Salad Days...

 

 

Let us just say, that returning to the workforce has been...um, rather detrimental to my waistline. Yeah, that's the polite way to say either; A: I'm packing on the pounds faster than humanly possible, or B; I bring enough food to work to feed a small village. Ahem. With that in mind, I busted out my cute new take-to-work salad kit. Only $3.97 (at Wally World, if you get my drift)!

 

 

 

Is it not cute? it came with two salad bowls, two different-color lids, two dressing cups, and even it's own fork!

 

 

I'm dying from the cuteness! Anyhoo, since I'm all about being good today, I started with a base of nice, crunchy romaine...

 

 

 

Then, put sunflower seeds in one of the dressing cups for some crunch, and dried blueberries in the other dressing cup, for a little sweetness. Oh no ~ those cups are simply NOT large enough for the amount of dressing this Pixie requires...

 

 

 

I layered in some beautiful vegetables ~ from left to right...

 

Cherry tomatoes, scallions, cucumber, shredded carrot, bleu cheese, hearts of palm, and some green olives. The UBER close-up? Why certainly.....

 

 

Rest assured, I will not feel deprived when I munch on down with this tasty lunch today! Oh, and making sure Dear Husband eats his veggies, too...was a cinch...

 

I poured in his favorite raspberry vinaigrette, salt and pepper, and sealed it up for him to snack on. Now, the moral of this story is that, although it DID take me a good fifteen minutes of my morning to put this together, let's look at it this way.....I was already in the kitchen, placing supper in the slow cooker, and just exactly what do you think you'd pay at a nice restaurant for these salads? That's right, probably about ten to fifteen bucks. I think not! That's money I could use for.....hmmmm....more pleasurable pursuits...garden plants, garden seeds, garden soil...oh, well, you get the idea.

 

 

Eat well, my friends. Eat healthy, and save your dollars, too! Love and kindness to all,

 

Pixie



Short and Sweet ~ well, Crunchy...

 

Ah yes, Spring is in the air here in Pixie-Land! You can tell by the blossoms on the plum tree..

 

 

 

 

The fresh and tasty Tabouli for a Monday.

 

 

 

 

ANNNNDDD....(and this is most important) -  your computer dying just as you are ready to blog again. Keep the faith, Pixie-Patrol......I'm working on it. 

 

Love and kindness to all,

 

 

 

Pixie

Computer Conundrum

 

 

Yep, just when yours truly decides to blog again, cook up some wonderful step-by-step feasts for your culinary delight....our computer bought the farm, as it were. So, today, I've got just a snippet of healthy workplace eating.....for instance, breakfast was...

 

 

 

 

Good old blueberries and a manarin orange. Tasty, but not what you'd call filling....then, mid-morning snack.

 

 

Wonderful hummus and pita ~ thank goodness for a forward-thinking workplace that actually has nutritious snacks.
Oh, and we must not miss out on my favorite, and delicious new healthy teas!

Well, eat well, my friends and stay tuned for more of my normal postings....come on computer repair shop!

 

Love and kindness to all,

 

Pixie

Fruity Friday!

 

 

You know the feeling....you are back in the land-o-cubicle....you WANT to eat something that is going to fuel your day. Step AWAY from that donut, I tells ya! Just take that extra five minutes in the morning, and throw a bunch of lovely, ripe, healthy fruit in your lunch box/bag/container o' choice, and BRING it. Now, that was not difficult, was it?

 

 

 

Now, that may look like it was a lot of fuss, but, honestly, it was not! Then peel a little, place in an attractive manner on your desk, and enjoy! You know something else? Just taking that extra five minutes now means that your five-a-day serving of fruit....is...totally....DONE! Before you know it, you will have crunched down that apple, sampled the strawberries, munched the mango, etc. You get my drift.

 

 

Eat well, my friends, eat healthy so that you can have a productive workday. And take care of you ~ you are a unique, and special person.

 

Love and kindness to all,

 

Pixie

 

 



Healthy Lunch Bunch ~ Again

 

 

Well, today I begin showing you that it is easy to eat well, even with a full-time job, and taking care of your typical household. I began the day with a lovely, chocolate-dipped granola bar, and a seedless mandarin orange (not shown).

 

 

 

Hey!  Man cannot eat ONLY healthy stuff - chocolate is GOOD for the soul, ok? That's all I sayin'....I knew you'd understand. Then, on to my main meal, an Amy's Organic Indian vegetable curry. Oh, man is this good.

 

 

Lots of lentils in a spicy gravy, vegetables in a spicy tomato sauce very much like a tikka masala sauce, and rice with peas.  But, the finishing touch to today's lunch, is what I liked the best....

 

 

 

A beautiful medley of green leaf lettuce, sugar snap peas, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, pepperocini peppers, and a smidge of bleu cheese. Doused in my homemade vinaigrette?

 

 

 

A vision of loveliness, indeed. With the textures of creamy from the bleu cheese, crunchy from the lettuce, snap peas and sunflower seeds, and chewy from the dried cranberries, this salad has it all! I'm going to make this one over and over! The pepperocinis added a nice little zing, as did the mustardy vinaigrette.

 

 

I did not go hungry, there was quite enough food to keep me going all day, the meal was as tasty as it was filling, and I did not spend a fortune at the cafeteria or a restaurant (not to mention eat potential junk food). What do you do to combat boring sandwhiches, or spending ten bucks on lunch? Eat well, my friends, and stay tuned for more great food, and.....dare I say it? THE KITCHEN ANGELS!

 

Love and kindness to all,

 

Pixie

 

 

 

 

 

 



Hello to Spring!

 

 

Hi there! Welcome back! Yes, it's been way too long. Let us not dwell on that, however...as I have some wonderful and exciting new posts coming this Spring, as well as the "Garden Report". We are loving life here in beautiful Tennessee, and as the fruit trees begin to burst into blossom, so shall my posts. So, without further adieu, welcome back to Pixie~Land, and look forward to great food,

wonderful garden treats, and of course the return of the Kitchen Angels.

 

Just to tempt your palate, here is what the Pixie-Palace produced for Dear Husband on a recent Anniversary.

 

 

 

Yes sir, we went old-school New England style lobster-o-rama! I can't wait for the next post, and my new obsession - healthy work lunches. Do you get sick of boring fast food, or a lame sandwich? Yup, me too. We need to fix that! I'm not sure about you, but I want something tasty, healthy, and that I can really look forward to ripping into at work. So, stay tuned....and as a famous character says; I'm BAAAAACKKKK!!!

 

Love and kindness (and happy Springtime!) to all,

 

Pixie



Felafel Friday!

 

Well, I don't know about you, but when I have had a bit of an indulgence (see prior post) like steak, I feel the need to eat much more cleanly, and healthily, the next day. I also love, adore and crave a good falafel sandwich. That wonderful patty, made from just some garbanzo beans and love, is a craving that does not go away....until it is fulfilled. Ok, before we launch into the cooking, all of you who think that cuisines from another country are "weird" or "icky", and refuse to stray from your burgers and fries....just mosey along....I'm sure there's another site just devoted to that sorta thing, so...buh-bye now...don't let the Pixie door slam you in the tush! Ok, are we foodies alone now? Whew, good! Let's cook !

Clockwise from lower left; cilantro, chick peas/garbanzo beans (wonder beans?), leaf lettuce, flatbreads, plain yogurt, dill, pepper, cucumber, cooking spray, olive oil, salt, grape tomatoes, and garlic. Not shown, red onion.  First, lets make the sauce and put it in the fridge. Simply take your yogurt, and put into a plastic storage container.   Add in salt, pepper, dried dill, and about 1/3 of the cucumber,  grated.  The liquid from the cucumber will help to make this a sauce for your sandwich. If it is not loose enough after refrigerating for 15 minutes or so, you can stir in water, a little at a time, to get that sauce consistency.

 

This is what it will look like.  Just place in the fridge while you are making the falafels!

 

 

 

Now, rinse your chick peas under running water.

 

 

Then, place them in your food processor with about half a bunch of cilantro, a teaspoon of salt, some freshly grated black pepper, and the clove of garlic (just rough chopped).

 

 

 

Now, process the mixture until it is roughly combined, adding the olive oil, and scraping down the sides mid-way through. It should look like this...

 

 

Process until well mixed, adding just enough olive oil to make the mixture into a paste. When combined, place in a bowl, and refrigerate for thirty minutes (while you clean the kitchen you've probably just destroyed.....ooops, I've said too much!). Here's mine:

 

 

 

 

Let's get our lovely filling ingredients ready to stuff into the sandwich, shall we?

 

 

 



 

 

I  used some lovely leaf lettuce, cucumber and grape tomatoes (both from the Pixie-Patch!), and some small-diced red onion. Now, we cook! Form your mixture into balls about a little smaller than a golf ball, and place onto wax paper that you have sprayed with non-stick spray.

 

 

Now, take a coffee cup, or a ramekin, and shmoosh (the technical term) these balls into little patties, like so;

 

 

 

 

Now, simply fry in a non-stick skillet (sprayed with cooking spray) until golden brown, about 4 to five minutes per side.

 

 

Now, simply stuff your pita or flat bread with the lettuce and vegetables, pour the sauce over, and enter the gates of crunchy, healthy heaven! My results?

 

 

The UBER close up?

 

 

What can I tell you? This feast left me a happy, happy Pixie. I did not miss the meat, and it was completely delicious, filling and wonderful. Best part of all? Being a thrifty Pixie, I froze the rest for another healthy lunch!

 

 

 

Eat well, my friends, and stay tuned for that miracle bowl-o-goodness known as Pho, and see what the Kitchen Angels have been "helping" me with! Love and kindness to all,

 

 

Pixie