Oops, I haven’t blogged in a week. I’ve been busy reading 50 Shades of Grey and seeing what the hype was all about. After I read that, my book club that I review for decided to send me Diary of a Submissive and the first two books of the Crossfire series. Hmm… is my book club trying to tell me something?
I do the majority of my reading on the airplane and usually finish a book or two on a trip. Yes, I brought all these books with me on the plane while working. Yes, there were quite a few nosy passengers that just had to know what I was reading. No shame here! As I showed them the cover and gave them a brief rundown, the passengers immediately regretted asking me that question and paced away awkwardly. Hah! That’ll teach ’em.
Usually when I finish my books, I give them to my mom to read. I had Diary of a Submissive in my hand and quickly shoved it into my bag when my mom asked what books I had for her when we met up. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: “Oh… it’s nothing. This book isn’t for your eyes. It’s not your type of book. I just finished reading it for my book club. It’s kind of like the whole 50 Shades of Grey, but in real life.”
Mom: “50 Shades of Grey? I loved that book!”
Me: “Wait….. what? You read 50 Shades of Grey?!”
Mom: “Yes, I read all three of them in a week. The story is so good!”
Needless to say, I handed over Diary of a Submissive to my mother.
Parents can be so surprising at times. You think you know them, and then they go and throw you a curveball. But in all seriousness, I love that I can share things like that with my mom. I love that I’ve reached a certain age where I have so much more appreciation and understanding in my life for everything that my parents do, have done, and will do.
They may have been the “bad guys” when I was little, but looking back on it now, I realize I have the greatest parents in the world. Everything they did was to benefit their children and our family, and I couldn’t have asked for a better upraising.
Whoa, things got a bit sentimental there. I promise I don’t do that often. I just wanted to kick off November with something that I’m thankful for. Speaking of November, I’ll be doing a week of strictly pumpkin recipes next week! Come back for some Thanksgiving recipes.
Now to the quinoa. It kind of became a fad out of nowhere and it took me a while to jump on the bandwagon. I bought a bag from Target on a whim and found a recipe to make with it. I brought this dish along for a picnic and although it’s fairly simple, people loved it. Not only that, the dish itself looks beautiful with all the bright colors from the vegetables. Recipe from Everyday Vegan Girl.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 sweet pepper (any color), diced
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 cup black beans
- 1 cup corn
- 1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 cup cilantro (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375℉.
- In a pan over medium heat, cook the onions, garlic and pepper for 5-7 minutes.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients with the sautéed vegetables and pour into an oven safe dish. (I used a 9x9 dish and it overflowed a bit, so use one bigger!)
- Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Garnish with cilantro.
