oh kim ... your porch is such a dream ...

no wonder those robins come back year after year to make their home at your home and raise their babies ...

such a beautiful story you shared today ... such beautiful images ~ heart be still ...

i get such a kick out of the third image down ... mr. robin ... if looks could kill!

what a delightful time you had ... what a gift and blessing indeed ... xo

***

quite a while back i bought a bag of red quinoa {keen-wah} at the health food store, but had never done anything with it ...

this morning, i came across a posting of a quinoa recipe at debra's lifescapes and it inspired me to think about doing something with my quinoa ...

then, i slipped over to my friend's simply mel at reverie where she was talking food earlier this week ... a tomato tart to be exact ... drool and slurp ...

between the two i was ready to head to the kitchen!

and then! a friend of hb's who hasn't been here in years contacted us to say he would be in our neck of the woods late afternoon ...

so, what better time to open that bag of quinoa and get cooking ... :)

after taking a bit of what debra put in hers and a few varieties on the web, here is what i came up with ...

prairiegirl red quinoa salad for eric

2 cups red quinoa (uncooked)
3 cups water
1 cup chicken broth
coarse or sea salt
1 large english cucumber, sliced and diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
a couple of green onions ~ white and green parts, diced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
ground pepper

dressing
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 talbespoons red wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

rinse quinoa well.
put quinoa, chicken stock, water and a dash of salt into pan with lid.
bring to a quiet boil and simmer for approximatley 15 minutes or until quinoa is soft, yet a light crunch.

rinse with cold water to cool.

combine chopped vegetables and cilantro in bowl.
add well drained quinoa and dressing.
toss and serve at room temperature.

one of the original recipes offered crumbled feta cheese, but i had fully intended to add goat cheese, but totally forgot! it was very tasty as is, but tomorrow i think i will try a bit of crumbled goat cheese to my salad ... :)

i have to say it was a complete hit! love it when recipes work so well ... :)

***

sure hoping the rest of your day was as delightful as the beginning, my dear!

love to you ~
prairiegirl
xoxo

happy friday, mrs. klassen ~


i realize you'll be in class today ... how is that going?


for some time now, i have been craving roast beef and cole slaw ... 


i came one step closer to satisfying my desire when i spied this most beautiful red (some say purple) cabbage ...


gosh, they are beautiful!


so, one morning this week, i seasoned and seared a roast on the bbq and then popped it in the slower cooker ... 

closer to sup sup, i set about to slice slice and chop chop and mix mix the coleslaw ...


i combined a few recipe ideas that appealed to me and here is what i came up with ...

: : :

prairiegirl's lively red coleslaw

6 c         red (some say purple) cabbage ~ finely sliced
1 c         red onion ~ finely sliced
1 c         red pepper ~ finely sliced
1 c         carrot ~ julienned

dressing

3/4 c       mayo (i use hellman's olive oil mayo ~ divine!)
3 tbsp     sugar
1 tbsp     vinegar
1/8 tsp    garlic powder
1/8 tsp    onion powder
1/8 tsp    dry mustard
1/8 tsp    celery salt
1 tsp       sea salt
1 tsp       freshly ground pepper

toss all fresh vegetables ~ mix in dressing and voila!

: : :

on the menu

roast beef ~ thick chunks with bold bbq sauce on a bun

sweet yam fries ~ tossed with olive oil, s & p, rosemary and roasted

lively red coleslaw

: : :

i was worried the flavours wouldn't have enough time to meld with the short prep time prior to eating, but i have to say it was so fresh and lively and crunchy that it worked wonderfully! 

it was equally tasty the next day, but the cabbage had turned the dressing pink, and our son's

girlfriend thought the red pepper wasn't as crunchy as it could be ...

i am very happy with this and think it will make a nice dish to take to a bbq gathering or picnic

this summer ...

thanks for being such a good sport to go on a spontaneous outing last evening ...

i hope we have lots more on the horizon!

love and wooly *baaa baaa* to you ~

prairiegirl

happiest monday! 

yay new week...yay april.....

so i was popping around flickr last night and saw our friend robin's

newest image.

omgoodness.  you have to check it out!!

gooey goodness for sure!

like i mean gooey...

so i had to make a loaf for us...actually 2...

and guess what... we are down to half a loaf.

that's why it's hard to justify the time spent baking.

they inhale it!  :)

but it was so good....and not too unhealthy.

here's the recipe...

whole wheat banana bread

1/2 cup margarine

1 c sugar ( i used splenda)

2 eggs

3 medium bananas

1 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soada

1 c whole wheat flour

1/3 c hot water

1/2 c walnuts

melt butter & blend in the sugar.  mix in the beaten eggs and the mashed bananas, blending til smooth.  sift the flour with the salt and soda.  stir in the whole wheat flour.  add the dry ingredients, alternating with the hot water.  stir in the chopped nuts.  (i used chocolate chips instead)

turn into a greased loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

my oh my oh my ...what a busy morning we've had, kim!

i'm a hungry girl, now ~ how 'bout you?

just ran into the house to grab a bite ...

gosh, i LOVE food ...

it is so darn beautiful!

multi grain bun . herbed cream cheese . leaf lettuce . swiss cheese . corned beef . mustard 

the only thing missing was a pickle!

mañana ...

off to drive twin 'a' to get his car ... catch you thru the screen in a bit!

happy girl,

prairiegirl xo

ps. what's up with that funny little light reflection on the plate?

pps. did you visit the link that bee sent? ... s i g h ...

hey girlie,

check this out.... don't you wanna just reach thru the screen and take a bite? 

it's honestly even yummier than it looks.  seriously i can't even begin to describe how delicious this is!!  and guess who made it? 

not me...

yep, you guessed it....auntie marg.

the bottom is a delicious brownie.  the recipe calls for a brownie mix, but auntie marg makes it from scratch.  the top is chocoloate chips, marshmallows, peanut butter and rice krispies i think.  one of these days i will get the recipe and share it here.  i promise.

and seeing as we are playing with texture on texture tuesday...

i used one of my free textures from flickr. :)  it's called haystack. 

okay, so as i type this i know you are w/o internet. gosh i hope it's up and running soon.  it's just not the same w/o you only a skype or email away..... 

sigh....

so my friend, hope to see you here sometime soon...sending good vibes your way...

talk soon....♥kim

update:  i promise to share the recipe as soon as i get my hands on it.... :) 

hiya ladies,

how's things?  :)  gotta thank you georgia, for leading the pack this week.  it's been super nice...  and like pg, said... having someone take the "early shift" is such a treat.

love your peach treat and coffee image... fabulous feel from it, georgia!  and pg, i love the snack corner of your kitchen... i do, i do...

so thank goodness my sweet auntie marg made us this banana cream pie yesterday...  phew... after seeing your lovely image this morning georgia, i thought i may have to bake something so i could photograph it.  then i recalled the delicious pie in my fridge...  yay!

i just came back from walking andy.  oh dear....i remember now that after winter comes...ummmmm, MUCK... wow, what a mess out there... the combination of melted snow and rain...umm, not loving that...but i sure do love the warmer air. 

how's the weather in your neck of the woods, georgia?  just think it sure would be warm in florida right now.. hint, hint... nudge, nudge.  course i mention that because i read your lovely posting over on your blog. 

so, i seem to have a lovely stack of dishes.  both the boys are away, so i guess it's my turn again.  must get them done. 

meet you ladies back here for "thoughtful thursday" ... 

have a fabulous night...  ♥ kim

sunday muffins...

yay, when the hubby is away you can have muffins for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you like.  especially when they are super healthy like these.

...

...

out of the oven.  yummy.... 

here's the recipe my friend.

healthy whole grain muffins

1 cup of splenda or white sugar
1 cup of olive oil
6 eggs
1/3 c honey or molasses
3 cups of milk
1 cup of ground flax
2 cups of natural bran
2 cups of oatbran
3 cups of whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups of fruit (i use frozen blueberries or raspberries)

bake at 385 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

talk soon....  xxo, kim ♥

p.s.
give me a G E O R G I A

aaah ... zaaa night!

come on over ...

tonight's menu is a homemade variety  ...

. boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed
. toss in olive oil, minced garlic, oregano, coarse salt, lemon & pepper seasoning, cajun pepper
. if you had time, it's nice to let your chicken sit in the spices and oil for a bit beforehand ...
. saute in heavy pan
. cook through til just browning
. set aside in bowl

. add chopped red peppers and red onion to saute pan
. cook til slightly soft and browned edges
. remove from pan

. sprinkle shredded mozza (or something more zingy, if you'd like!) on garlic flavoured naan bread
. add shredded fresh spinach
. add chicken, peppers and onions
. and one more covering of mozza ...

. bake in 350 oven for oh, 15 minutes or so ...

grab your favourite movie ... let's see ... how 'bout waking ned devine ...

settle in ...

enjoy,
prairiegirl xo

ps. hoot hoot! yes, excitement mounting for monday ...

give me a GE!

oh my,

we were so on the same page today....

love, love... love your granola pictures and it looks sooo yummy... WONDERFUL.

we had a nice visit with john's mom and his uncle today. they came for brunch...
it was a bit last minute, so i had to use what i had in the house.

so i hopped online this morning to find a recipe...
remembered that i had a few tubes of pillsbury crescent rolls... did a search for pillsbury breakfast. and found this recipe for bacon and potato breakfast pizza.

rush, rush.... :) but i took some time to snap a few pics as i made it...

and the process went something like this. :)

i can/tube of pillsbury crescent rolls, pressed into a 9 x 13 pan and baked for 5 minutes.

beat eggs.

add milk, then add bacon, cheddar cheese, and hashbrowns. mix all together in a bowl and then spoon onto the base.

top with more cheddar and parsley.

bake for 20 minutes.

yummy.... it was pretty darn good.

i actually made 2 pans, just to be sure we had enough.
but, next time i would just double the egg mixture and make it all in one pan.
it was a little thin. and i think
also, i would add some minced onion for a little extra flavor. really it was a lot like quiche.

so funny we were both taking pictures this morning...probably at the same time.

that makes me smile, inside and out... 

so here i am... and it's almost bed time for some... posting about brunch... yep, it was definitely one of those days....


happy sunday ... almost monday...xxo, kim ♥

the supper hour has nearly passed ...

and here i am talking about breakfast ...

today's breakfast ...

we can do that, right?

start at the beginning at the end ...

begin with scoops of goodness ...

roasted unsalted pumpkin seeds, oatmeal, nuts, grains, honey, olive oil, dried fruit ...

toss it all in a heavy roaster and pop it in the oven ...

stir often ...

ready!

grab an apple, a bowl, the yogurt ... and pour yourself a cuppa ...

sigh ...

how i love breakfast ...

and you?

smiling on this sunfilled sun day ...

bidding february farewell ...

prairiegirl xo

hey kim ...

how about a little rosemary focaccia to go with your tea?

this particular batch wasn't a truly traditional recipe, but it tasted yummy!

did i ever tell you how much i dream of building my own adobe oven in the yard to bake bread?

some day some day ...

i love that you had a bonus gift to your day ...

we all need those to give us a lift!

i would have to say that a bonus gift for me was georgia's kind words for us on her blog ...

a delightful surprise .... truly sweet ...

off to make sup sup ...

i hope your day has been extra special and truly artful ~

prairiegirl xo

say! wouldn't it be sweet if our visitor's shared their bonus gift of the day with us?  please, we'd love to hear ... 

good morning, good morning......

oh my what a morning... so different than yesterday. 

here is a pic of my lovely breakfast yesterday.  i think i shared with you how peaceful my house was yesterday morning.  sigh.....

it was lovely!! 

but then came today.... and i woke up and started to do about 10 different things at once, which by the way is plain silly!

so here's my breakfast ... that i grabbed a few moments ago. :)

quick and on the run....but still yummy....

how's your morning? 

talk soon, xxo, kim