Inspired Day

I had an inspiring day today but no energy once I got off work to really do anything about it. Stopped by the Gahanna Flea Market to see 2 friends that I hadn't seen in way too long.

Tiffany was doing Tarot readings and selling some jewelry and Tona was selling her jewelry.

Tona and her beautiful new hair cut!!! I wish my hair would do like this if I were to cut it short.

Beside them were these awesome wind chimes made from old kitchen stuff. I could definitely see one of these hanging in my Dad's yard!!!

Got internet inspiration at work when I found this blog. I want to find a desk like this:

... to replace my current desk that has no storage areas like this one. I will be on the lookout for something similar at the thrift stores. No clue how I'll get it home but I'll figure that out when the time comes.

When I got home I decided to go ahead and make Cuban Rice and Beans even though I still had left over Quinoa with Chicken and Veggies (which is even better with some Cajun seasoning and good shake of Parmesan cheese.) So now I have rice and beans for 5 future meals :) I don't remember where I found the recipe so I'll have to write this one out for you.

 Arroz Congri (Cuban Rice and Black Beans)

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 c. chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 c. chopped red bell pepper
• small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup uncooked long grain rice (I used brown rice)
• 15 oz. can black beans, undrained
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy medium sized pot, heat oil on medium heat.  Add onions, peppers and garlic and saute until soft, about 4-5 minutes.

Add rice, beans, water, cumin, bay leaf, oregano, salt and pepper. 

Simmer in medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice absorbs most of the water and just barely skims the top of the rice. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes (don't peek). Make sure you have a good seal on your cover, the steam cooks the rice. After 20 minutes shut the heat off and let it sit, covered another 5 minutes (don't open the lid).

Hahaha!! I didn't finish reading the recipe. I got to the part about simmering and just let it simmer until the rice was done. Overall I probably did something similar to the rest of the instructions because I did forget about it for a while but then brown rice usually has to cook twice as long as white rice. And I did let it sit plenty the lid on. It tastes fine, not 100% sure since I've never had it before.

Then a couple hours later I was having a major sweet tooth attack (and I hadn't eaten a whole lot today). I had some left over canned pumpkin in the fridge from the not-so-wonderful Pumpkin Protein Oats from yesterday, so I looked up a recipe for a pumpkin shake. I made a couple of changes and came up with something quite tasty.

Dixie's Pumpkin Shake
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1/4c low fat vanilla yogurt
1/2c lite vanilla soy milk
1 Tbsp of pumpkin pie seasoning
2 Tbsp brown sugar
4 ice cubes

Blend all but the ice cubes together, then add ice and blend until smooth. Pour in a cup and enjoy! (I don't have actual pumpkin pie seasoning so I used a 1/4 tsp cinnamon, some ground clove, some ground nutmeg and some ground ginger. I used the brown sugar instead of equal or splenda because I had the extra calories to spare today).

Almost forgot to take a picture of it :)