Okay, so this post won't contain that many images as it deals with sleeping. It probably won't be that interesting either since it deals with sleeping and for the same reason, it won't be that long either, but yesterday was really nice, sleep wise. I conducted nr. 13 on my list :) (I will probably do this more than one time though, but still)
On Wednesday, my sister and I had a movie-night and as we were watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I fell asleep around 11, which wasn't all that strange since I was really tired. My sister woke me up at midnight and after that I went to sleep in my own bed. I had asked my sister to wake me up at 8 when she left for school, which she did, but since I was pretty much sleepwalking around that time, I walked back to my bed and fell asleep again. (Un)Fortunately, I didn't have an alarm-clock on so I managed to sleep until 10.30 am, which was FANTASTIC! but I'm one of those people who get really tired once I sleep over a certain amount of hours (for me, that's about 9 hours; sometimes more and sometimes less, but around 9 hours sleep is what I need to be fully rested) so I spent the rest of the day being tired instead, which I guess wasn't really beneficial for me either in the long run, but it was most definitely pleasant while I was still sleeping ;)
Bye for now! I'm off to scan some pictures :D
Be responsible for dinner - Mexican Quinoa Salad
Hi!
Once again I'm playing with the UFO's! Yes, quinoa's part of this dish too, and this was today's dinner.
I decided to do this because I have a vegan friend and I wanted to do this to see if I could possibly use it for my graduation party. This recipe is, like the previous, really easy to change to fit what you have at home, or if you happen to live, like me, in a place where certain fresh spices are hard to come by at certain times of the year (or the stores don't stock them), you can use the dried versions. The Mexican Quinoa Salad was really easy to make, but the recipe involves beans so if you decide to use dry beans rather than canned ones, make sure you have plenty of time as for example the black beans I used needed 8 hours to soak before being cooked for 30-40 minutes... Anyway, onwards to the recipe:
Mexican QuinoaSalad (4 servings)
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup UFO's (or Quinoa for you normal people out there)
1/2 red bell pepper or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small jalapeno, seeded and diced finely (This is optional (leave it out if you do not like spicy food, add more or include some of the seeds if you like things hotter. My sister is not a big fan of spicy foods so I left it out)
1 small red onion, chopped fine or 2 green onions, chopped fine
2 roma tomatoes, chopped or 6 grape tomatoes, halved
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans (or other beans, I prefer black beans)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup salsa (fresh or homemade is best) - I made my own salsa, and I'm putting the recipe below. If you have a recipe you like, use that!
1 tablespoon canola oil
Juice of 1 lime (I used lemon juice since limes here are not the best this season...keep in mind that if you do use lemon juice, lemon is often a bit "milder" and isn't as concentrated as lime juice, so you may have to add some extra)
fresh ground black pepper
sea salt
How to do it:
1. Boil the UFO's until it's done according to the package. While you're doing that, you can make the rest, like boil beans (if needed), chop vegetables and maybe even the salsa if you make your own.
2. Let the UFO's and beans cool off before mixing them with the rest of the ingredients. And you're done. Can be saved and refrigerated for a few days or it can be served straight away.
Salsa
6 tomatoes, preferably Roma (or 3 large tomatoes)
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 jalapeño peppers, finely chopped
3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped to taste fresh lime juice
1/8 tsp oregano, finely crushed
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 avocado, diced (black skin)
How to do it:
Once again I'm playing with the UFO's! Yes, quinoa's part of this dish too, and this was today's dinner.
I decided to do this because I have a vegan friend and I wanted to do this to see if I could possibly use it for my graduation party. This recipe is, like the previous, really easy to change to fit what you have at home, or if you happen to live, like me, in a place where certain fresh spices are hard to come by at certain times of the year (or the stores don't stock them), you can use the dried versions. The Mexican Quinoa Salad was really easy to make, but the recipe involves beans so if you decide to use dry beans rather than canned ones, make sure you have plenty of time as for example the black beans I used needed 8 hours to soak before being cooked for 30-40 minutes... Anyway, onwards to the recipe:
Mexican QuinoaSalad (4 servings)
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup UFO's (or Quinoa for you normal people out there)
1/2 red bell pepper or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small jalapeno, seeded and diced finely (This is optional (leave it out if you do not like spicy food, add more or include some of the seeds if you like things hotter. My sister is not a big fan of spicy foods so I left it out)
1 small red onion, chopped fine or 2 green onions, chopped fine
2 roma tomatoes, chopped or 6 grape tomatoes, halved
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans (or other beans, I prefer black beans)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup salsa (fresh or homemade is best) - I made my own salsa, and I'm putting the recipe below. If you have a recipe you like, use that!
1 tablespoon canola oil
Juice of 1 lime (I used lemon juice since limes here are not the best this season...keep in mind that if you do use lemon juice, lemon is often a bit "milder" and isn't as concentrated as lime juice, so you may have to add some extra)
fresh ground black pepper
sea salt
How to do it:
1. Boil the UFO's until it's done according to the package. While you're doing that, you can make the rest, like boil beans (if needed), chop vegetables and maybe even the salsa if you make your own.
2. Let the UFO's and beans cool off before mixing them with the rest of the ingredients. And you're done. Can be saved and refrigerated for a few days or it can be served straight away.
Salsa
6 tomatoes, preferably Roma (or 3 large tomatoes)
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 jalapeño peppers, finely chopped
3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped to taste fresh lime juice
1/8 tsp oregano, finely crushed
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 avocado, diced (black skin)
How to do it:
1. Combine all ingredients in glass bowl. I don't think the kind of bowl matters, but okay. Anyway, if you happen to be short on some ingredient, never mind; it will be okay anyway!
2. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve within 4–5 hours.
Fresh herbs add plenty of flavor to this salsa, so you use less salt. Like I said, you can used the dried herbs instead, but fresh is usually better.
I mixed the Salsa with the salad, but if some people don't like it, then serve it on the side :)
Enjoy!
Be responsible for dinner - Quornfilés with Quinoa Salad and "Sweet Chili Muddle"
Hello.
Number 8 on the list (Be responsible for dinner for a week) actually started yesterday with the said dish; Quorn-filés with Quinoa Salad and "Sweet Chili Muddle"
I found this recipe in a grocery store here and since I'm a vegetarian I thought it was a great dish to try. I'm also a big fan of UFO's (I like to call Quinoa UFO's because I think they look like the stereotypical image of the vessel. Plus, before I remembered what it was called, and I wanted to explain to my mother what I was talking about, I called them that, so now whenever I say it, she knows what I mean instantly). Originally it was supposed to be an "avocado muddle" or whatever you want to call it, but because it isn't avocado season right now, I just went ahead and changed the recipe. It's not that hard to do, really. Quorn-filés reminds me of chicken so if you have a sauce or muddle that you like with chicken, you can use that instead. It's a pretty easy dish to vary.
Quornfilés with Quinoa Salad and Avocado Muddle. (4 servings)
4 Quornfilés (It's a vegetarian substitute for chicken filés)
1 Tbsp Oil
4 portions UFO's (Quinoa)
1 bell pepper
1 packet of pea sprouts (I disregarded from this and went with original salad instead. Worked just as well)
250 g cocktail tomatoes (you can use regular tomatoes just as well)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 dl Turkish yogurt or other sour cream like yogurt (or sour cream, if you prefer)
1 Avocado (this is what I substituted for Sweet Chili Sauce)
1 lime.
How to do it:
1. Make sure you have all the ingredients.
2. Fry whatever chicken-substitute you choose with the oil (Note that in the picture, the chicken is for my non-vegetarian sister who, for some reason, refuses to eat completely vegetarian). For the quorn-filés it's about 5 min on each side. While doing that (or while heating the frying pans), rinse the UFO's (quinoa) and boil according to what the package says.
3. Chop all the salad-components, mix them in a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste
4. Here's where you make the avocado muddle where you open the avocado and mash it with a fork, mix it with the yogurt/sour cream and mix in some lime salt and pepper. What I did was that I mixed Sweet Chili Sauce with the yogurt in a bowl and put it in the fridge.
5. Mix the UFO's with the salad (once they UFO's are cooled down) and serve.See? Easy as that. It didn't take me long to make. The most time-consuming part was cooking the UFO's.
Well, that's it for me now... I'll be back in a little while ;)
Number 8 on the list (Be responsible for dinner for a week) actually started yesterday with the said dish; Quorn-filés with Quinoa Salad and "Sweet Chili Muddle"
I found this recipe in a grocery store here and since I'm a vegetarian I thought it was a great dish to try. I'm also a big fan of UFO's (I like to call Quinoa UFO's because I think they look like the stereotypical image of the vessel. Plus, before I remembered what it was called, and I wanted to explain to my mother what I was talking about, I called them that, so now whenever I say it, she knows what I mean instantly). Originally it was supposed to be an "avocado muddle" or whatever you want to call it, but because it isn't avocado season right now, I just went ahead and changed the recipe. It's not that hard to do, really. Quorn-filés reminds me of chicken so if you have a sauce or muddle that you like with chicken, you can use that instead. It's a pretty easy dish to vary.
Quornfilés with Quinoa Salad and Avocado Muddle. (4 servings)
4 Quornfilés (It's a vegetarian substitute for chicken filés)
1 Tbsp Oil
4 portions UFO's (Quinoa)
1 bell pepper
1 packet of pea sprouts (I disregarded from this and went with original salad instead. Worked just as well)
250 g cocktail tomatoes (you can use regular tomatoes just as well)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 dl Turkish yogurt or other sour cream like yogurt (or sour cream, if you prefer)
1 Avocado (this is what I substituted for Sweet Chili Sauce)
1 lime.
How to do it:
1. Make sure you have all the ingredients.2. Fry whatever chicken-substitute you choose with the oil (Note that in the picture, the chicken is for my non-vegetarian sister who, for some reason, refuses to eat completely vegetarian). For the quorn-filés it's about 5 min on each side. While doing that (or while heating the frying pans), rinse the UFO's (quinoa) and boil according to what the package says.
3. Chop all the salad-components, mix them in a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste
5. Mix the UFO's with the salad (once they UFO's are cooled down) and serve.See? Easy as that. It didn't take me long to make. The most time-consuming part was cooking the UFO's.
Well, that's it for me now... I'll be back in a little while ;)
31 Days of Summer - The Blog
Hello people!
You're probably wondering what this is about. Well, the truth is that a while ago I read this article where Zooey Deschanel told of her list of things that she was planning to do in the summer. During those dark months of winter here in the northern hemisphere where I happen to be located, I begun to think about what she had done and decided to make such a list of my own. It sort of works like Earl (from My Name is Earl ) who is making nice things for people whom he's mistreated, except I thought that since I've been mean enough to put myself through 3 years of IB, I would do nice things for me that I like to do.
So without further ado, I present to you the list, inspired by Ms Deschanel
- Have a picnic in a field - I have a field close to the street I live on, so why not use that?
- Lay in earlier mentioned field and listen to music - I love music, and on a warm day, that can get really nice. I will need a new playlist for that, which brings me to nr...
- Make a summer playlist - If it wasn't obvious to you or you want to be sure, the playlist will be used for nr.2 of this list.
- Bike to a village a few km away - there is a small village a few km away from my city so why not bike there? Biking is lovely =)
- Stand in the rain/alt. have water-fight with sister - She doesn't know she's possibly volunteering for this but still. The point of this activity is to get soaking wet!
- Get my driver's license - Not that I will use it much, but if I do get it, guess who will be the un-volunteered driver this summer?
- Make breakfast for mom and sister - I can be nice to them without an ulterior motive, can't I?
- Be responsible for dinner for a week - I've already started this and it won't be a week in a row because I have to go away for a night, but still. Plus, it's a great way to try out some new recipes.
- Roll down a hill - Preferably Åsbo, which is a huge hill, and it shall be awesome!
- Read 6 books I want to read - When I don't have IB bossing me around and telling me what I am going to read, I'll read books I actually enjoy (Some of the books I read were good, but were not my choice). Perhaps I'll do this in the field while listening to my summer playlist ;)
- Watch 5 movies I haven't seen before - I need culture!
- Write Fanfics, do Fanart and make Fanvid - To regain my creative side *cough, cough* not that it ever was completely gone, but I’ve been on a low lately.
- Sleep really late - I think I deserve it after my exams.
- Wear summery dresses – I like dresses.
- Make a list of things to bring to Australia – I prefer to be prepared.
- Eat lots of fruit – I love fruit. Better than candy. I’m not just saying that, I actually think so.
- Dry apples and make apple crisps – I’ve wanted to do this for years.
- Plant a tree – I find helping the planet to be quite fulfilling. Not quite sure I can do this one though. Maybe it will have to be a bush instead…
- Do cartwheels – I want to be a kid again, and as a kid I used to love doing cartwheels.
- Buy CD(s) – Dayplayer, She and Him Volume 1&2, Paramore. I’ll buy at least one.
- Visit my aunt – I want to spend some time with her since I’m leaving in the fall.
- Enjoy the beautiful scenery – meaning mainly walks…I don’t know if you can call it beautiful either, but still.
- Write a list with 6 positive things about my name – for those of you who don't know, I don't like my name but I have to realize that sadly enough it’s not going anywhere...
- Make another photo album – My sister did a wonderful one but I want more pictures with me.
- Make a midsummer crown – I used to make them when I was little. It was fun.
- 100 days of Bones – Making recaps with personal comments of the first 100 episodes of Bones and posting them here on my blog and on BT (possibly…We’ll see).
- Sit in a tree and read – I did this in 6th grade and it was so nice to just sit there, hear the wind and read a good book. Perhaps something from nr. 10
- Eat fresh strawberries – I want to eat strawberries with un-whipped whip-cream.
- Make a medieval chemise – I don’t know why, but I love medieval clothing, like dresses and stuff… I just love it.
- Make an item of clothing – Other than the medieval chemise of course.
- Spend one day in pajamas – Does this really need explaining xD?
For those of you who have read this list; yes, I've made a few changes to it ;)
Anyway, so the entries in this blog will be about these things as a sort of documentation from my last summer in Sweden for a while. Finally, I don't know if it will be one for each day (especially since some points will contain several sub-posts so to speak) and that this will only take 31 days (I doubt it) but I kind of liked the title.
Bye now! =)