now to prep for our move, as well and pack boxes and just soak up the summertime with D. I hate to see summer go and want to take full advantage of the time together as a family.

This morning we packed up some toys, a blanket, and some snacks and headed to LAX to watch the planes come in.
Free, easy, and hours of entertainment!
And we had SO MUCH FUN!
There is a small park across from In N Out (where we were going to grab lunch for a picnic) and the airport and it is designed for just this. Grab a blanket, lay back and watch the planes fly overhead! D ran around, watched the planes come in, said 'Doup-a-day' (his word for airplane) a million times over and had a perma smile on his face! This kid was in heaven.

This truly was a fun morning with him and B and one of my favorites. It was easy. Not a lot of fuss. Not a ton of stuff required to keep him busy, and most of all it was something we did as a family.


For a little boy who loves planes this was a great day! And for a mom who loves to see her little boy smile, an even better day.


oh yeah...
we also found a puddle and splashed for a good 15 minutes!
boys will be boys!

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