Recipe: Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls

I've been looking for a light meal that I can have that's tasty but still healthy. Something that's not going to make me feel bloated or too full but still fills me up enough to feel satisfied. While a lot of the time I don't eat the healthiest (I eat far more pasta than really should be allowed!) sometimes I just need something light. I found this recipe for Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls on Pinch of Yum and it ticked all the boxes. I served it up for dinner one night then I ate the leftover for lunch for the next few days (I highly recommend making extra so you can keep eating it for lunch!) The sauce is amazing and I'm a sucker for a good hummus so they are probably the highlights of the bowl for me, plus they mix so well with the quinoa giving it extra taste and texture, don't take my word for it - go try it!

Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls

adapted from pinch of yum

INGREDIENTS

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce:

• 1 16 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained (or roast your own red peppers and win the food game!)
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ teaspoon salt (more to taste)
• juice of one lemon
• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ cup almonds

For the Mediterranean Bowls (ingredients I used in bold, mix and match to your own tastes)

• cooked quinoa
• spinach, kale, or cucumber
• feta cheese
• kalamata olives
• pepperoncini
• thinly sliced red onion
• hummus
• fresh basil or parsley
• olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pulse all the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor or blender until mostly smooth. The texture should be thick and textured.
2. Cook the quinoa according to package directions.
3. When the quinoa is done, build yourself a Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl.
4. Store leftovers in separate containers and assemble each bowl just before serving, especially the greens and the sauces, as those will get soggy when stored with all the other ingredients.

5 Little Things That Make Me Happy: Bunnies and More

I am a firm believer in stopping to smell the roses and appreciating the little things in life, cliched? yes, but certainly true. Life has a way of dragging us down sometimes and I'm a self confessed wallower, at these times I try and pick myself up and focus on the little things that make me happy because I really do have plenty to be grateful for. In no particular order this is a few little things I've been grateful for recently:

1. Bunnies, I love the fact that over Easter everyone gets as bunny mad as I am normally and the shops are suddenly filled with everything bunny related. (Please don't get live bunnies for Easter tho, they are a high maintenance pet that with proper care can live up to 10 years, definitely a long term commitment not something for a few weeks!)

2. More bunnies! I'm loving the newest furry members of my family Mulder and Scully:

Mulder the tri-coloured mini lop and Scully the grey Dutch

3. Car servicing in the Barossa Valley. By locking my car service needs into the Barossa Service Centre I have bought myself a few relaxed mornings wandering around Tanunda. My favourite places for a spot of tea and a bite to eat are Nosh and The Mac Shac. Nosh is a great little place for breakfast, lunch or even just a cup of tea or coffee and cake while The Mac Shac offers a wide selection of macarons (who can ever say no!) as well as a wide range of different tea and coffee varieties. It truely was love at first bite (and sip!)

Generous pot of tea for one - at Nosh Barossa 

Seasonal fruit and yogurt - at Nosh Barossa

My friend, Mark, was feeling much hungrier than me and ordered eggs and bacon with plenty on extras - at Nosh Barossa

Best macarons I've had in a while - at The Mac Shac

Speciality mango and chilli tea - at The Mac Shac

4. Being back at Adelaide Oval for the Football, our new seats are much better than last year and I'm excited for the season!   

5. The amazing support from all my wonderful friends! Be it making time for brunch despite a busy schedule, sending me cute photos of bunnies on Instagram, inviting me to stay when I need to, helping build a cage for my bunnies or just being available if I need to talk (and not pressuring me when I inevitably shut up like clam!) you know who you are and I hope you know how much you are all appreciated :) 

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! What are you feeling grateful for today? 

Goodnight

 A xx

Outfit: Horses for Courses

Sometimes something so big happens in your life that you can't imagine life even continuing... that was my February. Two of my loved ones passed last month. But life does continue and part of that means getting back to the things I like to do, like blogging... it just feels wrong to write anything on my little corner of the internet without acknowledging these two very important people. First I lost my beautiful baby girl, my puppy Echo, in a car accident... My home and my heart is empty without her.

My beautiful Echo, gone but never forgotten

Only a few weeks later a dear friend of mine, Sharon, lost her battle with cancer and I had to say goodbye to her, I am thankful that I could be with her at the end and she holds a piece of my heart with her. I considered her to be family and I know she thought of me that way too.

Me with my good friends Mark and Sharon 

One thing Sharon and I shared was a love of craft and creating things and since this little blog is inspired by all of that I feel like she would want me to get back into it and share my passions with anyone who is willing to read my ramblings! To ease back into it all I'm sharing an autumn appropriate outfit, despite the fact that here in sweaty South Australia autumn doesn't seem to want to show it's head... well, we have wind and rain a plenty... but only one or two days where stockings were appropriate! (and probably only that because I'm a cold fish!)  

These photos were taken at Dead Man's Pass, a park in Gawler. Dead Man's Pass was home to Adelaide cross-country horse jumping course and walking through the park you come across many old jumps around the place. While I would love it if this kind of eventing still happened in Gawler, the overgrown jumps do make an excellent backdrop for photos! Now let's talk about the clothes: these shorts were thrifted from a local (to Gawler) shop for just $1 and I think they do all the talking for this outfit! To balance out their obvious bright pattern I opted to pair them with a neutral pallet... some added detail in the form of the lace vest(?) and pompom scarf (both thrifted) stop this outfit from being boring! Paired with some semi opaques and my trusty boots made it the perfect outfit for a lazy afternoon wandering the park.  

Bye for now
A xx

Mad Bastards Loose In The Forest

 Hello, back again with another outfit :) I wore this little get up for a very pleasant day out to Clare with friends. After Lunching at Mr Mick's, a lovely little tapas place, we went to Mad Bastards to try some of their wines. Both were delightful, although Mad Bastards certainly requires a certain twisted sense of humour! I took the opportunity to take some outfit photos in front of the vines. On the way home we stopped at Bundaleer Forest to take a few more photos in the shade of some beautiful trees.

 Almost this entire outfit is thrifted and to be honest I'm not 100% sure where I got it all from! I know the shoes were from Savers (a personal favourite) and cost me about $12. My top came in a bulk lot that I bought off of eBay, so it's hard to put a dollar value on. The groovy round glasses were also an eBay find! The hat is an old favourite that I bought back when I was in high school and the earrings are also an old pair (although not quite as old as the hat!) The skirt is from one of the local shops (or local before my big move) in Gawler.

All photos for todays post were taken by my lovely housemate :)
Until Next Time
A xx

Up The Garden Path

Hello, Long time no post! Sorry about that (long absences from this blog seem to be all I do at the moment)... Any way some big life changes have occured and without going into too much detail I was left computerless for a good few months but now I'm typing away on my brand new lap top which just arrived this morning.

These photos were taken at Carrick Hill a beautiful museum and gardens which I visited with my father and his wife. It was a beautiful day and I just had to take the opportunity to snap some outfit photo's in the stunning gardens! This outfit is almost all thrifted, with the exception of the skirt which I got on sale from ICE a few years ago. The shoes I picked up when I was in Bunbury, WA last January with one of my best friends, the bag and the top I got from the same store in Adelaide, I think it was the Red Cross. While both the top and bag cost a little more than I usually spend ($16 each) they suited my sartorial desires perfectly and I couldn't resist. My headband and necklace both came from eBay for a few dollars each.  

Until next time
A
xx

O Summer, Where Art Thou

As I was driving home from work today, creeping along to avoid hydroplaning off the road, knuckles white on the steering wheel (yes, I'm being overly dramatic... but not much) I couldn't help thinking wistfully of warmer weather to come (we had a brief glimpse last week but it seems to have gone away again...) anyway, all this to say I had water and warmer weather on my mind, which reminded me of this little refashion I did yonks ago... people who know me (and anyone who follows me on Instagram) know that these are fairly old as I've had a little hair change since then! Enough of my rambling, you want pictures! I bought this little number in a second hand shop in Gawler for $1 because it made me think of the sea and sailing ships, I'm a huge fan of all things nautical (just as long as I don't have to get on said ship!) and thought I could make something of this!

Tribbles is trying to get in on the action!

 Clearly it was too big and not overly attractive! But I took it in, gave it a new hem and swapped out the buttons for some slightly more nautical ones (it's hard to see in the picture but they are navy with gold anchors). I styled it with a gold 'rope' necklace and navy tights as well as my standard ankle boots and leather satchel.