Ah, Monday and after a long, relaxing weekend. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to jump out of our warm bed in the dark cold this morning and trying to get back into the grind was not easy. But I am grateful I had Black Friday off work. I worked for a small, private IT company for years in Florida that was very stingy with holidays, we got Thanksgiving day off, but had to be back in the office Friday. Why? I’m not sure because it was always dead quiet and not exactly productive. And it sucked when hubby had it off and there were so many tempting deals I’d rather be shopping for. Plus, who wants to be back at work after a relaxing day of eating too much, drinking and family? Hardly anyone in the office, so it was a pathetically grumpy scene. As tough as today way at work, at least I’m nice and refreshed after 4 whole days in a row off. :-)
I did get into a little shopping mischief during some of the super deals at PetSmart this weekend. When I stopped by to pick up more cat liter and other boring needs, I was greeted with a clearance table of pet costumes for $0.25 each! Now, I’m not usually one to dress up my dog, but they were just a quarter. Sadly, they had nothing small enough for my chihuahua, but they had something perfect for my mom’s chunky male chihuahua!
He didn’t find this as funny as we did.
Totally worth $0.25 and he’ll be wearing it next Halloween. :-)
Today was a low raw day, both lunch and dinner was cooked. My excuse is it was bitterly cold, Monday and I had leftovers to use up. Lunch was a mesh of leftovers:
One half is leftover tempeh stir fry with loads of veggies and seasoned with soy sauce, honey, ginger and red pepper flakes. The other is a mixture of steamed green beans and corn topped with nutritional yeast because I’ve been having fun trying just about everything topped with it.
I was fully planning to go raw for dinner, I had even planned to make creamy cauliflower, but after a frosty day I was craving soup instead and went with it. However, by the time I was done, it didn’t look too much like soup because of all the veggies I crammed in.
But still it was great. For the soup base, I pureed these ingredients in a blender:
- 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 4 cups veggie broth
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. dried oregano
- 1 tbsp. dried basil
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
I simmered the mixture over medium heat for 30 minutes in a large soup pot with:
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 1 cup chopped cauliflower
- 1 cup chopped broccoli
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup fresh spinach
I basically went through my fridge and pulled ingredients that needed to be used up soon. Luckily it was a great meal stew with a tangy, marinara-like broth and wonderful topped with more nutritional yeast.
While it may not have been too soup-like, it hit the spot after a long, chilly day. And now that I’m caught up on Dexter for the week, I’d better prepare for another long day tomorrow. Hope everyone has a wonderful night!
the doggie costumes are soooo cute! I used to dress my dogs up. But i never paid a quarter! what a steal!! Dog costumes are more expensive than baby clothes half the time…crazy but true!
Glad you had the day off on Friday and whipped up a fab looking quinoa dish!
:)
Maybe I should have stocked up on more costumes. :-) Thanks, the dish was very filling and I have plenty of leftovers from it now for the rest of the week. :-P
Oh my gosh, YES!!!! You KNOW I approve of that dog costume :-) He looks adorable…and pissed. :-)
I have to admit, I was tempted to get more costumes. Maybe I’ll find a cute one for my dog next year so the trick-or-treaters have something to laugh at when they come to the door! :-)