Quinoa Salad

Hello everyone!!! :-) Hope u are all spending a wonderful weekend!! So today I have a healthy recipe for you..Quinoa salad with...whatever's in the fridge..lol :-)
Quinoa is an ancient food cultivated in South American Andes since at least 3000 BC. The ancient Inkas called quinoa the "mother grain" and revered it as sacred. The quinoa seed is high in protein, calcium and iron, a relatively good source of vitamin E and several of the B vitamins.It contains an almost perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids needed for tissue development in humans. It is exceptionally high in lysine, cystine and methionine-amino acids typically low in other grains.
Before cooking, the seeds must be rinsed to remove their bitter resin-like coating, which is called saponin. Be careful with that.
For this quinoa salad, I used whatever I had in my fridge, so feel free to experiment with the flavours..;-)
Ingredients:
1 cup of uncooked quinoa
1 red bell pepper diced
2 medium tomatoes diced
2 spicy jalapeno peppers diced
1 cup of sweet corn
1 cup of red or black beans
1/2 avocado diced
Some fresh chopped parsley
Greek Feta cheese
Lime juice
Salt
4 kinds of pepper and cilanter
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Preparation:
1 cup of quinoa needs 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15 mins and then withdraw from fire and let it stand for about 5 more mins. Let it cool.
In a big bowl mix the peppers, tomatoes, corn, beans, avocado and parsley. Mix in the quinoa. Prepare the dressing by combining the olive oil, vinegar and lime juice and add to the salad. Season with salt and pepper. Add feta cheese on top.

Tastes delicious and is very very good for your health.
Hope u enjoy!!! :-)
Good luck

xoxo
B.

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Fig and orange muffins

Hello everyone!! :-) Hope u're all healthy and happy. I got back from work with a baking mood today, so I decided to make some muffins.Mmmm...yiam yiam...
Ingredients:
250 ml milk
60 gr butter, melted
300 gr all-purpose flour
150 gr superfine sugar (u can use brown as well..I did)
1 large egg
3 tbsps (45 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
90 gr dried figs, coarsely chopped
2 tsps baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
30 gr finelly chopped almonds
1/2 tbsp finely grated orange zest
Preparation:
Mix the milk and the lemon juice and set aside for 5 mins. Bring the orange juice to a boil, remove from the heat, add the figs and let it cool a little.
In a large bowl combine the flour, the sugar, the baking powder and the salt.
Add the eggs and butter in the milk and mix until well combined. Stir the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and followingly add the figs, orange juice, orange zest and the almonds.
Spoon the batter into a 12-cup muffin pan lined with paper baking cups, filling three quarters full. Bake for 25-30 mins in preheated oven at 180 C, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Hope u like them!! :-)
Great for breakfast!
Recipe credit: The Golden Book of Baking
Good luuuuck!!

xoxo
B.

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A Beautiful Man, an Even More Beautiful Heart - Reach Out WorldWide

Prompted by the previous post about Jesse and his goals and the impact he has on people’s lives, I’d like to mention an organization, originally founded by Paul Walker (Jesse Is also a part of the team) that also has a great impact. ROWW (Reach Out Worldwide). Formed in January 2010, after Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake, is an organization made up of volunteers with special skills, who can help in a natural disaster. Their philosophy is that by making a difference in an individual’s life, to that person, the world has been changed for the better. Their ultimate goal is to send a team to disaster areas within 48 to 72 hours after an event happens.

Let’s all help in whichever way we can, to make our world a better place…

Start by spreading the word. “Like” their FB page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Reach-Out-Worldwide/139139139467280

Right now, Roww team is in the disaster area in Alabama, trying to do their best. Our love, thoughts and prayers are with them.

More on Roww at http://www.roww.org/

Get involved and make a difference!!!

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A Man of Inspiration - Jesse Brisendine

Jesse Brisendine

The people who know me, also know that my celebrity crush since I was like 12 and he appeared in the Young and the Restless –lol – is who else?? Paul Walker..:)We got older, years passed and internet became a daily necessity. Facebook and Twitter became the means for communication all over the world and celebrities finally found a way to reach out to their fans. Push the Like button in your favorite’s fan page and you have him/her nearby 24/7.

That’s how in a Paul’s wall post, I read about his friend, Jesse Brisendine.

You see you never know when or where will inspiration hit you.. Maybe it’s a song, a book, a movie, something a stranger tells you on the road.. Sometimes is a person who decided to take a step just a little further..someone who decided to make a difference..And that someone is Jesse.

I’ll be honest with you. I started reading his blog just out of pure curiosity of what could a celebrity’s – my favorite celebrity’s - friend write about. And then..I just remained speechless.. Because reading the blog, I discovered a man totally worth talking about. Jesse dared to do what many of us just think. Make his dreams come true. 1 Year 1.000 Challenges. And that’s how the story begins…

At that time, I was in a very difficult and strange phase of my life. My mom had fought breast cancer and thankfully won. My dad had an open heart surgery. And I was supposed to be the rock for everyone else but myself. Everyone was counting on me, and I couldn’t let them down. I had to be strong, so that everyone else could show their weakness. Until, I started collapsing. Dizziness, stress attacks, sadness started to make an appearance. I didn’t want to get out of my house. I wasn’t laughing. I just wanted to sleep all day. I didn’t enjoy going to work. Aaaand I gained almost 20 pounds. Everyone was telling me I had gained weight, like I couldn’t see it…Helllooo people… I Do know how much I weigh…STOP TELLING me all the time… On top of all of that, my boyfriend started pressuring  me to lose weight and go to the gym. He claimed that I had to be fit and nice, so that he could be attracted to me and bla bla bla….I just wanted to be liked for who I am and not for the size of my b@tt... :/

And then I read Jesse’s blog and I realized I WANTED to make a change. I WANTED to get fit. But for myself. Because I wanted it. Because it would make ME feel better.

As Jesse suggests I started with the small ones. I tried to eat healthier at first and started taking small walks. Then bigger walks with a little jogging. I also started playing tennis. Now, I feel good. I haven’t lost every pound I want yet, but I’m going there. J I want to do as many things as possible. Cease the years and the days and the minutes. Travel to every place I’ve ever dreamed of. Help as many people as I can. I’ve become a volunteer for Athens Special Olympics 2011 and an active volunteer for Amnesty International. The most important thing is that I’m beginning to find my appetite for life again…and I owe a huuuuge part of that to Jesse Brisendine. J He was a friend – even a distant – when I most needed one..and his posts made me laugh and made my day, whenever I had the blues. But most importantly he made me get out of my bed and DO!!

Try to do a small thing each day. If a man can accomplish 1.000, you sure can accomplish even 100. J

“Be the change you wish to see in the world. My goal with this challenge is to show people that the only thing that can hold us back in life is ourselves. “

To learn more about Jesse and his 1.000 Things Challenge visit his blog at http://jessebrisendine.blogspot.com/ . Also find him in facebook at http://www.facebook.com/1Year1000Challenge/ . Don’t forget to click “like” on his page. ;) Spread the word and let’s get him some followers!!

As Jesse says, Carpe Diem!!

Take care!

Sunny Greetings from Greece!!!

It smells like summer here and the beaches are calling like sirens….;)

Xoxo

B.

P.S. Photos are from Jesse's FB page. Loved the one with the ladies...;) 

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Grenade - Bruno Mars

I was listening to this song on the radio, driving to work this morning. It totally made my day, and  I had to share with u!!!
Have a nice day and take care!!!
xoxo
B.
Enjoy...;)

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